Impotence can also be called Erectile Dysfunction. It refers to the inability of a man to maintain an erection during sex. It can include a reduced sense of sexual excitement, which in turn leads to a loss of an erection.

Love-Making and Getting An Erection

For a man to succeed in achieving an erection, one or more types of stimuli must excite him. The stimulus may be physical or psychological or both.

Popularly the means of stimulation required to achieved arousal can be what a man views or feels. Also use of sensuous or erotic language from his partner can have the desired effect too. On the other hand it can be his imagination producing thoughts and images that are of a sexual nature. Many men utilise a combination of the both fantasy and reality.

Erections That Are Involuntary

It well documented that men get erections that may be termed as an involuntary erection. In essence this means an erection that he has not sought consciously to have. A man may become aware he has an erection in bed in the morning and just before emptying his bladder. The bladder has become full and this has in turn pressed on the prostate gland. Stimulating the prostate gland brings sexual arousal and this results in an erection.

Alternatively there may be other occasions during the day or night when a man can be aware that he has an erection, which is not of his choosing. Sometimes another person he meets unwittingly will sexually stimulate a man. He will not want to have an erection but because he is sexually stimulated he will experience an erection.

What Happens To Achieve An Erection?

Inside the flaccid penis there are three chambers. These chambers become engorged with blood making the penis stiff and erect hence the term "erection". The penis will grow longer and wider too.

Normally when some form of sexual stimulation (physical or imagined) or involuntary stimulation occurs, the brain will send a signal to the body to increase blood pressure and to transport blood to enlarged the penis. The three chambers in the penis engorge with blood and with the higher blood pressure the penis becomes erect.

During sexual arousal, the penis stays enlarged and all the blood is prevented from escaping by muscles.

The nervous systems of the body play a major role in achieving an erection. These are the parasympathetic and the sympathetic nervous system. Normally one or other of these systems are dominant in the body at any one moment in time. For a successful erection the two systems are in balance.

This information can provide a better idea of how impotence or erectile dysfunction arises. If a man experiences anxiety during sex it can alter the balance between the parasympathetic and the sympathetic nervous system and lead to the loss of an erection.

So impotence or erectile dysfunction is the loss of a lasting erection through to sexual satisfaction. For many men the erection is lost just before or during penetration.