Until recently, our society’s image of aging usually excluded sex. It was considered unseemly for older people to talk about it, much less do it. I know elderly people who have to sneak around to have sex just as they did when they were teenagers because they know it will be frowned upon by their peers and especially by their own children. Other older people stop having sex altogether because they buy into the notion that they are supposed to give up sex. They suppress their sexuality because it somehow seems inappropriate to express it.

It is my hope that the generation I now see entering their senior years challenges all of that. They deserve active, healthy sex lives as long as they remain physically fit. It will not harm them unless they try to do things their muscles and joints are too weak to manage or they overextend themselves to the point of exhaustion. Do not expect to do at fifty what you could do at forty, or do at sixty what you could do at fifty, and so on. Adjust your sexual activities as your body changes, just as you adjust other activities. Look upon the adjustment as both a new challenge and a new opportunity. As you age, learn to use your mind and imagination to make up in creativity what you may lack in physical strength.

As long as you are able to breathe, move your extremities, maintain relative control over your bodily functions, remain alert enough to identify the date and day of the week, and sustain a positive mental outlook, you can continue to exercise your penis power indefinitely. You can help stay superpotent as you age by maintaining good overall health habits: exercising regularly; minimizing your consumption of fat and cholesterol; controlling your weight; refraining from smoking, excessive drinking, and drugs; watching your blood pressure; and seeing your physician regularly. If you stay physically fit and mentally alert, you can remain sexually active as long as you have the urge.

Most importantly, do not think old! Your body may produce less testosterone; your blood vessels may become partially obstructed and diminish blood flow to the penis; and your muscles and joints may begin to deteriorate. But if your mind is still strong, your penis can be strong, too. The key is not to lament what you have lost. Be grateful for what you still have, and make the most of it.

If you have penis power, you are young no matter what your age may be. The strenuous use of your penis will sharpen your mind, exalt your soul, and keep you feeling vigorous. In short, you do not stop having sex because you get old, you get old because you stop having sex!

Dudley S. Danoff, MD, FACS is the attending urologic surgeon and founder/president of the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center Tower Urology Group in Los Angeles, California. He is the author of Penis Power: The Ultimate Guide To Male Sexual Health (Del Monaco Press, 2011) and Superpotency (Warner Books).

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