Aging and The Sexual Response Cycle

Many individuals wonder what will happen to their sex lives once they are older and have passed their supposed sexual peak. Are they going to be able to perform as well as young adults do? What changes occur and what do these changes mean? Although there are many changes that occur in an individual's sexual response cycle with aging, there are many ways to keep an active and healthy sex life at any age.

The Myth of Sexual Peaks

Many individuals have heard the myth that women and men have different times in their lives when they are at a sexual peak. The sexual peak is supposedly the time in which an individual's sexual desire and ability is at its highest point. The common myth is that men reach their sexual peak in their early twenties, while women do not reach their sexual peak until their thirties. The first graph represents this idea.

As the graph suggests males begin their sexual activity earlier and reach their peak earlier, while women are reaching their peak later in life. This graph does not have to be true for men and women. In reality men and women may reach the top of their sexual ability and desire at different times, and it is possible that they will only decline slightly with age. The sharp decrease in sexuality shown in the first graph does not have to occur. This possibility is shown in the second graph below.

This second graph shows that males do tend to discover their sexuality at an earlier age than do females, but it also shows that both sexes tend to remain quite sexual during adulthood. In addition, it should be said that people can lose their sexual interest at any age in life, depending on their sexual experiences. For instance if an individual was raped or sexually abused and did not have positive and loving sexual experiences thereafter the person might have a decline in sexuality. But people with happy and loving sexual experiences can have exciting sexual lives for decades.

Common Changes caused by Aging in the Sexual Response Cycle

With aging, many people experience changes during each phase of the sexual response cycle. These changes are natural and vary in the amount that they affect an individual's sex life. There are many things that one can do to keep an active and healthy sex life, so that these changes need not have a detrimental effect.

Males

Excitement Phase

• Erections are slower to develop with increasing age. A younger male may be able to experience erection in a matter of seconds, while some older men may need several minutes of effective stimulation to become erect.

Plateau Phase

• Older men may have less muscle tension (myotonia), than younger men
• Complete erection may not be achieved until the end of the plateau phase.
• The testes do not elevate up towards the body as much.
• The older man is able to stay in the plateau phase longer. This may enhance his and his partner's sexual pleasure, making this one of the positive changes that occur with aging.

Orgasm Phase

• There may be a lowered level of intensity during orgasm.
• There are sometimes fewer contractions during orgasm.
• The seminal fluid may be thinner in consistency.

Resolution Phase

• This phase occurs quicker in older men.
• The testes lower away from the body quicker.
• The refractory period lasts longer than it did when the man was young.

Females

Females tend to experience a decline in their sexual response at around the time of menopause; this is when a woman ceases to ovulate each month.

Excitement Phase

• There is less vasocongestion than in younger women.
• Vaginal lubrication may take longer to occur and the amount of lubrication may be less than before.
• The width and length of the vagina does not increase as much as in young women.

Plateau Phase

• The orgasmic platform develops to a slightly lesser degree than in young women.
• The elevation of the uterus occurs slightly less.

Orgasm Phase

• There may be fewer muscle contractions during orgasm.
• The uterine contractions that take place with orgasm may become painful.

Resolution Phase

• This phase occurs more rapidly. Since older women have less vasocongestion than younger women, it takes less time to return to the normal unaroused state.

Ways to Keep a Healthy Sexual Response Cycle

One of the best ways to keep a healthy sexual life is to maintain an active sex life, which exercises and maintains the body parts involved in sexual arousal and orgasm. So the phrase, "Use it or lose it," is somewhat true in this case. Also maintaining a healthy lifestyle, exercising and eating right, will lower the chances of ones overall health deteriorating, which can affect ones sexual response. A menopausal woman may consider taking hormone replacement therapy even though this is not the best strategy forever.