Morning wood, or medically called nocturnal penile tumescence (NPT), happens to every young guy. He’ll say it’s only a ‘pee boner’ because he has to pee in the morning, but he’s actually wrong. According to Joseph Alukal, M.D., assistant professor of Urology and Obstetrics and Gynecology at NYU Langone Medical Center, men in their 60s or 70s wake up in the morning to pee but they don’t get morning wood.
“It’s not directly related to that,” says Dr. Alukal, and yet he says, “The penis is a very strange organ in terms of its job and the way it traps blood inside it.”
According to an article published by Men’s Health, the brain releases a chemical called noradrenaline during the day, a hormone that hinders erections. When it’s sleep time, however, the brain releases less of it which makes those night time boners more likely to pop up. Also taking it from a study by the Society for Endocrinology, the brain no longer keeps the organ in check. It says that during REM, the p*nis gets to do what it wants—which is to get hard.
Another reason would be the high testosterone level in the morning.
“In the morning, it’s going to be the highest testosterone level he’ll have all day,” according to Dr. Alukal.
However, this phenomenon stops when they reach their 40s and 50s as their testosterone levels decrease.
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Surprisingly, morning erection has something to say about men’s health. Dr. Tobias Köhler, M.D., M.P.H., an associate professor and residency program director of the urology division at Southern Illinois University’s School of Medicine, said that consistent morning wood indicates healthy blood flow in the organ. On the other hand, if it hasn’t pop up at night either means an issue to the blood flow. It can also indicate heart disease, blocked blood vessels, high cholesterol, or high blood pressure.
Additionally, Dr. Köhler said that morning wood is the organ’s way to keep in shape and function well. He said that the p*nis is a ‘use it or lose it’ organ.
“It’s important this happens often, because the stretchiness of your p*nis decreases if the smooth muscles stay contracted for too long. Without a regular relaxing-contracting workout, the length of your erect penis may actually shorten,” Dr. Köhler said.
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