August 19, 2024

How treating ED can improve your overall sexual health

How treating ED can improve your overall sexual health

Sexual response begins with desire. That starts the sexual response cycle which is: desire, followed by arousal, followed by orgasm, followed by resolution. The inability to begin or complete this cycle is when the need arises to examine the cause, or causes, for the dysfunction. The sexual response cycle is one of the cornerstones of sexual health, and when erectile dysfunction is an issue, it naturally affects overall sexual health as well.

The RiizeUp tele-medicine system provides an advantage for improving sexual health when effective ED treatment is needed in a timely manner, by allowing access to a secure licensed physician network from the convenience of your home.

It’s about sex…

Human sexuality is timeless. From archeological evidence of fertility totems, to written texts like the Hindu Kama Sutra (400BC-200BC) describing love, pleasure and desire, human sexuality is as old as human history. Even religious texts like the Torah, the Quran and the Bible reference the subject of sex in association with rules, stories and advice. Every notable ancient culture had its gods and goddesses, with some erotic connotation attached – be it love, fertility or pleasure. From the Greek’s Aphrodite and Eros, to the Egyptian’s Min, to the Norse god Freyr and the Chinese Yue Lao, sex and sexuality is a common thread. It’s to be expected given that the meanings and purposes of the gods was a way to explain or understand some basic human behavior, most of which can be ultimately connected in some way to sex and sexuality.

Sex is a universal driving force behind most behavior, thoughts and feelings. In the words of novelist Madison Mayfield, “The oldest, timeless attraction in the world. Sex. There was money, power and sex, but sex was usually woven someplace into the pursuit of money and power as well.” In addition to being a life force factor, the term “sex” is also used in reference to gender and the act of sexual intercourse. “Sexuality” is more comprehensive, referring to the relationship of a person’s sex to the way they think and behave, physically, psychologically and socially. Sexuality involves self-image, body image, attitudes, values and external manifestations of love, affection and intimacy, as well as internal representations of private thoughts and fantasies. The totality of who we are as people is influenced by our sexuality.

Despite the obvious importance to life and health, serious scientific study of has only happened in the last 150 years or so. Henry Havelock Ellis studied sexuality using case studies. One of his well-known contemporaries, Sigmund Freud, also made a serious study of sexuality. Later, in the 1930s, Alfred Kinsey established the field of modern sexuality research. Research aside, it is obvious that sexuality is a big part of the human experience. Love, affection and sexual intimacy are all crucial to healthy relationships, and sense of well-being. However, some disorders can affect the sexual health of both men and women, and their ability to have or enjoy sex.

What is sexual health?

Sexual health is a broad term that encompasses many aspects of health and well-being, thus there is more than one appropriate definition for it. The American Sexual Health Association defines sexual health as “… the ability to embrace and enjoy sexuality throughout our lives. It is an important part of our physical and emotional health.” The World Health Organization defines it as “… a state of physical, emotional, mental and social well-being in relation to sexuality; it is not merely the absence of disease, dysfunction or infirmity. Sexual health requires a positive and respectful approach to sexuality and sexual relationships, as well as the possibility of having pleasurable and safe sexual experiences,…”. Just like with most human experiences, it unfolds in different contexts, influenced by physical, mental, social and cultural factors.

In order to better understand the large concept of sexual health and how it can be affected by a condition such as ED, it is worth looking at the concept of overall “sexual wellness”.

Is sexual health the same as sexual wellness?

The concept of “wellness” is the act of regularly practicing healthy habits and choices in order to better oneself physically and mentally. It is to make the goal to thrive, and not merely survive. This coincides directly with the World Health Organization’s definition of health as being “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity“. In other words, simply being in a status-quo state of not having any major health issues, is not wellness.

In this sense, yes, sexual health and sexual wellness are basically the same, as sexual health is not dependent on merely “the absence of disease, dysfunction or infirmity”. At the same time, practicing and attaining the overall concept of wellness will contribute to optimum sexual health.

The benefits of wellness

Practicing wellness involves several specific areas of life that are deemed worthy of giving regular attention to and putting more effort into. Making the right choices in each of these areas will have a positive impact on your physical and mental well-being, and specific to the subject at hand, your sexual wellness and sexual health.

• Social connectedness. It is proven that social connections improve mental and physical health.

• Exercise. Improves moods, sleep, self-image and overall sense of well-being.

• Nutrition. Having a healthy and wholesome diet is an obvious and very direct benefit to physical health.

• Sleep. Getting the right amount of sleep for you goes hand-in-hand with nutrition and exercise for improving wellness.

• Mindfulness. Taking a minute to think about things, being self-aware and thoughtful helps reduce stress and helps tie all the other areas of wellness practice together.

The importance of sexual health

It was neuropsychologist Karl Pribram who suggested there are four drives that motivate us and make it possible to survive. They are: feeding, fighting, fleeing and sex. As one of these drives, sex is critical to our physical and psychological health and existence.

In 2001, the U.S. Surgeon General’s officially recognized the importance of sexual health. The statement, in part, read: “Sexual health is inextricably bound to both physical and mental health. Just as physical and mental health problems can contribute to sexual dysfunction and diseases, those dysfunctions and diseases can contribute to physical and mental health problems…”.

This importance has been repeatedly recognized by other medical authorities and institutions. The consensus is that being sexually healthy contributes to having healthy relationships and better physical, mental and spiritual health. Just as it’s important to know what it takes to have a good sex life, it’s also important to be aware of the cause of any problems in your sexual health.

Sexual dysfunction and sexual health

Sexual dysfunction is when a person does not have the ability to respond sexually or cannot experience sexual pleasure. In identifying sexual dysfunction, it is important to know that there may not be just one cause, and that multiple causes can occur simultaneously. For men, the most common type of sexual dysfunction is erectile dysfunction, or ED. It affects roughly half of men over age 40, at some time, and 70 percent of men over age 70.

(Both men and women may experience desire disorder, known as HSDD, or hypoactive sexual desire disorder. We will delve into that in a future post.)

Erectile dysfunction is a perfect example of how multiple factors can be involved in sexual dysfunction, as it can be caused by a host of other health-related issues. Weight (obesity), cardio vascular conditions, smoking, alcohol use and stress may not only contribute to ED, but can also increase the severity of it through a self-perpetuating cycle of health conditions. For example, excessive body fat (obesity) on its own can cause ED, but it can also lead to high blood pressure, which in turn, can lead to cardio vascular problems, essentially compounding the problems caused by a single initial condition. In the same way, excess weight can cause low self-esteem which can create stress, which again, contributes more to the problem of ED. Stress can in turn, cause weight gain increasing cortisol levels. It all can become one self-feeding loop of intertwined conditions affecting both general health and sexual health. The good news is that the cycle can be broken with the right treatment and lifestyle choices.

It can start by looking at all the factors contributing to an ED condition from a whole-body health concept. By taking a “wellness” view, if you will. Physically, it can start by making some very simple lifestyle changes. Nothing too drastic, and nothing overly ambitious. Start with the basics – eat healthier, get some sort of physical activity – maybe just a short walk – get more sleep, and just try to live a little healthier. Sexually, you can start by addressing your ED issue with a prescribed treatment from a licensed physician. Riize oral dissolving strips give you the most advanced combination of erectile dysfunction treatment drugs available. Sildenafil (generic Viagara^®), tadalafil (generic Cialis^®) and oxytocin, all in one formula, with a 90% efficacy rate for immediate effect.

Once you begin to get the positive benefits from treating your ED, you will very likely feel more positive and motivated to improve in other areas of physical and sexual health. Being sexually healthy is all about enjoying a healthier body, a satisfying sexual life, and having positive relationships and peace of mind.