While I'm not an "older guy," based on my discussions, research, and personal experiences as a "younger guy" who resolved his ED issues, I thought to pitch in here.
Every guy’s situation is going to have its idiosyncrasies, but overall there’s a high likelihood the spikes in these cases are in part, if not mostly, caused by an increase in porn-induced erectile dysfunction and the whole circumstances around it. Or PIED in combination with other factors.
This is the case for reasons such as:
- Porn, and highly stimulating porn, is available and easier to access than ever before through addicting screens, which are also available and easier to access than ever before
- Combine that with how sexual stimulation for the male brain tends to crave visual stimuli, endless porn + adolescent sex drive = high likelihood of early exposure to porn and potential degree of addiction. For some even at a very young age
- This includes social media (already built for addiction as it is) that can literally function as porn or porn-lite and/or as masturbatory triggers while idling on addicting screens. These can also be early introductions to porn or porn-like content
- Porn is so easily accessible that many adolescents are introduced to it before they engage in sexual activities with real women, and the malleable adolescent brain begins to connect "stimulation from porn on the screen” with erection rather than “real woman”
- Male brain also craves novel sexual stimuli. Novel sexual stimuli is endlessly available through endlessly wide and novel forms of porn. The brain reinforces that it increasingly needs higher levels of stimulation and novelty - which is endlessly available through porn - to be aroused. Now this becomes a big feedback loop driving the brain further and further away from “real sex with real woman” = erection. More and more it can become "novel porn" = erection
- There may also tend to be less in-person socialization opportunities at adolescent ages, generally resulting in lower chances of sexual activities at younger ages that past generations did have. This is a factor which also may exacerbate the issue of the brain associating novel porn with "erection" prior to it sexual activites in the flesh
- This has the capability to diminish erection quality with women to various degrees or in some cases, decrease the chance of any erection whatsoever
- "Older guys" who had exposure to sexual activity PRIOR to exposure to porn seem to have less (if any) erection issues - even though they may still use porn. I know multiple veteran seducers who this applies to, dunno if they want to be named or not.
- But I believe Skills is also one who has said before that he uses porn without erection issues, so if that's the case he would also apply here.
- This suggests that exposure to porn before exposure to sex with women is a significant differentiating factor. Small sample size or whatever, sure, but it's a highly strong and plausible correlation
So to me, and given the scope of the OP, I'll say that I'd contend that at least one, if not the most predominant, differentiating factor for why younger men seem more likely to have ED at ages that past generations did not is from
exposure to modern pornography prior to exposure to sexual activity in real life.
Now I cannot stress enough that it's certainly not only one factor, and that there are both broader social dynamics and highly individualized reasons in play. But if I were to say one leading, linking factor, that would be one that seems like a contender.
For the sake of the comprehensiveness of this complex discussion though, here are some of the "social dynamic" factors that may be a contributing factor in some cases and/or the higher incidences of them. I will talk about the individualized factors + solutions if a guy is experiencing ED issues later on too... no obligation for anyone to read any or all of the post, but it's a real and serious thing with not all that many nice materials on it out there, so I wanted to include some info for those it may help.
Anyway, here are other potential "social dynamic" contributing factors - important to emphasize these are not absolutes in any way:
- As aforementioned, generally there's likely less overall in-person socialization occurring at younger ages than past generations
- There's a distinction here between "in-person socialization" and "electronic socialization" or whatever you want to call it because there may still be lots of socialization happening as a whole - it's just manifested differently with different skillsets that develop from it
- With less in-person socialization and recreational activities for some, obviously that is going to decrease instances in which sexual activity could be had at younger ages (and prior to modern porn exposure) that were more common in past generations
- Probably made even worse by Covid stuff too, and who knows the full effects on each of the various age groups
- With increasingly more screens in past decades, there were/are more competing factors that adolescents have for stimulation
- Technology offers interconnectivity that still can be social but just not exclusively in person. Of course it also contributes to other high stimulation activities being used as time sinks that also decrease potential early exposures to sexual activity while increasing likelihood of modern porn exposure by being on a device
- Certain groups may have worse diet/exercise/”testosterone” etc
- But not all groups though because seems like it’s often forgotten with the whole “diet/exercise/testosterone/big corps want to depopulate the Earth with low T men tinfoil stuff”... that there’s also the other side of it that has teenage super-athletes playing competitive youth sports year-round with protein shakes in hand and mega-health focused parents, if not themselves. Knew plenty like that myself. So I think there might be some polarization that occurred in whole nutrition/health sphere like with so much else that was polarized. So maybe that could've affected the baseline of health level of “average guy” or proliferated issues towards one end of the spectrum
- High stress levels + less sleep for adolescents who are under pressures of conditioning systems such as:
- Parents/schools who preach ”get good grades for a good college/for a good job.”
- These pressures are a stress factor in themselves and also can cause less socialization opportunities as adolescents due to having to time-intensive assignments, etc
- Collecting/paying off debt while working jobs they don't like, etc
- Obvious stress factor that could contribute to overall health/ED
- Porn use may also develop as cope for these stresses, exacerbating the issue
- Less overall focus on "dating/mating" or whatever as people focus on their careers in Western countries and potentially a high cost of living in certain contexts contributes to that as well (birth rate issue, etc.)
- Helicopter parenting and related dynamics
- The prevalence of it (am sure there is lots more discussion on the subject) may have also decreased opportunities for unsupervised activities that past generations had that resulted in exposure to sexual activities in adolescence, and unsupervised adolescent socialization in general
- These are things that also increases the likelihood of some adolescents having exposure to porn before real sex, or at least pushing up the number of years until they do have sex, which is another related discussion
- Lots else + surely many individualized factors
Of note, there will be some who want to say “
argghhhh feminist woke society making men less masculine!” or whatnot. On the other hand, there’s also the “liberated sex” crowd, and plenty of "masculine men" are around. And plenty of those groups centered around "masculinity." So people make of that what they will.
So those are just a handful of the social dynamics, but again…
If there’s something that’s going to be a common driver of this, to me it does look like that exposure to porn prior to exposure to “real” sexual activities (which the social dynamic factors may contribute to of course) is a thing. And how it causes a misfiring of male arousal mechanisms on the highly impressionable, adolescent male brain. How the brain just starts connecting “erection” with high stimulation modern pornography from screens, and that continuously gets reinforced through loops as discussed above.
So it could be one of “the” things that distinguishes this set of issues from “older” men who didn’t have these issues, even with porn exposure later on but not before they got going with real women. The correlation is surely not absolute, but it surely seems strong.
My personal experiences would also suggest modern pornography being a factor and I can discuss that some as well before getting into more individualized factors/solutions later on. No one has to read it lol, I don't care haha, it's just for those it may help as I'm sympathetic to the topic.
My Personal Experience With ED And Resolving It As A "Younger Guy"
Those who were along for the ride when I started posting here know that I also was a young man who experienced inconsistencies with my erections as I was working a lot on my seduction skills.
I had been exposed to porn at that point, though it was lesbian BDSM stuff with no penetration, and thankfully, I didn’t go that much further down the rabbithole like others that have gotten their arousal mechanisms hooked on crazy things… I mean I’ve seen a guy in the “community” who said it was to the point where he was only getting jacking off to anal fisting ffs.
Of course, such exposure and masturbation patterns are also likely to increase masturbation frequency using porn at large, or when using the sides of social media that they may be intoduced to very early on that can be porn/porn-like (TikTok, IG, YouTube) or even literally host porn (Twitter). So this can further reinforces the issue of high-level erotic stimulation on screen = erection. On top of that, these mediums are very omnipresent for the modern adolescent, and make it very easy to find “novel” erotic stimulation as discussed before.
So this easily-accessible loop further reinforces the connection the brain makes between porn/screens + erection while the brain may still be in impressionable stages of development as well. Adding in that these patterns may create unhealthy behaviors when with women too, and projecting porn onto real women, among other dynamics, creating other unhelpful loops for them.
Anyway, as I worked on my seduction skills and increased my consistency with women, I noticed inconsistent erections. In these instances I was eventually able to get hard, but it surely was frustrating and contributed to a learning curve on its own.
So I researched and tested solutions, and some guys suggested some things and that was very nice too, and after addressing a number of factors including fully eliminating porn, I had zero erection issues within months and never have had any issues since. I wrote about that and my process for it
here.
Now again I’ll stress that each case will have its idiosyncrasies, but my case is also supportive and seems typical of porn-induced erectile dysfunction. While I had also addressed other factors simultaneously as I wrote about, I strongly believe eliminating porn/decreased masturbation to be the predominant factor because I wasn’t liable to the other common risk factors at that time, such as poor health/diet/body fat.
I was very fit/very low body fat - I was 6’0 160-170 or so, exercising daily, vascularity all over my limbs, six-pack abs and all, eating extremely clean, and ZERO drug/alcohol usage. Now I’m sure continuing a healthy diet/lifestyle helped, and I do believe taking a supplement to increase nitric oxide levels like I wrote about did help jumpstart things in the meantime too.
But overall I strongly believe that eliminating porn + decreasing ejaculation frequency through masturbation (I still came when with women whenever I wanted) and recalibrating my brain to “hot naked woman in the flesh” = erection was the primary factor because again, I was a very healthy guy.
This is not projecting or confirmation bias here either – once more we have multiple older members of the community citing zero erection issues while having had regular sexual activity before porn usage, and I know one of those veterans also has noted that in their experience it seems like it’s the guys who were exposed to porn before being exposed to consistent real sex who encounter issues.
To emphasize, I will stress that this does not mean with absolutism that porn is the issue for everyone as there can be other factors too, or working in combination with porn - such as health, diet, forms of drug usage, etc.
Every context will have its idiosyncrasies, so this is why it’s important to address common factors (like potential PIED and exercise) one by one whether he's a porn user or not.
So this just further supports that if a guy is having erection issues and uses porn even occasionally, he should stop at least temporarily in order to eliminate any possible factors because there can be many degrees of interplay between “what” is causing the issues.
This is not “NoPorn” or “NoFap” – I don’t give a fuck about labels and it’s neither of those things anyway – this is “eliminate/improve any potential factor so he can have a consistently enjoyable sex life.
With that, I’ll get into some discussion on solutions/individualized reasons like I mentioned before.
Solutions for Those "Younger Guys"
Since I assume that someone with ED issues will find this thread – whether PIED is a factor for them or not – I’d like to provide my take on how to address these issues. I will be discussing actionable solutions here rather than “societal” solutions because they’re far more relevant if a guy is having an issue.
One of the most mainstream “solutions” that’s given by general practitioners (I even got this) is that it’s “psychosomatic.” Man, if I ever was totally glowing with anger it’s when I went in to that dumb clinic and that guy told me “it’s psychosomatic.” Aside from being totally low resolution and highly unactionable, “psychosomatic factors” are more among the LAST things that I would recommend are addressed… not the first thing someone in a position of "expertise" tells people.
It’s truly an injustice that it’s among the most common “diagnosis” dished out if someone is having erection issues and might be done without evaluating/addressing other factors.
So for a guy with ED issues, I would recommend they try to to address the following. It's broken down by 3 "phases" - if the one prior to it is not improving the situation over months, then take a look at the next.
These are actionable solutions that work towards eliminating/improving common factors of ED, of course with the young male resolving the roots of his issues in mind – like if they’re 70 that’s a different thing lol.
Some are more brick to forehead than others, but for those I’ll try to discuss how it might be addressed in lower-resistance ways, etc. Also some may apply to certain people, and some may already be doing them - which is a good start in that case.
Phase 1 (things to start with – all free/low cost + actionable to address potential factors):
- Ensure regular exercise - obvious factor
- If a guy with ED is doing this already, great – keep at it. If a guy isn’t doing it, it’s common for these guys to feel a resistance towards “going to the gym” or “I don’t have the equipment” and so forth. In these cases, I’d recommend starting to exercise in ways that are “functional” – things like daily walks for a set time/distance, resistance bands, stretches, and bodyweight exercises. These are free or low cost solutions that a guy can implement without the resistance of maybe even leaving his bedroom, but they can help maintain good, accessible, low-resistance habits that are functional for a healthy lifestyle
- Resistance bands are a low-cost purchase, and many workout programs are available to free online. Example here (free) and here (paid) – also tons of videos on YouTube. Guy doesn’t need to be Schwarzenegger to get hard or for seduction anyway - he just needs to get going. It’s a way to do that. I also do resistance band exercises myself, and honestly it keeps me where I need to be – a lean 170ish is ideal for my frame, and it helps me maintain that with plenty of definition/vascularity. Other guys may have their own intentions that require a gym, and of course we are talking solutions and there's many ways to get it done.
- Can also incorporate pelvic floor/Kegel exercises (study)
- Keep a relatively clean and healthy diet - obvious factor
- Needless to say, lots of heated opinions on eating habits and varies based on the individual, so this is one I won't get into much. But while I’ve always been lean, I know I’m not KJing when I say that you don’t need to rely on an expensive program or expensive pre-made meals either. So find what works I guess, not going to be that guy telling others how to eat - but obviously good health is going to be helpful for this issue and others
- Completely eliminate porn use in the short term, and at very least until erections are happening with women without issue
- Remember he’s having issues here, this is not necessarily “anti-porn” - it’s “let’s eliminate the most problem factors to resolve a significant issue in his life”
- If he needs to, then he can block porn keywords on his computer using an app like FocusMeor a browser add-on, etc.
- Make sure to whitelist seduction sites like Witch60.com/SkilledSeducer/GirlsChase/etc
- And if he lapses and finds a website that is not blocked/he wants to block, he can block it manually like this as one example for some computers. If he’s tech savvy, there are ways around it, but for most it’s functional and it creates a barrier of resistance to get past it as well
- Can also lock SafeSearch as another barrier of resistance
- If possible, delete porn/porn-lite/potentially masturbation triggering social media like TikTok, IG, etc. If used for business purposes or can't be avoided, then make it a habit to take care of whatever is necessary on there and immediately close it with no idling, or explore other ways to increase barriers of resistance to limit exposure to potentially triggering content
- Consider the triggers for it too - did it become a habit to flip through TikTok at a certain time of day/location, such as resting in bed? So think about porn-inducing/masturbatory inducing triggers
- Does swiping through a dating app trigger it? If so, same things about making it a habit to take care of business and close immediately + not idle. Or stick to cold approach, etc, at least until ED issues resolve
- Can potentially restrict maximum use time for apps on the device as well
- Eliminate or limit ejaculation though masturbation to a maximum of once every X days - at most probably maybe 1/week or whatever. Or he can just not ejaculate except for with women while he is working at it (or long term)
- Guess I have to be clear this is not a a “NoFap superpowers” thing - this is a “resolve miswirings in his brain” so he can have enjoyable sex type thing. Doesn’t have to totally eliminate ejaculation lol, and still can/should ejaculate with women (I did when I was working on it)
- This can also help with sexual projection/mirror neurons in field
- I’d recommend NO masturbation through porn (obviously) or dancing girls on TikTok lol. Still images – maybe okay, have heard that it's okay it's not that big of a deal for some guys. Similarly with from thought
- Eliminate recreational drug usage, if applicable. Not “anti-recreational drugs” or whatever, I don’t give a fuck, this is eliminate potential factors so he can have enjoyable sex for the rest of his life
- Stat on ED and weed for example - "Data suggest that ED is twice as high in cannabis users compared to controls." (link)
- Also eliminate smoking, if applicable, as a possible factor
- If he really wants to do whatever then cool, he can try it again when he starts resolving the ED and see if it affects it, but until then it’s gotta be a strong recommendation against it as a potential variable unless shown otherwise
- Chase linked the alcohol think so seems like there's some muddy waters on that subject. Though if there's an ED issue and regular alcohol usage, he could always see what happens if he cut down on it
- Pursue and ideally maintain regular sex (potentially with multiple women)
- Hopefully the guy can at least get hard enough at some point for penetration, which may include rubbing himself while with a girl or by having her give a blowjob, etc. If he can’t get hard at all yet, like at all at all, then he still needs to keep trying to engage in whatever sexual activities he can - foreplay, kissing/grinding, etc. And keep approaching/working girls if he isn’t converting to relationships, which is possible if he’s having erection issues
- More experience naturally can overall help with command of situations, enjoying the experience and focusing on that, getting exposure to different women, etc
- Make sure condoms aren’t too tight if using condoms
- Should be an uncommon case, but this could be something that’s a factor if a guy gets hard but isn’t consistently staying hard after putting on a condom
- Personally condoms that I like are Skyn condoms, which feel great to me and are also non-latex in case the girl has a latex allergy (she might not even know)
- Again this is going to be uncommon, but if a guy still feels like it’s too tight, he can try custom sized condoms such as MyOne
- If he’s not using condoms then that’s a different discussion and people have various thoughts on that, but if he is then the fit is a consideration if he gets hard but can’t stay hard
- Also in the area of the fit being off on something, there's a bit of a mixed opinion on "tight underwear/pants" being a possible thing, but hey could be an easy thing to test if it applies to the guy (though has been shown to affect "semen quality")
- Regular sleeping schedule with enough sleep
- How much is "enough" probably varies by person, but it’s common sense to test and see what works and feels best with every individual body
- Sleep linked to erection stuff
- Reduce/eliminate potential stress factors
- The whole process should be helping this, along with “mental health” overall
- Can be complicated and highly individualized, but if it’s something/someone exposure can be limited to, then they can try that and iteratively refine methods
- If it’s something like school - well your health is way more important. Get enough rest and do enjoyable things if school’s not enjoyable – if it’s helping you work towards a goal then do what you need to with the most efficient possible stufy habits and just keep it moving
- If they are taking unneeded medication/supplements, check to see if it can contribute to ED
- If it’s like anti-seizure stuff or whatnot, then of course keep doing what you need to do there and try to continue addressing the other factors. If they’re like antidepressants… I’ll just say make your own decision there
- Antidepressents linked to ED - "Amitriptyline, imipramine (Tofranil), doxepin (Silenor), and other TCAs have been linked to ED. Estimates suggest that sexual side effects potentially happen to about 30% of people taking these medications"
- The extent of anything touching “psychosomatic” at this point would be for when he is having sex to focus on immersing himself in the experience - her body, the sensations, the way his cock feels rubbing against her body things, breathing well, things like that
- Of course constantly worrying about getting an erection isn’t going to help, either. But solely “psychosomatic” as “the” root cause is far less actionable besides the simple, easily implementable thought shifts/frames like I mentioned
- Even if it is "psychosomatic" - actioning on the other factors should help with that too
- So we address the other probable factors and those certainly are not going to hurt him… but telling a guy “it’s psychosomatic” without proper solutions may potentially hurt him with a negative feedback loop of him worrying about it
- And if he gets hard with porn or by the thought of porn but is inconsistent in his erections with women, it’s far more likely to be the result of those associations his brain made with porn that need to be fixed rather than dishing it out with a fancy “psychosymatic” label
In all, it’s pretty likely that they’ll see some improvement through these things. I can’t emphasize enough that every case may be a bit different, but by addressing these factors, it’s going to very likely be addressing one or more of
his factors directly or tangentially and thus healthily helping the case at worst. Of course these are by no means an exclusive list and I’m sure there are other individualized factors which may help.
If he takes care of all these or whichever apply to him for a while and his erections improve, great, keep on going! If it resolves, even better.
And if he gets those in check but still having issues over a period of time, then he can keep maintaining those while also trying other things, too.
Phase 2 (If everything above has been implemented for months without result):
First off, he should keep on doing everything discussed above, but here are some additional things to consider:
- Now is when a testosterone test might come in
- Testing for potential infections/etc that may contribute to ED, such as a prostate gland infection that also may have been caused by a prior STD
- Can also check for high blood pressure, standard panels, etc.
- If the guy was previously unhealthy, hopefully it would have improved with diet/exercise/sleep/etc that he’s been working on, or maybe these can signal another medical factor at play
- Now this is one I rarely see mentioned and never saw in my initial research on ED: varioceles
- ~15% of adult men have what’s called a varicocele (it can also develop in adolescence) and it also can contribute to ED. Oftentimes they also may cause the testicles to feel heavy/with aching, so if that’s a thing with ED issues then get it checked
- If a potential varicocele is suspected, then get an Ultrasound. If it’s a minor varicocele, then common thought is that it probably doesn’t need to be addressed, but it should be monitored as he continues to address other factors.
- If it’s significant or the other fixes just aren’t helping, he may consider a varicocelectomy - though through my research I am of the mindset that surgery should only be done if it’s something affecting day to day comfort, or addressing the other factors for ED isn’t working over a period of months or years. It’s an operation with a lot of opinions around it, but if doing it, the microsurgery method probably seems like a method to consider
- Varicoeles can potentially affect sperm counts too, so if wants kids or whatever and it’s affecting his sperm counts to be low, then that’s another decision factor for an operation with it (another test that can be done if they are contemplating a varicocelectomy is for sperm as it could affect the sperm if couples are trying to have kids, etc)
- Dunno if varicoceles are more common nowadays than in past generations. Theories on potential causes are pretty limited as it is
- Can try a nitric oxide boosting supplement, which is shown to aid erections
- Studies - Link 1 (from POB here) and link 2 from Mike Silvertree
- I used one from NutraBio – seems like it was the older version of this product. I do feel like it likely helped “jumpstart” my progress while I continued to address other factors. Eventually I stopped using the supplement after I had no longer had ED issues
- Can try a ZMA supplement
- Credit: POB
- Both supplements above could also be included in "Phase 1," but my personal take on it at this point in my life is that I would prefer not leaning on a supplement unless I absolutely need to. And it also may necessitate replacing it and buying more, etc, so I’d personally recommend to try addressing the other factors first. But could try them at the start!
- Can try a "penile cream" like this one
- That linked one also includes L-arginine which may help
- Definitely recommend the product I linked regardless. I’ve been using it for years now both with and without ED issuesand it really, really helps the feel of the penis skin and increase my levels of sensation from both penetration, blowjobs, etc.
- (I’m circumcised, I know some guys get mad about getting circumcised or whatever, so something like this could very well help with sensation if that’s their thing or just are interested in more sensation as a whole). Lasts a long time too and is relatively cheap (especially when compared to other products in this area that aren’t as good)
- So it may help stimulate bloodflow and also increase sensation levels that can help get/maintain erections, plus reduce any irritation if doing lots of fucking. So not a must have obviously, but it’s very good, all natural product that’s been a benefit to me overall. I’m a minimalist with products that need replacing these days but this is one I recommend. Haven’t tried it myself but they also have another variation in case the other one causes irritation based on a certain type of allergy I think, but I’ve never experienced that myself so haven't tried it, but could be something to consider based on the person.
- Further reduce/eliminate ejaculation through masturbation at least until issues resolve
- And still continue everything as applicable from Phase 1
Likely he’s going to be seeing some improvement, but if he still is having issues after months of consistent addressing/resolving those factors, it’s the unlikely “Phase 3”:
Phase 3 (if all else fails – probably unlikely)
- Is he able to get erections at all? If he’s able to get erections WITH porn or with the thought of porn, then he needs to continue with Phase 1/2 stuff + totally eliminate masturbation for now
- At this point he can try incorporating Cognitive Behavioral Therapy / body-oriented therapies (I did TRE through when I was working on resolving it, so who knows, maybe it helped too) that could be worth trying in these unlikely scenarios that addressing the others in combination didn’t resolve the issue. Or he can try implementing these as a healthy practice anyway
- If he’s able to get erections but just not consistently in bed with women, he needs to keep going with the other solutions and he can think about now addressing “psychosomatic” stuff
- But again, telling a guy right off the bat that it’s “psychosomatic” is kinda like telling a guy with AA “it’s all in your head bro” – i.e. not an actual solution. So maybe CBT/TRE could help there if that's really his thing after addressing everything else (even if it is, the other efforts may work at resolving it anyway, hence another benefit of doing those versus any unactionable cope type stuff
- If he can’t get erect AT ALL after months of Phase 1/2, there could be a deeper health issue in play and he needs to see a legitimate
specialist (not your family physician, not the guy at the campus clinic). See the best fucking andrologist you can. Do your research on them. Or if any iissues persist for extended periods, then seeing that top andrologist might be a good idea
So yeah, there’s my take on it from someone who has experienced it + researched it through resources and my own empiricism + 100% resolved it personally. And some potential solution pathways / clearing up some common things on it in case someone in need comes across this thread.
I know the solution section may have varied a bit from the OP, but I felt I was important to add because the thread may bring in guys searching about the issue. One more time – each case is individualized, but addressing the factors in this post should be a great start and healthy at minimum.
This is a real issue - it’s not fun, but regardless of whatever dymamics behind it, at the end of the day it can be addressed and can likely be resolved in many cases if the guy chooses to do so.
Hope this post can help dig into the matter and potentially help someone who comes across this as well.