In the short term, heavy drinking slows the communication system of the central nervous system, making it more difficult to have an erection. Long term, alcohol damages nerve cells and blood vessels, which can result in long term erectile dysfunction (ED).
Most men know that overindulging in alcohol can cause problems with erections – either failure to get an erection, or loss of erection before sexual activity can take place.
Erections are affected by numerous factors, some of which are controllable and some of which are not. Alcohol consumption is one factor you can control when it comes to having a satisfying sex life.
Many men rely on a drink or two to relax or gain confidence, and have to walk the fine line between being sufficiently loosened up and being too impaired to perform sexually. It’s important to understand the many effects alcohol has on erections both short term and long term.
Short Term Effects of Alcohol on Erections
When you occasionally consume a lot of alcohol in a short time period, you’re more likely to be left with temporary erection failure and not a long term condition like true erectile dysfunction. In this short term situation, the functioning of the nervous system is slowed, and this affects several physiological steps that are required for getting erections.
To get an erection, nerve cells must send a message from the brain to the penis that more blood flow is needed. But with excessive alcohol slowing down communication between nerve cells, “message” may not make it in a timely manner. Fortunately, this effect tends to wear off along with the other effects of alcohol, so the passage of time can “cure” this temporary problem.
Long Term Effects of Alcohol on Erections
Over time, continued drinking to excess affects many aspects of a man’s sexual functioning. For one thing, it can reduce the production of testosterone over time, which can cause a man to have lower sexual desire as well as difficulty achieving erections. In addition, alcohol-damaged nerve cells may become unable to communicate with the genitals, and blood vessels damaged by continued excessive alcohol consumption may be unable to fill normally, with the result being difficulty or inability to attain erections.
How Much Is Too Much?
While there are person-to-person differences in the ability to “handle” alcohol, there are some universal truths about how much is too much. Alcohol abuse can be loosely defined as drinking more alcohol than is good for you. In general, for men under age 65, this translates to no more than three drinks in a day. How much is a drink? It depends on the type of alcohol. One “drink” is defined by WebMD as:
- 1 12-oz beer
- 5 ounces of wine
- 1.5 ounces of hard liquor
If you limit your alcohol intake to one or two standard drinks per day, you’re far less likely to experience the problems with erections caused by overindulgence in alcohol.
Binge Drinking and Erections
You may think that by confining your alcohol to weekends you’ll prevent the effects of alcohol on erections, but that’s not necessarily the case. If you binge drink and then abstain for several days, if it still averages out to three drinks per day or more per day, you risk experiencing the negative effects of alcohol on erections.
In general, binge drinking is defined as consuming an amount of alcohol sufficient to raise your blood alcohol level to 0.08% or higher. For the typical man, this happens after five or more drinks in about two hours, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In addition to causing problems with erections, binge drinking can cause a number of other, more serious problems, including car accidents, alcohol poisoning, and unintentional injuries.
Treating Alcohol-Induced Erectile Dysfunction
For short term problems with erections due to excessive alcohol consumption, the “cure” is often simply waiting for alcohol to process out of the body. Long term, alcohol-induced erectile dysfunction requires a long term approach to treatment. The obvious first step is getting alcohol consumption under control. If you need help doing this, don’t hesitate to ask your doctor. While abstaining from alcohol can sometimes reverse long term alcohol-induced problems with erections, your physician may prescribe drugs like Viagra if you’re a good candidate for the medication.
Signs of Alcohol Abuse and Dependence
If alcohol consumption affects your day-to-day life, erections may be the least of your problems. Experiencing temporary blackouts, memory loss, damage to relationships with friends or family, use of alcohol to feel “normal,” trembling hands, or vomiting of blood, means it’s time to get help. Long term alcohol abuse can lead to alcoholic hepatitis, liver disease, ulcers, and heart disease, and getting professional help is not a sign of weakness, but a clear sign that you want to regain control of your life.
Avoiding Alcohol-Induced Problems with Erections
Assuming you don’t suffer from alcohol dependence, you can do a lot to avoid letting alcohol affect your erections. Know your limits and stick to them. Keep in mind that if you consume one of the popular 40-ounce beers, you’ve already consumed more than the equivalent of three drinks and should stop to avoid erection problems.
The more frequent your drinking is, and the longer you’ve done it, the longer term the problems with erections become. Along with quitting smoking, cutting down or quitting consumption of alcohol is one of the most common recommendations doctors make to men experiencing erectile dysfunction.
Because erectile dysfunction is more common in diabetics, and because alcohol consumption can cause bigger swings in blood glucose levels, quitting drinking and gaining better control of blood sugars can make a tremendous positive difference in diabetic men with erectile dysfunction.
If your occasional overindulgence only causes temporary problems with erections, and you are able to function sexually otherwise, you may not have true erectile dysfunction. In these cases, depending less on “liquid courage” in situations that may lead to sex can prevent problems with erections. But if you have more frequent problems with erections, regardless of how much you drink on a particular occasion, then you may have erectile dysfunction. Fortunately, it can be successfully treated with prescription medications.
eDrugstore.com sells Viagra, Cialis, Levitra, and Staxyn at competitive prices and has US-licensed pharmacists available to answer your questions about these medications. When you order from eDrugstore.com, you can expect an outstanding customer experience, with the utmost respect to your privacy, quick shipping, and the most stringent measures for online ordering security.
We specialize in providing our over 1,000,000 customers with relevant product and condition information created by our professional editorial staff which includes our team of medical writers, medical practitioners, and health educators. eDrugStore.com Staff on Facebook