Does Porn Cause ED?

The more pornography men view the more likely they are to experience erectile dysfunction (Begovic, 2019).

Men who end up having erectile dysfunction from porn tend to start using pornography during adolescence, begin using it daily to a point where only extreme content produces arousal.  Men then reach a stage where they can only be aroused by extreme, fast paced pornography which leaves real sexual intercourse seeming undesirable.  This lack of desirability leads to erectile dysfunction.  Some men then give up pornography to “re-boot” and regain their ability to obtain and maintain an erection (Begovic, 2019).

Men who use pornography almost daily have erectile dysfunction rates of 44% while those who use pornography less often have ED rates at 22% (Berger et al, 2019).

Among adolescent boys 27% report having experienced erectile dysfunction (O’Sullivan et al., 2014). 

Among young adult men, 30% report erectile dysfunction (Mialon et al., 2012).

Until recently, rates of ED among men under 40 were low.  In 1999, rates were around 5%.  This was before the Internet as we know it made pornography so easily accessible.  Recent studies on ED show a rate of ED in men under 40 of 28-33% (Park et al., 2016).

60% of men who are addicted to pornography have erectile dysfunction with a woman, but not when they use pornography (Voon et al., 2014).

In the 1940s, less than 1% of men under 30 had erectile dysfunction (Kinsey et al, 1948).

In the 1990s, with more porn available, 7% of men under 30 had erectile dysfunction (Laumann et al., 1999).

In the 2010’s, with Internet porn, 26% of male adolescents and 30% of men report ED (Mialon et al, 2012; O’Sullivan et al, 2014)

In the U.S. military, 33% of men age 21-40 have ED (Wilcox et al, 2014).

From 2004 to 2013, ED more than doubled in the military (Armed Forces Health Surveillance Center, 2014).

Doctors report that in the 20th century, almost no men under 40 complained of ED.  Today, one in four new ED patients are under the age of 40 (Capogrosso et al., 2013)

Men who consume porn more than once a week have ED levels twice as high as men who consume less than once a week  (Damiano et al., 2015).