Want Stronger Erections?

IN AN IDEAL world, you’d be able to get hard on demand—and stay that way for as long as the scenario requires. But guess what? Erections are a fickle friend. Sometimes they appear at painfully inconvenient times (like, during an exam at the doctor’s office). And then sometimes when you’re really counting on them—like while that smokeshow you’ve been dating starts tearing your clothes off—they’re MIA. It’s frustrating for sure. But whatever you do, try not to sweat it too much.

Firstly, these boner blunders are super common. In the U.S., up to 30 million men of all ages—including in their 20s and 30s—experience erectile dysfunction (ED). And regardless of whether you meet the criteria for ED, experts say it’s completely normal to have trouble getting or keeping a boner up to 25% of the time.

“One-off occurrences where you have a hard time getting or maintaining an erection are typically nothing to worry about,” says Dr. Simran Shamanur, a consulting sexual health physician Allo Health. “This can happen for various reasons, including stress, fatigue, or even a temporary distraction. Our bodies are complex, and fluctuations in sexual performance are part of that complexity.”