Five Types of Erections

Too often, the conversation around erections lacks the detail of other sexual health subjects. While it’s important to spread awareness about conditions like erectile dysfunction (ED) which can impact your ability to get or sustain an erection, it’s just as important to talk about the different ways that healthy boners can present. The more you understand your erections and why they happen, the more empowered you’ll be to spot changes to your normal sexual rhythms. The truth is that various factors can influence many kinds of erections. So, let’s look at some of the most common types of erections and what they can tell you about your sexual health.

Reflexogenic Erections

Reflexogenic erections may be one of the most common ones you’ve experienced. These types of erections happen because of direct physical stimulation of the penis and genital area. The “reflex” part of its name refers to the natural reflexes which control this type of erection. Once the penis senses physical stimulation, those impulses are sent to the spinal cord which serves as the control center for reflexogenic erections. From there, the spinal cord sends signals back to the penis — and thus, an erection is born. 

As you can imagine, these erections are important when it comes to having oral or penetrative sex. They’re also one of the first types of boners men usually get during puberty. All in all, reflexogenic erections tend to come on quickly in response to touch and usually result in a rigid member that’s ready for action. 

Psychogenic Erections

If you’ve ever gotten hard as a result of a sexual thought, then you’ve likely experienced a psychogenic erection. They are triggered by thoughts and emotions including fantasies or visual stimuli. These erections start in the brain and are influenced by the limbic system and cerebral cortex, which is responsible for emotional regulation. When a man gets aroused by mental stimuli, the brain sends signals to the spinal cord which then triggers an erection.

What’s unique about psychogenic erections is that they can occur without any physical stimulation at all. These erections can vary in strength and duration depending on your level of arousal. So, the next time you catch yourself in a dirty daydream and feel a boner coming on, just know that this is your nervous system hard (pun intended) at work.

Nocturnal Erections

Also known as “morning wood” or "nocturnal penile tumescence (NPT)," nocturnal erections occur during sleep. Specifically, they happen at a particular part of the sleep cycle called the rapid eye movement (REM) phase. This is the phase in which dreams happen and the parasympathetic nervous system takes over. This shift into REM sleep can trigger nocturnal erections. Because the body naturally has multiple sleep cycles each night, it’s possible to have up to five erections in a single night that can last up to 20-30 minutes each. However, this will vary depending on your sleep quality. 

But what exactly do nocturnal erections do from a health perspective? Scientists are still investigating whether there’s a link between nocturnal erections and overall penile health. However, some experts say that the blood flow changes and increased oxygen levels that occur during sleep might help keep penile muscle tissue oxygenated and healthy. Still, more research is needed before a conclusive link can be made.

Workout Erections

Have you ever finished a particularly good workout at the gym only to realize your soldier is standing at attention? Many guys report getting seemingly random boners when they work out. While there are no conclusive studies marking a direct link between exercise and erections, we do know that the body experiences many changes during a workout that can create the right conditions for boners to happen. 

Much like foreplay, exercise increases your heart rate, endorphins, and blood flow. These factors can have a big impact on your physical and mental arousal. Exercises like high intensity interval training (HIIT) and heavy weightlifting can kickstart the production of testosterone which is the major sex hormone for men. Additionally, the increased blood flow triggered by exercise can sometimes lead to harder, longer-lasting erections. While not every guy will experience a workout erection, its roots are firmly planted in the natural biological processes that go on when you break a sweat.

Spontaneous Erections

Spontaneous erections seem to happen, well, at random. Due to their unpredictability, they can be welcomed at best and disruptive at worst. While they are most common during puberty and adolescence when hormone levels are fluctuating, spontaneous erections can happen to adults too, and are influenced by a variety of factors including stress and hormones. 

For men, hormone levels fluctuate daily. These ebbs and flows in hormones like testosterone lead to spikes which can cause spontaneous erections. Random boners can also happen in response to varying levels of stress or even subconscious arousal throughout the day. It’s difficult to pin down the exact causes of these types of erections since they are influenced by many different factors on a day-to-day basis. If spontaneous boners happen to you so often that they become a problem, rest assured that there are techniques out there to help manage them. As with any other sexual health concern, be sure to consult with your doctor if random erections become unmanageable or detrimental to your life. 

At the end of the day, erections are a normal part of sexual health and wellness. Each type of erection serves a different purpose and can be influenced by various factors including physical stimulation, mental arousal, sleep quality, stress, and overall health. We hope that learning about the different types of erections can help you gain a deeper understanding of your own sexual health. After all, knowledge is power, and this knowledge can help you recognize normal (and potentially abnormal) patterns in your own body. As always, if you are experiencing difficulties with too few or too frequent erections, remember that there’s no shame in seeking guidance from your healthcare provider. While it’s easier said than done, the empowerment that comes with taking control of your sexual health is priceless.