# Morning woody after a dream **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 24, 2000, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/morning-woody-after-a-dream/6622 "2000-01-24T22:21:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![woodja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ebca7d/32.png) [@woodja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodja)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2000, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/morning-woody-after-a-dream/6622/21 "2000-01-28T06:18:00Z")
## ThufferinThuccotash quote: ``` I've read before that morning wood, huh-huh-huh huh-huh-huh, happens because your body is 100% relaxed ``` * * * ## I gotta go with johnnyharvard on this one. Relaxation of some groinal region is the principle behind Viagra as well. No. An erection is caused by the flexion of sphincter muscles surrounding the veins exiting the penis. The arteries let blood in, but the veins are closed off and don’t let it back out again, and so the two cavities along the sides of the penis fill up with blood. Viagra mediates some neurotransmitter common in those muscle and also the eye, interestingly enough (or close to that, it’s been a while since I read the article) All male humans (that don’t have physically mediated erectile dysfunction) get erections during REM sleep, just like everybody’s eyes move. In fact, observation in a sleep lab is the primary method of finding out if erectile dysfunction is being caused by a physical or psychological problem (at least it is at the sleep lab upstairs from my office at Western Psychiatric). They wire you up at night at go look when you go into REM. If you’re up, see a councilor 'cause you’re problems are not physical, if you’re not, see a urologist (or some3 similar specialist). No lie. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2000, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/morning-woody-after-a-dream/6622/22 "2000-01-27T19:02:00Z")
> [@](#): > > No lie. ## Heh… who would expect someone naming themselves **wood** ja to lie about this? Once in a while you can get shown the light in the strangest of places if you look at it right… ---
**Author:** ![woodja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ebca7d/32.png) [@woodja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodja)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2000, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/morning-woody-after-a-dream/6622/23 "2000-01-27T19:45:00Z")
Not only that, but I’m from Texas, where as we all know everything is bigger… But seriously, we take pride in or family name (Wood). I have a cousin named Cord (it’s on his birth certificate), and another whose nickname is Red. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2000, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/morning-woody-after-a-dream/6622/24 "2000-01-28T15:28:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Viagra mediates some neurotransmitter common in those Read that article again, woodja; mediating a neurotransmitter _results_ in relaxation of the mechanism controlling blood flow to the penis, resulting in a wake up call to the Little Terrorist. * * * TT “Believe those who seek the truth. Doubt those who find it.” --Andre Gide ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2000, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/morning-woody-after-a-dream/6622/25 "2000-01-28T15:48:00Z")
Im sure Cecil must have wrote about this but Im too lazy to look. Men’s peepees have a special valve, & we discussed this before, that keeps one from peeing when turgid. Although we enough pressure you can get those blasted things to shoot the pee. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2000, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/morning-woody-after-a-dream/6622/26 "2000-01-28T15:49:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by handy: > \*\* > Im sure Cecil must have wrote about this but Im too lazy to look. > > Men’s peepees have a special valve, & we discussed this before, that keeps one from peeing when turgid. Although with enough pressure you can get those blasted things to shoot the pee. \*\* ---
**Author:** ![woodja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ebca7d/32.png) [@woodja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodja)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2000, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/morning-woody-after-a-dream/6622/27 "2000-01-28T17:55:00Z")
ThufferinThuccotash I was curious and so went looking for info. You were right about viagra (though I’m sure you knew that), sorry: “The physiologic mechanism of erection of the penis involves release of nitric oxide (NO) in the corpus cavernosum during sexual stimulation. NO then activates the enzyme guanylate cyclase, which results in increased levels of guanosine monophosphate (cGMP), producing smooth muscle relaxation in the corpus cavernosum and allowing inflow of blood.” (from Pfizer’s viagra site) But it’s also true that compression of the veins leaving the penis is necesary for erection to occur, though I might have got some specifics wrong: “…and entrapment of blood by compressing venules against the tunica albuginea, a process referred to as the corporal veno- occlusive mechanism. The tunica albuginea must have sufficient stiffness to compress the venules penetrating it so that venous outflow is blocked and sufficient tumescence and rigidity can occur.” (NIH site about impotence) Whatever, as long as it works. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2000, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/morning-woody-after-a-dream/6622/28 "2000-01-29T06:38:00Z")
TBone2: > [@](#): > > Jolt, are you angry? Are you disappointed? I suspect maybe you’ve had a LOT more than one, but the others were discounted as “accidents,” i.e. you peed the bed. “Nocturnal emissions,” (the psychobabble term for staining the sheets) are more than normal. They’re de rigeur for any boy growing up. I don’t recall ever waking up with sticky undershorts. Some of us are better at taking care of that **before** we go to sleep. > [@](#): > > I remember a time a couple years ago, waking up in a motel room in Corbin, KY, with my SO astraddle me and riding my version of the “woody” you talk about for all she was worth. Even as I type this, I’m smiling! She happened to wake earlier than I did, found that beauty, and climbed on! Jeez, sometimes life is VERY good! Now _I’m_ angry and disappointed. 😉 woodja: > [@](#): > > In fact, observation in a sleep lab is the primary method of finding out if erectile dysfunction is being caused by a physical or psychological problem (at least it is at the sleep lab upstairs from my office at Western Psychiatric). They wire you up at night at go look when you go into REM. If you’re up, see a councilor 'cause you’re problems are not physical, if you’re not, see a urologist (or some3 similar specialist). No lie. This is true, but there’s no need to get wired up and all that sophistication. Get a postage stamp. Stick it on Willy before going to bed. If you wake up and it’s still stuck down, you didn’t get happy - see a urologist. If it is detached, you got wood, so you need a shrink. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2000, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/morning-woody-after-a-dream/6622/29 "2000-01-28T21:36:00Z")
Trout, I read its more like 40 times per night. Stick an electrical prod up a guys butt you can have him spitting sperm in no time. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2000, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/morning-woody-after-a-dream/6622/30 "2000-01-28T21:50:00Z")
Say, didn’t ZZ Top have a song about this phenomenon? [off-key singing]I woke up with wood…[/off-key singing] Admittedly not as eloquent as your source, **jti** , but the sentiment is the same… * * * “Every time you think, you weaken the nation!” --M. Howard [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/morning-woody-after-a-dream/6622.md?page=1)