Health and medical information

Mike is now in the plateau phase, which is a steady maintenance of the excitation stage. During the plateau, Mike’s testicles will actually increase in size, although he probably won’t be aware of this change. The head of his penis will swell even more, and secretions from glands in his urethra may start to flow out of his penis. (This is not an ejaculation, but a very small amount of sperm may be part of this flow.) He will spend several minutes in the plateau phase, but at other times, this phase may last a much longer or a much shorter period of time.

Many men try to prolong intercourse during the plateau to make the lovemaking last longer. Mike may deliberately slow down his thrusts and movements in order to stave off his orgasm and increase his and his wife’s pleasure. Twenty years ago, staying in the plateau phase was more difficult for Mike, but now in his 40′s he finds it easier to do. Sometimes the plateau is very brief, leading to early ejaculation. Mike’s plateau lasts for several minutes before he reaches the next stage, orgasm. Orgasm lasts for only a few, extremely pleasurable, seconds, and it usually signals the end of the erection. Still, orgasm has little else to do with erection because it is controlled by a different part of the nervous system. Remember, a man can have an erection without an orgasm, and an orgasm without an erection.

Though brief, orgasm actually has two distinct stages. During the first part, emission, the fluid from Mike’s seminal vesicles, prostate and testicles flows into his urethra. The sphincters which prevent this fluid from traveling back up into the bladder also close down. These sensations are experienced by Mike as ejaculatory inevitability—he feels that any second he will ejaculate and he won’t be able to stop it.

The second part of the climax is Mike’s actual ejaculation. The muscles around Mike’s urethra contract every 0.8 seconds, combining with contractions from muscles in his pelvis and anus. This generates a great amount of force that pushes the semen in his urethra out of his penis. Mike experiences a powerful feeling of release. The excitement he feels gives way to relaxation. His desire to continue thrusting disappears. Mike is now in the resolution phase (which also happens if stimulation stops before orgasm and ejaculation). The increased blood flow to his penis, which caused the erection, stops. The sinuses become smaller, and the veins open up to their normal levels, allowing the extra blood to drain out of Mike’s penis. His scrotum becomes less tense, and the testicles drop to their normal, lower position. Mike loses his erection.

When Mike was younger, there were occasions in which he did not lose his erection even after an ejaculation. This is not uncommon in men of high school or college age, but ifs much less typical for older men. As a man ages, he loses his erection more easily during the resolution phase. Once the penis becomes flaccid, Mike enters the final stage of the erection cycle, the so-called refractory period. This is the period of time after resolution when Mike is unable to enter the excitement phase and get an erection, although he may still feel desire. Typically, this period lasts longer as a man ages. Some young men have virtually no refractory period at all, but ifs not uncommon for a man in his 40′s, like Mike, to have this period last hours.

Why does the body have this enforced rest from intercourse? Scientists do not fully understand why nature has programmed this time for a sabbatical from intercourse. Maybe ifs to allow time for sperm to move into position where they can be ejaculated. (Sperm are made in the testicles, travel to the epididymis, which has a remarkable 15 feet of tubing, all wound up, and then move into the vas, the tubes which carry the sperm to the urethra where they can be ejaculated.)

Desire may return before the body’s ability to get an erection is restored, causing a certain amount of frustration, but this situation is not impotence.

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