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Boston Medical Group

Relationship And Sex

T is for Libido

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The dictionary definition of libido is “the energy of the sexual drive as a component of the life instinct.”

If you’ve been experiencing a lower sex drive, you might be feeling concern, or even guilt about how it’s affecting you and your relationship with your partner. Worse, it could be causing you to feel depressed and even feel a loss of a zest for life.

What’s more, you might also be suffering from erectile dysfunction, or E.D. Though this condition is not always connected to a lower libido, the two often co-exist.

A lower libido can be caused by medications, depression, chronic illness, or stress… but especially, the cause could be a low testosterone level – commonly known as Low T.

Low testosterone (hypogonadism) usually happens with age. But it can also affect younger men for various reasons. Testosterone, the male hormone that is essential for the development of strength, also boosts sex drive – or libido.

Virility vs. Vitality

Men of all ages are universally challenged by society and also themselves by varying degrees of “manliness.”

Remember, testosterone is the primary male sex hormone that plays a key role in the development of male reproductive tissues such as testes and prostate. As such, it promotes increased muscle and bone mass, and the growth of body hair. In addition, testosterone is involved in general health and well-being.

About 4 out of 10 men over age 45 have low testosterone. For men with low T levels, replacement therapy is a common solution to the problem.

Oral testosterone is available. However, some experts believe oral testosterone can have negative effects on the liver. Using other methods, such as skin patches, gels, orally disintegrating tablets, or injections, bypasses the liver and get testosterone into the blood directly.

Replacing Nature Naturally

Testosterone adapts to your body’s needs. Stay active. Your body gets the message that you need more of the testosterone hormone and will produce more.

  • Walk briskly at least 10 to 20 minutes a day.
  • Building strength with several sessions of weights or elastic bands each week.
  • Work with a trainer to learn proper form so you don’t injure yourself.

The vast majority of prescription testosterone (cream, gel, injectable, patch, subcutaneous, etc.) is derived from plant sources such as soybeans and yams. Soybeans and yams are natural substances that are put through a chemical synthesis in a laboratory setting to derive the end product of testosterone.

When needed, testosterone restoration treatment affects every man differently. But most report improvement in energy level, sex drive, and quality of erections. Testosterone can increase bone density and muscle mass. Men report positive mood shifts after testosterone replacement.

“Karen Herbst, MD, PhD, an endocrinologist at University of California-San Diego, specializes in testosterone deficiency. She estimates about one in 10 men are ‘ecstatic’ about their response to testosterone therapy…” *

Studies have shown that testosterone replacement therapy may offer a wide range of benefits for men with hypogonadism, including improved libido, mood, cognition, muscle mass, bone density, and red blood cell production.

“It’s well established that testosterone by itself, for men with sexual dysfunction that includes erectile dysfunction, can improve erections in the majority of men who take it,” says Dr. Abraham Morgentaler,** an associate clinical professor of urology at Harvard-affiliated Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.

 

* https://www.medscape.org/viewarticle/824046_2

** https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/a-harvard-expert-shares-his-thoughts-on-testosterone-replacement-therapy-2009031141

What Do Women Think About Penis Sizes?

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When it comes to what women think about penis size, a vast majority (84%) think their partner’s penis is fine, according to a study from UCLA and Cal State LA. Only about 14% of women wished their partner has a large penis, and 2% actually wanted a small penis (read more about how to measure your penis).

More illuminating is the fact that women feel more satisfied than men about the size of penises. In almost every circumstance, men rated their penises as smaller than what women would rate it.

In this day and age of conversations about masculinity and a man’s role in the world, family and in a relationship, these questions about a key component of the male identity are understandable.

For a lot of men, their average penis size is a determining factor in how to feel about themselves as the male component in any healthy relationship. And being in a healthy relationship is itself a key component in being a happy person. So, “Does penis size matter?” is a question many men have as a consequence of this.

“Being with a well-endowed man isn’t always
the joyride a woman thinks it’s going to be.”
–
Natasha Ivanovic for LovePanky

Click here for the complete article on Penis Size

Pucker Up! A Kiss a Day Can Keep the Doctor Away

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You already know that kissing is fun but did you know that it’s good for you? Kissing is a uniquely human trait that’s said to have emerged as a way to pass germs from one person to another but that’s not very romantic, is it? While it seems plausible that kissing would have underlying biological functions, there’s also no denying it’s role in bonding or overall health.

Not only does kissing feel good, it’s also good for you. A passionate, heartfelt kiss will get the blood pumping. This help relieve stress and release epinephrine into your blood making it pump faster, which may result in the reduction of LDL cholesterol.  Kissing is also a way to receive certain hormones like testosterone. Mucous membranes inside the mouth are permeable to hormones such as testosterone. Through open mouth kissing, these hormones are absorbed and thus arousal is increased.

Here are some other health benefits of kissings.

Reduce blood pressure, relieve cramps and headaches:  Kissing helps dilate your blood vessels, which may help lower your blood pressure. The blood vessel dilation effect also helps relieve pain, particularly from a headache or menstrual cramps.

Fight cavities: Could kissing mean fewer trips to the dentist? When you kiss, saliva production increases in your mouth. This helps wash away plaque on your teeth which might lead to cavities. That being said, cavity causing bacteria can also be transmitted via a kiss, especially if the person you’re kissing has poor oral habits.

Releases happy hormones: Kissing prompts your brains to release a feel good elixir of chemicals like serotonin, dopamine, and oxytocin. This is good for your happiness and may also help strengthen your relationship. “’This [oxytocin] is the hormone of love, and the better the oxytocin levels, the more capacity for love,’ explains psychotherapist Arthur Janov, Ph.D., author of ‘The Biology of Love’ and the director of the Primal Center in Santa Monica, Calif. ‘We have found that those who cannot commit in a love relationship are low in oxytocin.’”

Your lips are also packed with sensory neurons, when kissing they are stimulated and prompt the release of sebum, which is thought to play a role in bonding.

Burn calories: It won’t replace a good workout session at the gym but a vigorous kiss may burn about 8 to 16 calories. That’s not too bad, right?

Boost your self-esteem: A West German magazine, Selecta, published research conducted by several dozen physicians and psychologists over a two year period saying that a husband who kissed his wife every morning before he left for work enjoyed a better health life, lived longer, and made more money. Leading German companies cooperated and provided actuarial data with the help of Dr. Arthur Szabo, professor of psychology at the University of Kiel, who collated the data. He summarized that men who kiss their wives every morning live five year longer than those who don’t. They were also expected to hold jobs that pay between 20-35% more and use up less sick time. A sampling of Germany’s top 100 industrial managers show that 87% never left home without kissing their wives and as a result saw an increase in pay and held their management careers.

Tone your facial muscles: Kiss your partner and get a facelift? When you kiss, you use up to 30 muscles in your face and neck, and as a result, a long makeout session can help tone your face and neck muscles. It’ll also leave a female looking radiant.

The average person spends more than 20,000 minutes of their life kissing and for good reason. In additions to the benefits stated above, kissing has been shown to boost your immune system and reduce allergic responses in people with skin or nasal allergies.

Kissing is also the prelude to a great sex session.  As reported by Psychology Today:  “Women use the intensity and frequency of kissing to evaluate a man’s suitability for short-term relationships as well as judging the potential of a short-term relationship evolving into a long-term relationship. Men use kissing, especially in short-term relationships, to increase the likelihood of having sex.”

Whether it be sex, kissing or even hugging, these forms of affection have primal, biological roots that impact our bodies, in a beneficial way. All factors combined provide for a longer, healthier and more enjoyable life.

What’s The Average Penis Size?

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Let’s first get this out of the way. BJUI’s systematic review cobbled together 20 studies about penis sizes from different countries and is a collaboration between King’s College London and the United Kingdom’s National Health Service (NHS).

This worldwide review of studies found that, on average, a flaccid penis is 3.61 inches in length when flaccid and 5.16 inches in length when erect. Girth is 3.66 inches when flaccid and 4.59 inches when erect.

That should be enough for any man, but of course, you’ll have questions and wonder if your potential partners or fellow men out there know this too, and aren’t going to judge you for your perfectly average or possibly even above average penis.

Ironically, it’s usually women who know more about average penis sizes than men do, since they tend to actually see them and see more of them. They are also the ones to be affected more about sizes. Which is why “only 6% of women rate their partner’s penis size as small and 84% say they’re very satisfied with their lover’s size. In contrast, only 55% of men report a similar level of satisfaction with their own size,” says Toronto-based sexologist (PhD) and author Dr. Jess O’Reilly, and as this Bustle compilation from Amanda Chatel about women’s opinions on penis size proves, it is about how you use your penis, not so much size (and too big is a genuine problem for many women).

Not As Big As You Think

According to one study from 2013, the average penile length in the United States is 5.57 inches (14.15 cm) erect and a mean erect penile circumference of 4.81 inches (12.23 cm). Those numbers are a bit larger than the ones from the BJUI report, likely because the measurements were self-reported, i.e., the participating men themselves gave the measurements. It gives the study less credible than others, although the researchers defend their study by adding that their results were consistent with other research about penis sizes.

The study tried to convince men to report accurately because the size they gave to researchers was the one to be used for some condoms they were going to be sent later on, but that still puts into question the reliability of the study itself.

Self-reported measurements are still accepted because there are issues with penis measurements carried out on volunteers by others. “The concern with the self-report method is that guys will lie or exaggerate, while the concern with the clinical measurement studies is that only more well-endowed men will opt to participate”, says Dr. Justin Lehmiller, Founder and Editor of Sex and Psychology.

Nevertheless, many of the studies that travel around the internet in search of views and clicks are based on the self-reported method, which is why the BJUI report is so valuable. And because of that, we’ll stick to the global average of 5.16 inches long given by the report.

What is the average size by state?

The average size in all of America is just 5.57 inches, despite what some states might claim. Most studies are done through indirect methods (like measuring condom sizes ordered by mail), so it’s hard to take some of these studies seriously.
One experiment carried out by a male sexuality clinic found that the three states with the largest self-reported sizes were Alabama with 7.44 inches, Louisiana at 7.15, and West Virginia with 7.00. The rest of the states, starting with Vermont at 6.98, all came in below 7 inches. Most averaged above 6, with only eight states averaging below. Those were Delaware (5.22), New Mexico (5.36), Maryland (5.50), Georgia (5.69), and Rhode Island (5.83).

A big caveat about this: All sizes are self-reported, which might be why the sizes come in at least an inch above what the BJUI study shows.

What is the average size by race or ethnicity?

It’s always dangerous of mixing race or ethnicity with any topic because we should be wary of spreading stereotypes, even if we think they’re harmless or “good” for one race or another. The subject of penis sizes is no different.

Let’s get this out of the way quickly: The BJUI review couldn’t find credible evidence of differences between races on average penis sizes.

The study states “it is not possible from the present meta-analysis to draw any conclusions about any differences in penile size across races,” no matter what popular myths or anecdotal “evidence” says.

The main problem with current data about penile sizes around the world and differences between ethnicities is that there isn’t one single and comprehensive study that measures length and girth with the same methods across races, ethnicities, or even countries. But so far, there’s no evidence any single “race” is more endowed than others by any significant margin.

We have to remember that guys can be generous when measuring themselves and will perform the measurements inconsistently. Then there’s the issue of participant selection effects—are men of a larger penis size more inclined to participate in such studies? says Dr. Justin Lehmiller, Founder and Editor of Sex and Psychology, and that’s consistent with men around the world and in any country.

The big question: does penis size matter? In the end… maybe!? And only if you’re either extremely small or extremely large.

Click here for the complete article on Penis Size

Sexual Function: Use It or Lose It

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According to recent studies, the old “use it or lose it” wives tale may be true. Finnish researchers have released statements upon new studies, showing that men who have sex at least once a week, in comparison to men who have sex less than once a week, are at a lower risk of developing erectile dysfunction.

This new study was conducted on a group of over nine hundred men, all ranging from 55 to 75 years old. Cases of erectile dysfunction surfaced widely among the group of men who had sex less than once a week… but why?  Disuse Atrophy may be the cause and is defined as occurring when a muscle (or organ) is no longer as active as usual. When no longer in use, they slowly become weaker. Eventually, they begin to shrink.

Researchers noted that a lack of morning erections could be an early warning sign to the complete development of erectile dysfunction, later in life. Boston Medical Group checks for signs such as these in assessing sexual function.

Patients who had undergone rehabilitation after prostate cancer surgery were found to have more regular activity of oxygenation to the penis. It seems as though regular blood flow to the penis promotes healthy erectile function.

This study was solely conducted upon the basis of intercourse. However, researchers have reason to believe that the act of regular masturbation will promote the same healthy blood flow as intercourse, itself.

Disuse Atrophy Information

The ED & Low-T Experts