Can Men Orgasm Without An Erection? What We Know

When someone says "orgasm," we often have a mental picture. For men, it usually involves physical and mental arousal, brought on by masturbation or partnered sexual activity. Foreplay, sexual activity, and eventual penetrative sex heighten a sense of buildup within them before finally, there's the big release — fluid and all — and the euphoric sensation that comes with the Big O.

Having a hard penis, or erection, is a sizeable part of this picture, thanks partly to movies and porn, but science tells us otherwise. In fact, it's even possible to orgasm without ejaculate escaping your penis. Talk about weird things that happen to men during sex. But that's a topic for a different day. 

When it comes to achieving an orgasm, you don't have to have an erection. "Oftentimes people have the notion of what's socialized in media," Tameca Harris-Jackson, a certified sexuality educator in Winter Park, Florida, explained to WebMD. "[T]hat sex means you have an erection, there's penetration with intercourse, and it ends with an orgasm. Sex is much broader than that," she said. Here's why it's possible to orgasm without an erection. 

Although we often expect the two to happen simultaneously (and it does happen that way typically), the two processes of erection and orgasm occur through different mental and physiological processes within your body. Put more simply, the neurological pathway is different for both. 

Erection is more of a muscle-, tissue-, and blood-based affair. When there's sexual stimulation, either physical or mental, your brain tells the muscles in your penis to relax. A relaxed penis also signals an increase in blood flow to the area. When the spongy erectile tissue, also referred to as the "corpora cavernosa," is filled with blood, another simultaneous action occurs. A series of valves trap the blood inside, leading to an erection — your penis standing up and away from your body.   

Orgasms, on the other hand, are what you feel when a concoction of brain chemicals is released by your brain. This chemical release can happen simply by stimulating sensation in your penis. You don't have to be erect in order for it to happen. Now for the question of when men might have an orgasm without an erection. 

Men with erectile dysfunction (ED) because of various underlying health concerns like vascular disease, neurological conditions, mental health concerns (like stress, depression, anxiety), injury, and even surgery can become concerned about achieving an orgasm without an erection. 

While some of these health concerns can be addressed with the help of healthcare providers and medications (and even lead to erections), others might involve changing how you approach sex and sexual stimulation in order to orgasm. Even in the context of something as serious as radical prostatectomy (removal of the prostate gland after prostate cancer), it is possible for men to orgasm, but the sensation might feel different, explained urologist Dr. Ravi Kacker (via Harvard Health Publishing). Men can experience the mental component of pent-up sexual stimulation and release minus the other things like fluids filling in the urethra and ejaculation, per the expert. 

Granted, not being able to have an erection will change how sex looks for you and your partner. Open communication and a willingness to try other things in order to sexually stimulate one another and achieve orgasms are important. It's about men finding natural ways to boost their orgasms. "The goal is to learn to explore one another's bodies. Take time to just caress and kiss and verbalize to one another what it feels like without penetration, without oral sex, so there's no pressure that anyone has to have an erection," explained Tameca Harris-Jackson (via WebMD).