Good morning mister! After a good night’s sleep, we all look forward to a new day. But there is another thing which you must look forward to, and that is ‘morning wood’ or an erect penis! Also known as nocturnal penile tumescence (NPT), this is a very natural phenomenon and also a sign that your little man down there is healthy and hearty. Starting from the age of 7 till the age of seventy, experiencing NPT, three to five times a night, is pretty common. Rather, if you get up to some hardwood, you should actually feel great about it, for it is a sign of adequately functioning blood and nervous system, in and around the penis.

So why do you get morning wood? Contrary to the belief that a morning erection is a sign of sexual stimulation, the following are some probable reasons for you getting morning erections:

1 Stimulation of the nervous system:

Even when you are sleeping, your body is still quite responsive to the activities happening around it, which include smell, touch, and sound. Sometimes it might happen that your partner or you may accidentally touch your genitals, which results in an erection.

2 Testosterone:

High testosterone levels are also one of the reasons for morning wood. When you wake up in the morning, your testosterone levels are at its highest level, which leads to the morning erection. This mostly happens immediately after waking up from the REM sleep stage. Once you cross 40, your testosterone levels begin to dip, leading to fewer episodes of NPT as well.

3 Relaxed brain:

When you are awake, your mind is most active. So it sends signals to the body many times to release hormones that suppress erection. But when you are sleeping, your brain also relaxes, leading to the release of lesser of these hormones, thereby not being able to prevent an erection.

So now that we know the reasons behind why do men get morning wood and the fact that morning wood is, in fact, a good sign that your penis is all healthy and tough, let us come to the point that whether morning wood serves any purpose or not. Well, although NPT serves no function, it is definitely a kind of exercise regime for your penis, which in turn ensures its healthy functioning.

So what if you don’t get morning wood, should you be worried? Well, if you get up once in a while to a flaccid penis, it is fine, but in case you are experiencing fewer erections or not getting as many NPTs as you used to get, then it’s definitely a warning sign. As per doctors, not getting frequent NPTs is an early sign of underlying health issues, one of the first being erectile dysfunction (ED). Erectile Dysfunction is the inability to get an erection firm and long enough for penetration and a satisfying sexual intercourse. Although a few episodes of ED are not harmful, repeated episodes are a matter of grave concern and also point to underlying deeper health issues like heart problems. Thus, it is advisable that if you get very few morning erections or the erections last more than an hour and are painful, it’s better to pay a visit to your doctor.

Also, if you are actually concerned about whether you are getting enough NPTs or not, you can now keep a check on the same through an application. With an advance in technology just the way women can track their ovulation or menstruation days right from their homes through an app, the same can be done by men as well for monitoring their morning erections. This application, named as morning glory, was designed to help guys track their erections. Developed by the wellness startup, Roman, this app helps you to keep a record of your morning erections and also notifies you when it feels that you need to pay a visit to the doctor. As per experts, this app is very much helpful since, in a way, it helps men keep track of their sexual functioning, which many don’t find valuable enough leading to more severe health issues in the future.