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Should a normal man's penis become erect for a certain number of times throughout one day (without any external stimulus)? Or, do these erections occur only while a man is sleeping? I have been masturbating once every day or every other day, and I have noticed that I rarely get any of those spontaneous erections during the day at all. Plus, I have been waking up with no morning erection during the past week. Have I been masturbating too much?
—Worried
Dear Worried,
Teenage boys have reflex erections (with no external stimulus) during any time of the day or night. As men get older, these reflex erections become less frequent and direct touching becomes necessary to produce erections. It is not clear how old you are, but you may just be experiencing part of the maturation process, and soon you will start to have erections at more "appropriate" times. And, masturbation may or may not affect your morning erections — you'll see what happens with your own body.
And this one...
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I am a virgin and I was wondering if it is common for a virgin male to get hard-ons throughout the day for no apparent sexual reason? It usually happens to me about 3 - 4 times daily... am I alone?
Thank you very much,
— Curious person
Dear Curious person,
You are not alone; this phenomenon certainly is common among virgin and non-virgin men alike, especially in their teen and younger adult years. Research and self-report show that as men age, though, their bodies are less likely to have reflex erections or erections with fantasy alone. Instead, they are more likely to respond to direct stimulation.
As you have noticed, a sexual stimulus is not necessary for erections to happen. Men get reflex erections during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, which occurs during the middle and late stages of the nightly sleep cycle. Erections also can occur when boys and men are afraid, angry, or totally stressed. If a man's prostate gland is enlarged, the pressure from the prostate (this organ, when stimulated, can cause feelings of sexual arousal) can result in an erection. In addition, when a person has a full bladder, the pressure exerted by the bladder upon the prostate gland can cause erections. Finally, if one uses drugs recreationally, such as ecstasy, which can increase one's susceptibility to sexual arousal, erections may arise (no pun intended). Similarly, using Viagra can also help bring about the conditions needed for erections to develop.
So, yes, you are normal, with a normal healthy boys' response.