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Revision as of 21:30, 5 February 2007
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In anatomy and physiology, nocturnal penile tumescence, is the spontaneous occurrence of a penile erection during sleep in the absence of any sexual stimulation. All men who are physically able to achieve erection do so during sleep, typically several times in a night. It typically happens during REM sleep and it is not uncommon for an erection to be present when a man wakes up — such an erection is colloquially referred to as morning wood.
The existence and predictability of nocturnal tumescence is utilized by sexual health practitioners to ascertain whether a given case of erectile dysfunction (E.D.) is psychological or physiological in origin. A patient presenting with E.D. is fitted with an elastic device to wear around his penis during sleep; the device detects changes in girth and relays the information to a computer for later analysis. If nocturnal tumescence is detected, then the E.D. is presumed to be due to a psychosomatic illness such as sexual anxiety; if not, then it is presumed to be due to a physiological cause.
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