Thursday, August 23, 2007

Still Horny After All These Years


The New England Journal of Medicine released a study exploring sexual activity among senior citizens. Apparently, seniors are still having sex two to three times a month, and about half of them report a "bothersome" problem. For women, such problems include vaginal dryness (39%), low desire (43%) and inability to climax (34%). For men, it's mostly erectile dysfunction, and about 14% of all men over age 57 are taking medication to help them get it up. Only 38% of men and 22% of women have discussed their sexual problems with a doctor.

The study reported that women are less likely than men to be sexually active, which I suspect really means that even as senior citizens, men are more likely to say they're having sex than women are. More than half of seniors 57-75 say they have oral sex. As you might guess, sexual activity decreases with age: 73% of people in the 57-64 age bracket are having sex, 53% of those age 65-74 and 26% at age 75-85.
Obviously, sex is important to intimate relationships, though I question the continual harping that it's essential to our health after menopause, especially the way we did it when we were younger. If men have more trouble getting and keeping it up and women no longer lubricate or climax as easily, maybe there are other things to try besides medication to facilitate the old pussy-pounding sex couples had in their 20s. Maybe sex can become more interesting and even more intimate as you age because you have to try new things that are not as reliant immediate erections and lubrication. Tantric sex comes to mind.
Anybody out there willing to share information or experience?

10 comments:

Unknown said...

This was a great post. I'm still figuring it out but I seem to be having more sex the older I get. Yay me! LOL!!!

Anonymous said...

Yay you, is right! Good for you! What's your secret?

Anny Cook said...

Hmphf. Use it or lose it is true. We're going on forty years. And (sigh) I will admit that we've slowed down... maybe only five times a week instead of seven.

Yeah, things change. More time. Different positions. Much more specific conversations..."let's try this--or that."

Interestingly enough, more day-time sex, less night-time sex. Too tired?

Mostly, I believe it's a matter of attitude. If you think you can't/aren't supposed to do it because you're old, then...? I don't feel old on the inside.

Trista Ann Michaels said...

We've been married nine years now and I think we're having sex more now than when we first married...hehe.

Hubby's gone alot though, nineteen days out of the month as a pilot, so that makes the sex better I think. Time apart, time to recharge...yehaw...LOL.

Trista

Susan said...

Wow, Anny, I'm impressed. Sounds like good communication, imagination and attitude make a difference.

Or having a husband who's a pilot, Trista! Time apart and being glad to see each other definitely sounds like part of it. It could be too that, if you have a good relationship, you get more comfortable with each other over the years and intimacy actually builds, making for a better sex life.

hurricaneamy said...

Here's one for you all. Several years before my grandmother passed away she started saying that she was going to save up her money to divorce my gandpop for a younger man because he wouldn't "perform in the bedroom" any more. We all thought she was kidding, until she got sick & was admitted to the hospital, we found $1,376.00 in her purse. Guess she wasn't kidding. I should also mention that she was 96 years old when she died and that my pop was already 18 years younger than her! Go Nana!!
I ran a chain of adult stores that catered to women and couples for 13 years. Older women came in all the time looking for ways to respark their husbands interest in sex. Believe it or not, older women were much more interested in maintaining the sexual side to their marriage than their husbands were and were far more likely to bring the matter up so to speak with their husbands Dr.'s about how to counteract problems due to medical illness or prescription medication!
Based on my years of experience and "sexpertise" I'd definately say that menopause does not kill off a women's libido or need for intimacy. Vaginal dryness can be combatted easily with a store bought lube, and while you may not want to chance some of the more daring positions due to arthritis or osteoporsis, all the older women i've spoken with made it clear that they wouldn't give up on sex. Gives me hope for the future!!

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Wei Wu Wei said...

I am in my early 20s. I dated a post menopause woman for about a year. She was fantastic. In her own words, "menopause keeps me constantly horny". Exceptionally beautiful and the most orgasmic woman I ever met.

Wei Wu Wei said...

I am in my early 20s. I dated a post menopause woman for about a year. She was fantastic. In her own words, "menopause keeps me constantly horny". Exceptionally beautiful and the most orgasmic woman I ever met.

Anonymous said...

Wow, Robert, that's a great story. I know a lot of women who would love to meet you! ;-)