This podcast is for you, the Modern Man. I'm Dr Anne Truong, your host. I'm an intimate health medical doctor and best selling author of the book, Erectile Dysfunction Fix. I'll do a deep dive into sexual health and performance and how it affects men of all ages and backgrounds. So let's get started, and be sure to visit my website at sexualhealthformenpodcast.com for more information and resources from the show. See you on the inside. Hello there, Modern Man. I'm Dr Anne Truong. I'm a medical
doctor sexual health specialist. I treated over 7000 men. In today's episode, we're going to talk about the size behind lasting erection. So stay tuned with me, because I'm going to kind of touch upon several areas that will be very important for you to know. Now, a lasting erection is the result of complex interplay between psychological, neurological, vascular and
hormones. The process is highly regulated, involving the central nervous system, which is in the brain, the peripheral which is outside of the brain, and interplay with nitric oxide playing a critical molecular role. Now let's talk about the key physiological mechanism. Number one, neural activation. This process begins in the brain. Sexual Arousal begins in the brain, not below the belt. The brain is the largest sexual
organ, so it has to stimulate up here first. So the first thing that gets stimulated is through your senses, your eyes, your nose, the smell your mouth, what you taste, what you hear through your ears, and what you touch through your hand. And or on top of that, you can also have psychological stimuli, which is thoughts and emotion. So the brain sends signals through the spinal cord in the back of your head here, to the nerve all the
way to the penis, but it starts here. If it doesn't start here in the brain, it isn't going to go anywhere below the belt. And then the next part is the parasympathetic nervous system
has to be activated for an erection to occur. The parasympathetic nervous system releases neurotransmitters or chemicals that relaxes the smooth muscle of the penis, particularly the penile arteries and the corpus cavernosum, which is the smooth muscle in the penis, now stress and anxiety activate the sympathetic nervous system, which then can inhibit erection by making the blood vessel constrict, increasing
muscle tone in the penis. So the bottom line is, stress and anxiety inhibit erection because it does not allow for blood to flow in, or that the muscle in the penis not relaxed in order to accommodate the engorgement of the blood flow. So you need to be in the parasympathetic. You need to be relaxed. The muscle of the penis has to be relaxed. Your mind has to be relaxed in order for you to get an erection. Okay? So any type of anxiety or stress, both, your erection is inhibited right away.
The next part is nitric oxide release. So upon sexual stimulation, either locally or also by the sensors that I talked about, the parasympathetic nervous system release nitric oxide into the corpus cavernosum. Nitric oxide is the primary molecular mediator for penile erection. So it goes into the smooth muscle or the corpus cavernosum and activate quantulate cyclase or cyclic GMP with levels, which then cause the smooth muscle relaxation and opening the blood
vessels. Essentially, nitric oxide relaxes the smooth muscle of the penis and open up the blood vessel, so that way you have more increase in blood flow. The next event is the vascular event, where you have relaxation of the smooth muscle the arteries, which then open up the blood vessel in order for the penis to have increasing blood flow. And also, when the penis is in war to have increasing blood flow, it then compresses, or the veins gets compressed,
trapping the blood in the penis, maintaining rigidity. So the erection is an interplay between blood flow in and then the veins get compressed, and then the blood stays in the penis. The next part is that the veins need to be compressed and how it's compresses, because the muscle then and gorgeous, and then the vein is compressed against a lining called the tunica albuginea, which then prevent the blood from leaving the
penis, sustaining direction. So with men who has ED, the veins or the venous leak, is what causes the loss of direction, which is the first symptom of ED. So luckily, when there is venous occlusion, we can treat that. So factors influencing your erection duration is blood flow and vascular health. So adequate inflow and efficient vein occlusion are essential for maintaining an erection. Condition that impair your vascular health is like atherosclerosis, diabetes and high blood pressure.
Atherosclerosis a condition where hardening of the blood vessel artery and these can reduce erection quality and duration. So watch what you eat. You don't have diabetes. Exercise, so you don't have high blood pressure. Maintain healthy weight and also eat a Mediterranean diet, so you don't have to get atherosclerosis. These are all reversible, men.
It's not something you inherit. It's reversible. So if you want to maintain your reaction, have good quality and a longer reaction, watch what you eat, follow the Mediterranean diet, exercise, decrease your stress, maintain your weight at a reasonable level, and you don't have to deal with atherosclerosis, diabetes or even hypertension. Now next is hormonal balance, testosterone, other hormones influence your
libido or your sex drive, and also erection function. Hormonal imbalances, especially low testosterone, can shorten the duration of your erection. Next is the most important part, probably is psychological state, is anxiety, stress and performance pressure can activate the sympathetic nervous system, which I talked about earlier, which is the stress system, and when that is activated, you lose your erection. So men, stop
overthinking about it, stop over analyzing it. Don't get stressed out or get anxious about your erection, because when you do, the sympathetic nervous system gets activated, your erection is gone. So you need to stay relaxed, and you need to stay calm to activate your parasympathetic nervous system and sustain your erection.
The next part is medication and substances. Certain medications such as antihypertensive or blood pressure medicine or antidepressant and alcohol and recreational drugs can really impair erectile function by affecting the nerve and the blood vessel system. And also lifestyle such as smoking can also impair erection as well. The smoking impair your vascular pathway.
Next is age. Aging is associated with decreased endothelial function, or the lining of the blood vessel, in lower testosterone and increased prevalence of other conditions such as obesity, high blood pressure and diabetes, and therefore can contribute to shorter or less reliable erection. However, all the condition I talk about is actually reversible, so you can't help that you get older, but the condition that you acquire when you get older is reversible, is controllable as well.
Okay, Modern Man, you are not alone and you don't have to suffer anymore. ED can feel isolating, frustrating, and even defeating. The endless guessing, the quiet shame, the weight of not feeling like yourself is exhausting. But here's the truth, you are not broken. You are not alone. You don't have to figure this out alone anymore. The Get Wood Now Boost Program is your step by step, path to sexual confidence and
restoration. No more suffering in silence, no more trial and error, just real solution, real result and the confidence you deserve. It's time to take back your power on your term. Let's get this journey started together. Check out the course at getwoodnow.com. I'll see you there. Let's talk about the nitric oxide, the cyclic GMP pathway. Nitric oxide induce cyclic GMP accumulation is central to keeping an erection, so phosphodiesterase type five, or
PDE-5, breaks down cyclic GMP. PDE-5 inhibitors such as Viagra, prolong erection by maintaining and sustaining cyclic GMP levels and smooth muscle relaxation. That's one of the reason why my treatment involves regenerative medicine, using stem cell therapy to help restore vascular and healthy tissue again. And also using focused shockwave to improve blood flow and stimulate angiogenesis, which is stimulate more blood flow and breaking down the microvascular plaque and offering long term benefit
for ED. And we also add in Botox, because Botox relaxes the muscle. So the combination of stem cell to restore vascular tissue and focus shockwave to break down the plaque and improving blood flow, and then Botox to relax the penile muscle, all work together to improve blood flow, improve erection. So conclusion, lasting erection depends on optimal function of your nerve, your blood vessels and your hormones and the nitric oxide smooth muscle relaxation. Also, psychological relaxation
is pivotal to your erection. So don't overthink it. Stay calm and activate your senses to activate the brain, because sexual arousal starts in the brain. But the good part is that all of these work in synergy together. You don't even have to think about it. Your body is made to have an erection. But just know that any disruption of any of these domain can lead to erection difficulty. That's the reason why I created the Get Hard System. The Get Hard System is what reverses all of the
dysfunction to help you have better erection again. Shockwave therapy, we've also added high frequency electromagnetic chair, where you sit on the chair and it does 10,000 Kegels exercises for you. Why is this important? Because this will make the blood stay in the penis longer, for better erection, but also the pelvic muscle gets strengthened, so that way you can hold the erection longer as well, too. Regenerative medicine with stem
cells to restore blood flow. Botox to relax the muscles. And then we stress that you maintain the Mediterranean diet and also a good exercise regimen at this time. And just know that ED is reversible if you know what you need to do. Start with just your diet and exercise, sleep, and reduce your stress, and that you're gonna go a long way at this time. And if you start to have ED at this point, start with diet, start with exercise, that will go a long way. And get your blood work, check your
testosterone level as well. So that's a lot in today's episode, and I hope that you get something out of this. It's a lot to pack in, but I wanted to kind of throw in there on many different pathway in your body that work together cohesively, and that if one is not working well, it will lead to erectile dysfunction, and we're here to help. You do not have to suffer in silence at all. So reach out to see if we can work together
to get you restore performance. Check out the calendar link right here to see if you can schedule a time with me to get you back in performance again. Go to restoreperformancesecret.com or check the link down here and check out that you do not have to live with this, there are alternatives to ED beside medication and surgery, and subscribe to the channel, and I will see you in the next episode, Modern Man. Okay, Modern Man, you are not alone and you don't have to
suffer anymore. ED can feel isolating, frustrating, and even defeating. The endless guessing, the quiet shame, the weight of not feeling like yourself is exhausting. But here's the truth, you are not broken. You are not alone. You don't have to figure this out alone anymore. The Get Wood Now Boost Program is your step by step, path to sexual confidence and restoration. No more suffering in silence, no more trial and error, just real solution, real result and the confidence you
deserve. It's time to take back your power on your term. Let's get this journey started together. Check out the course at getwoodnow.com. I'll see you there. Thanks for listening to the Sexual Health for Men Podcast. If you love this episode, then please take a screenshot on your phone and post it on Facebook, Instagram, or wherever you post, and be sure to tag me and let me know why you like this episode
and what you like to hear in the future. That will help me know what's great for you and I would love to give you the most incredible free gift designed to help you improve performance quickly. Go to my website at sexualhealthformenpodcast.com to get the book, The Five Common Costly Mistakes Men Make When Facing ED. I would appreciate if you subscribe, leave a review on Apple podcasts or wherever you listen. And just know that you
can have sexual vitality for life. I appreciate you until next time.