Impact of Aging

The effects of aging on sex and sexuality

It’s a simple fact: sex changes as we age. When we’re young we have tons of energy but no experience. Once we’re older we gain that experience, but trade off the ‘rabbit response’ (well some of us do). But there’s a lot more to it than just that.

Many things affect us as we age, both physical and psychological. Hormonal changes can alter our levels of sexual desire over various stages of life. Testosterone production can decrease with various health conditions as well as being the side effect of many heart and blood pressure medications. In these cases it’s not the age that matters, but the hormone testosterone that needs to be replenished. Replace the testosterone, and many men see reinforced sex drive and penile performance.

Your energy levels also change over time. When you are a teenager with ‘raging hormones’ you experience sex at different energy levels than what you experience in your mid fifties. Although the style of sex may change, as well it probably should if just for safety reasons, the quality can even increase as we better learn our bodies’ responses (and those of our partners).

Not only do our bodies change over time, but a lifetime of experiences can change what sex means to us over time, and at various stages in our lives. It’s natural to feel changes to how we view sex, and what we get out of it. But while some things change, others remain steady. Our family and friends, who helped mould us as we grew, helped seed many values and beliefs that we carry through adulthood into our elder years.

Looking into the past, today’s seniors and even our later-middle-age group grew up in different times than we all currently live in. The differences between those days and modern times are simply huge. Values, beliefs, and social attitudes have drastically changed, and so have many of our attitudes towards sex and sexuality.

For example, women who grew up pre-1950 are totally familiar with the effects of sexual discrimination. Where some of these women made it through the social barriers, there were still professional and even legal barriers that discriminated against them.

These early experiences had a lasting impact on how this generation viewed sex, what they got out of sex, and even what they used sex for. Younger generations have grown up with a different set of messages, and will definitely affect their attitudes towards sex differently as they age.

Basically, there are more than just physical changes that affect sex as we age. The social and psychological influences in our lives also affect the quality of sex as we age, as do our relationships. Marriages and committed relationships also change our outlook on sex. The good news is that we are programmed to keep performing well into our later years, if at a slower rate than before. The secret is in keeping healthy and active.

 

Use if or lose it – sexual maintenance

It’s the same with sex as it is with anything else, if you don’t use it, you’ll lose it. The big key to maintaining your sexual performance is just like physical fitness of any other kind, repeat your performance regularly, and your body responds by keeping you fit for the task. So the best way to maintain your sexual capacity as you age is to just keep having sex!

Easier said than done, you say? Not really, when you consider all the help that’s available through both modern medical science and from what we know about the psychology of sex. What if your partner is unavailable? Self-stimulation (masturbation) is common and poses no health risks or side effects.

A couple of other considerations should include appropriate positions, adequate use of foreplay, medications, and permanent medical conditions.

Appropriate positions

Conditions like early arthritis are a reality for many folks, even in their middle years. If physical discomfort is an issue for you, consider looking into different sexual positions that may improve the situation. A little research in this area can be very fruitful, especially when you can discover a new position that satisfies both partners while still being comfortable for both. Here’s a quick tip: try putting pillows or cushions under the hips…

Adequate foreplay

Issues like vaginal dryness can make many women partners unresponsive, even when they wish otherwise. By spending a little more time on foreplay many of these issues can be passed by. Using lubes or creams can increase lubrication, making sexual contact more welcome, and even more exciting, as the application of these products can act as a form of foreplay all on its own. Some of these have been specifically formulated with herbal sexual stimulant formulas added in (products such as Vigorelle) which can add even further dimensions.  

Medications

Many medications can have a negative effect on testosterone production, which can drastically reduce men’s sex drive and penile performance regardless of age. Other medications can also affect sexual performance and libido. Although drugs like Viagra have been created to help with erectile dysfunction, many heart and blood-pressure medications (like nitroglycerine) interact very badly with drugs like Viagra, even resulting in heart attack in some cases. To avoid problems, look to alternatives like asking your physician to prescribe a different class of medication, or look into herbal treatments like VigRX that have few (if any) side effects and are safe to use with most heart medications.

Permanent medical conditions

The effects of physical alterations due to illness or surgeries (e.g. colostomies, mastectomies, etc.) can affect sexual performance. In these cases communication with your partner becomes important to help remove feelings of guilt, embarrassment, or fear, which can often have further reaching effects than the procedures themselves.

To sum it up, there are differences in how we approach sex and how we engage in sex as we age, but there are also benefits. Experience and education can get us much more out of our later sexual experiences, and as long as we’re physically careful, and tend to our sexual health, partners can continue to have satisfying sex well into their senior years.