One of the leading indicators of this trend is the simple fact that over 70% of all Viagra and Cialis prescriptions now comes from general practitioners, as opposed to urologists.  This means that it’s now easier than ever for a man to simply claim erectile dysfunction to get his prescription, avoiding any actual examinations.  Many doctors will even go along with the request for recreational Viagra, and won’t ask any questions.

Another indication that more and more men are taking Viagra without suffering from erectile dysfunction is the lower age threshold for Viagra prescriptions in the last few years.  In the years since Viagra was released to the US market, the under-45 age bracket has nearly quadrupled, according to Express Scripts, the nation’s leading manager of employee prescription drug plans.  Pfizer, the pharmaceutical company that manufactures the drug claims that the average age of its users has been dropping steadily, and is now at around 53.  And this doesn’t even include the men who buy generic Viagra online!

It’s difficult to determine exactly where recreational Viagra use begins and where legitimate erectile dysfunction treatment ends, though.  Many of the men who are self medicating, either through prescription drugs or generic Cialis, might be legitimately healthy men who have been shaken by a recent bout or even one time occurrence of impotent behavior.  These men frequently need a quick boost for the next time they engage in sexual intercourse, just to be on the same side.  And lucky for these men, the solutions are readily available.

Endurance:

Good endurance is critical for making sessions of love last with greater vigor.  Try to get in for a cardio workout three to five days a week for at least 20 to 30 minutes at a time.  Remember, vigorous sports and exercise get your heart rate and temperature up and will give you that extra boost of energy and endorphins.  Plus, aerobic exercise also flushes away stress and reduces anxiety, burns fat and rejuvenates the body, priming you for sex.

Strength Training:

Holding yourself in certain positions in bed requires muscle power.  Naturally, lifting weights will ensure the right muscles work well when you need them to. Work on toning the upper and lower body, and you’ll prevent pain and cramping at inconvenient moments too.

Flexibility:

Needing for getting in those cool positions, flexibility makes you more limber, and also increases blood flow and circulation, which stimulates nerve endings all over.

Kegel exercises:

Used by women for years to get back in shape after birth, Kegels are not just for women anymore.  Men can use this exercise too, to delay ejaculation by contracting the pubococcygeal (PC) muscles just before orgasm, then fully relaxing them.

How to do Kegels:

Contract PC muscles by squeezing, as if stopping urine, and hold for at least 2-3 seconds per squeeze, inhaling as you squeeze each time and relax your muscles completely between each contraction. To begin with, start with just 10 or 20 squeezes; Kegels can be practiced nearly anytime and in any place.  Perform them throughout the day until you can do at least 100 to 200 each day and after you get the hang of them, they can stimulate erotic feelings.

And good endurance is critical for making sessions of love last with greater vigor.  Try to get in for a cardio workout three to five days a week for at least 20 to 30 minutes at a time.  Remember, vigorous sports and exercise will get your heart rate and temperature up and will give you that extra boost of energy and endorphins.  Plus, aerobic exercise also flushes away stress, burns fat and rejuvenates the body, priming you for sex.  Flexibility is needed for getting in those great positions, flexibility makes you more limber, and also increases blood flow and circulation, which stimulates nerve endings all over.  And Kegel exercises, used by women for years to get back in shape after birth, are not just for women anymore.  Men can use this exercise too, to delay ejaculation by contracting the pubococcygeal (PC) muscles just before orgasm, then fully relaxing them.

Other men with decreased libido take Indian Ginseng, a tonic herb that is capable of strengthening the body and is even used by some as an aphrodisiac, for libido increase .   Believe it or not, the amino acid, L-Arginine is used by the body to create nitric oxide, the chemical that relaxes the blood vessels, in order to diminish erectile dysfunction.

L-Arginine is found in food sources such as meat, dairy products, poultry and fish.  Some men suffering from ED often have a deficiency of the mineral zinc and a simple supplement of 15-30 mg daily can help to improve their symptoms.  But before considering adding supplements and medications, men with ED should consider the research which shows that those men who exercise regularly are less likely to develop impotence as they age.  Researchers at the New England Research Institutes of Watertown, Mass., studied 593 men, ages 40 to 70, and found that men who burned at least 200 calories a day, were less likely to develop ED than sedentary men, so even minimal exercise is helpful when it comes to maintaining a healthy sex life.

The issue of low sex drive is a more pressing concern for women who are post surgically-induced menopause, as the lack of female sexual organs further affects hormone levels.  One solution for this problem is the result of new research which supports the claim that women with hypoactive sexual desire disorder (HSDD), or the persistent or recurrent deficiency and/or the absence of sexual fantasies or thoughts, and desire for sexual activity show great improvement in desire and sexual function following low dose testosterone treatment.  Two randomized double-blind, placebo controlled trials in surgically postmenopausal women with HSDD demonstrated that use of the transdermal testosterone patch treatment resulted in significant improvements in the frequency of satisfying sexual activity and sexual desire, as well as a decrease in sexual distress.

Results revealed a significant increase in frequency of satisfying sexual activity and sexual desire based on women experiencing the treatment as beneficial.  More women on testosterone experienced a meaningful benefit and, in fact, the odds of experiencing a meaningful benefit on testosterone were 2.4 times greater than with the placebo.  Since the women were also able to judge for themselves whether or not the treatment was beneficial, those who experienced benefit were interested in continuing treatment (no surprise!). These results are seriously significant for the field of sexual health and gives hope to women suffering from HSDD and their partners that there is a treatment–the low dose testosterone patch– which can bring to the quality-of-life of surgically post-menopausal women with HSDD.