The Ageing Process

What happens to the penis and its plumbing bits as age creeps up on you?

This is a new section and I would welcome contributions. The subject was raised by Iain who has a set of photos taken at the age of 25 and is intending to compare them with an equivalent set taken at the age of 60. The obvious comparison is the quality of the erection, but any other observations would be welcome. Your comments and preferably photos would be most welcome.

Iain's comments and photos:

These pictures were taken at age 25 (in 1970). Their primary function was to provide outlines to draw around to produce accurate anatomical drawings of the male reproductive system. At that time it was not possible (or legal) to show such pictures in public, least of all to high-school students, but the available material was very sparse and of a low quality. I have very little artistic talent, so this seemed to be the best way around the problem. B&W
film meant home developing and printing, so it could all be kept in the family, so as to speak!

A few drawings were produced from them, but it was a very short path to the end of my artistic talents, and the project died a death. So what do these pictures show? A normal penis in a flaccid and erect state. There are one or two things to consider here:-

1) The angle of erection - about 45 degrees at full erection
2) An intact foreskin - in fact, this was very tight until my late teens - not so extreme as a phimosis though. I found the best (but painful) way to stretch it was to retract it before an erection, and let the resulting enlargement do the work! This can be seen in the erection photos where the end of the glans protrudes a little from the foreskin.
3) The surface venous drainage is well demonstrated in the picture taken from slightly below
4) The erect size was 165mm long by 134mm in circumference (girth) (6.5" x 5.25"). The flaccid size varied with temperature, degree of bladder distension and thought processes - conditions we are all familiar with!

So why publish them now? It would be interesting to see the changes that time, diabetes and hypertension have wrought over the years. To further this, I aim to take pictures now, in as close a pose to the original as possible, to demonstrate these effects. The erections are not what they were, but in this case, there is evidence against which they can be compared. It would also be useful to show the effect of erection aids such as Viagra as a separate set. It is sad that there is little documentary evidence of changes with age, but in this case, it is just by chance that I found the negs (surviving two house moves). We can easily get pictures of young ones and old ones, but rarely the same subject.

Another Example

Mid 20s	Mid 50s
Less hair, more weight, but very similar otherwise

Some more thoughts on the subject:

Re your new section Some comments on the effects of ageing combined with diabetes and 68 years.

Main observations for what I suppose what must be a medium to small penis. Just six inches at very best and very little when flacid and cold.

Although I can still get an erection it never passes above the horizontal. Whereas in my twenties and thirties 45 degrees above the horizontal was the norm.

In the past the strength of the erection was strong enough to hang a bath towel on the erect member, this is not now possible. Also witout continuous stimulation things do not stay up.

While I do not have photographs of it in its young state, I certainly have some of now, if that's of inerest. My feeling is there has been some shrinkage and the unerect appears much smaller than I think it used to.

A message frm Frank

It's been a long time since I last wrote you. I check your site occasionally to see if there's something new or if there's anything I missed before. One thing that caught my eye this time was your page on aging and how we're affected in different ways.

I don't have photographic evidence of anything until I was about 48 years old, when my current wife and I got together. At that point, I was still much like I had been since a young man - still getting a lasting erection and able to play a long time. Up to that time, I had had limited partners - two wives plus a handful of other women along the way. When my current (and final) wife and I got together, my sexual energy was renewed and we were fucking morning, noon and night - literally! In addition, we began to enjoy other partners - people we met at nudist camps and many we met in an adult party group. Most of the additional activity was occurring during my fifties and included women old enough to be my mother to young enough to be my daughters. In all cases, my dick stayed hard whenever it needed to be.

As I approached age 60, I began having occasional trouble obtaining and maintaining an erection. I still enjoyed sex a lot, but my dick didn't always stay hard long enough for me to cum. My wife cums only with oral attention, so I can always get her off, whether or not I get hard enough to fuck her. By the time I was 63, it was time to talk to my doctor about ED. If I were well-rested (as in shortly after waking in the morning), I could stay hard long enough to put my dick in my wife's pussy, then pump and cum, but I wasn't lasting very long. My doctor gave me Levitra to try and it worked great! If it were later in the day when I was tired, I could take a Levitra a half hour before we started playing. I would get hard as a rock and could play for hours. During that time period, a friend was visiting me occasionally for sex and I could fuck her for hours as well.

Due to the cost of prescription ED medications in the US, I researched online and found a Canadian pharmacy with good pricing on them. I ordered Cialis because of the extended benefits compared to other versions of ED meds. I got the 20mg size, but break them in half when I use a dose. The 10mg dose of Cialis will allow me to get ready within 30 minutes or so and it still works the following day - a total of 32-36 hours in most cases. These medications don't make me hard, but they do make it very easy to get a hardon with stimulation. The stimulation can be nothing more than the usual foreplay - kissing and cuddling - and my dick will get hard. I find I don't have to worry about my dick softening during sex play but I have had no problem with it going soft when we stop playing. The day after I take a pill to ensure a nice hardon during sex with a woman, I can get a nice hardon while playing with my dick, although I don't try to cum in those cases - just enjoy my dick!

Hi Peter,

I regularly read your webpages and recently came across this fascinating topic and would welcome the opportunity to contribute and share my experiences.

Throughout my adult life I have always had a high sex drive and enjoy having sex whenever the opportunity arises. Now sixty I am still able to achieve and maintain a heathy erection and rarely ejaculate prematurely despite having diabetes and hypertension. However, I do take longer, after sex, to be physically ready to have sex again. This has led my wife and me to be more intimate and spending more time pleasing each other without keeping the focus on my erection or penetration.

Reflecting on the ageing process of my penis I would summarise by saying the size hasn’t significantly changed over the years. My erect penis is a tad under six inches with a girth of 5 inches. The flaccid size varies with temperature; a condition I am sure we are all too familiar with. I have an intact foreskin which is loose enough to retract fully before penetration. The angle of my erection was never above 45 degrees at full erection but nowadays it rarely passes above the horizontal. My vasectomy hasn’t had any negative consequences to our sex life apart from removing the fear of unwanted pregnancies and certainly led to better sexual satisfaction.

I haven’t noticed any significant lack of sexual desire. It is important for my wife and me not to let the “sexual flame” go out. I haven’t dropped sex for any long period of time if I can help it. If I am are without a partner I go solo. I have always enjoyed masturbation and probably always will. Staying sexually active is also the best way to keep your sexual organs performing up to par. Men have firmer erections when they have regular sex.

Importantly for me is how the ageing process affects my wife’s sexual pleasure and what makes for a satisfying experience. As previously alluded to foreplay is essential to us but so is the length of intercourse. My wife gets frustrated if I cum too soon after penetration. She achieves the greatest sexual gratification if I can fuck her for 10 minutes or so. She dislikes sex to go on for much more as sexual pleasures soon turns to sexual discomfort.

What has helped me maintain an active and full life in my mature years, despite putting on more weight, is my commitment to eating well, exercising regularly, moderate alcohol consumption, not smoking and most importantly being less stressed. Hopefully keeping to this regime my faithful penis will continue to give me pleasure for many years to come. I can’t imagine a time when sex no longer plays a part of my daily life.

Kind regards

John