What Leonardo Da Vinci's Erect Penis Drawing Can Teach Us

Even though it was wrong!

Leonardo Davinci erect penis drawing shows the sexual act.

Semen from the spine

We may think it odd that his drawing shows semen coming from the spine. However it does perhaps raise the question of what gaps there may be in our current understanding of our sexual response - perhaps we could also have something wrong - maybe not as fundamental as where semen comes from maybe - but future civilisations may view us as equally naive.  

Our Understanding of Sexual Response Radically Changed Recently

Our understanding of the sexual act is still developing. Viagra is almost a common word now, but this is not the big discovery - study in the 1980's contributing so much knowledge about the erection process - discovered the role of Nitric Oxide in the body. This is so important - it is fundamental to us getting an erection. In fact so important was the discovery that the scientists that discovered it won a Nobel Prize for Medicine or Physiology.

Nitric Oxide acts upon the blood vessels in a similar way to Viagra - increasing blood flow to the Penis. Nitric Oxide really can help blood flow to our penis - as long as our health and fitness is good.

The role our whole body plays in gaining erection

The main aspects of the erection process are blood flow - which is controlled by our nervous system and hormones but overall control is our mind. We need to be happy! If we are relaxed our nervous system is relaxed - something which is vital for erections - (parasympathetic nervous system). However if we are anxious or stressed our hormones will react accordingly. Adrenalin can be released at times of anxiousness and this will thwart any hope of our body getting an erection - as it constricts blood flow to the periphery. Our body is preparing for a fight or flight and it is not concerning itself with getting an erection and so blood is diverted to the organs that will need it. This is totally understood but

Testosterone however helps us get an erection. Men with low testosterone levels can experience erection problems, but in men with normal circulating testosterone levels more testosterone may not lead to greater erection quality. There is much research into how testosterone affects our erections.

Future discoveries

Ghrelin the 'hunger' hormone was only properly understood as recently as 1998 with leptin onyl a few years previously. Perhaps, in the future  there may be new hormones that are discovered or some aspect of the erection process that we are currently oblivious to! History perhaps tells us that our understanding of erections is only just beginning - but for now we know enough to help improve it - and one of the very best ways is to be happy!

Tumescence: An Erection (swelling)

De-tumescence: A return to normal, reduction in swelling

Flaccid: Lacking firmness, A soft penis.

Spontaneous Tumescence: Involuntary!

Nocturnal Penile Tumescence,: During REM sleep phase.

Early Morning Tumescence: Waking with an erection.

Everyday Terms

Erection: A hard erect penis (from erectus (Latin))

A Semi: Not quite erect but getting there!

Limp/Soft: Lacking firmness, soft, not erect

Slang for Erection

Hard On (from 1922)

Boner (more recent)

Involuntary Erections

Morning Glory

Morning Wood

And had to include... Bus Boner (this was the No. 1 google result when I searched 'Erection Coach'!

....so many slang words!

Medical

Priapasm: Painful erection that wont go away

Cultural/historical

Phallus: a representation of an erect penis.

Back to About Erection Coach

Effects of Nitric Oxide were only discovered in the 1980's and here is an article that described why they are so important.

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Da Vinci's erect penis drawing