Is Too Much Porn Causing Your Erectile Dysfunction?

If you can get an erection watching porn but not with a partner, you are not imagining it and you are not unusual. That specific pattern comes up constantly; it is genuinely distressing, and there are now large online communities built entirely around men trying to fix it.

If you can get an erection watching porn but not with a partner, you are not imagining it and you are not unusual. That specific pattern comes up constantly, it is genuinely distressing, and there are now large online communities built entirely around men trying to fix it.

“Porn-induced erectile dysfunction”, often shortened to PIED, is an informal term used when a man believes his erection problems are connected to his pornography use. A commonly described pattern is being able to get or maintain an erection while watching porn or masturbating, but struggling to do the same during sex with a partner.

The name implies that the cause is more certain that it actually is, it is not currently recognised as a separate medical diagnosis. This isn't to say it isn't playing a part; it can be one part of the problem without it being the only reason you are experiencing erectile dysfunction.

The largest study to look at this surveyed 14,135 people in Sweden as a nationally representative sample; 6,169 of them men. Men using porn three or more times a week had roughly double the odds of reporting erection problems, an adjusted odds ratio of 2.18. ^[1]

But the same paper also notes erection problems were just as common among men who said porn had a mostly positive effect on their sex life as among men who said the effect was mostly negative. The authors flagged this as showing no consistent direction to the relationship. ^[1]

Other large samples point the other way entirely. A study across 2,737 men in Croatia, Norway and Portugal, plus a second sample of 1,211 Croatian men, found little evidence of any association between porn use and erectile, desire or orgasmic difficulties in younger men. ^[2] A 2019 review of the observational literature reached a similar conclusion: there is little if any evidence that porn use induces erectile dysfunction or delayed ejaculation, though the authors were clear that longitudinal studies controlling for confounders are still needed. ^[3]

These two are not the same thing, and conflating them is where most of the harm gets done in both directions. There is no agreed number of videos, minutes or days per week at which porn use automatically becomes problematic.

Problematic porn use is more about if you can control your use and consequences from it. This might mean regularly watching for longer than intended, repeatedly trying and failing to cut down, or continuing even though it is affecting sleep, work, a relationship or partnered sex. Someone may also find that porn has become their preferred or only reliable way of becoming aroused, even though they no longer feel comfortable with how much they are using it, and this is where porn-induced erectile dysfunction happens.

The difference matters when looking at sexual problems. A study involving 14,581 adults found that problematic porn use had a moderate association with sexual-functioning problems in men, whereas frequency alone had only a weak association in the opposite direction. This does not mean that watching porn frequently improves sexual function. It shows that counting how often someone watches is a poor way of deciding whether their use is causing them problems. ^[4]

A separate study following men over time reached a similar conclusion. Men who described their porn use as problematic were more likely to report ED at the same point in time, but simply watching porn was not consistently associated with poorer erections. The researchers also found no evidence that either porn use or problematic use predicted how erectile function changed over time. ^[5]

These studies cannot tell us which came first. Problematic porn use could contribute to anxiety, relationship difficulties or a very narrow pattern of sexual arousal. Equally, a man who already has ED may use porn more often to check his erections, avoid partnered sex or reassure himself that he can still become aroused.

None of this means that very frequent porn use should be ignored. Even where it cannot be shown to be causing ED, it is worth addressing when it is consuming large amounts of time, replacing intimacy, disrupting sleep or becoming difficult to control.

If porn is contributing to an individual man’s erection problems, it is unlikely to be because it has physically damaged his penis or permanently “rewired” his brain. The relationship may instead involve anxiety, sexual expectations, masturbation habits, relationship difficulties or problematic porn use.

What often gets overlooked by many men who are consuming porn is masturbating shortly before partnered sex, or several times a day most days, you are asking your body to produce an erection while it's still in a refractory state. It's the same physiology that means a second erection is harder work than the first, applied over and over.

Sex therapist Michael Perelman identified three things that disproportionately characterised men with delayed ejaculation: masturbating more than about three times a week, an idiosyncratic masturbatory style which is a technique a partner's hand, mouth or vagina can't easily reproduce, and is a gap between the reality of sex with a partner and the fantasy they use when masturbating. ^[6] So it might not be the porn. It's the mismatch between two very different sets of conditions, one of which you've practised thousands of times and one of which you haven't. Porn is often part of the solo condition, but so are grip, speed, position, privacy and the absence of another person's needs. This has only been established for delayed ejaculation, but it is a reasonable extrapolation that this may also apply to being able to gain an erection.

Performance anxiety can also play a role. Erections depend on attention staying on what's actually happening; when part of your attention is on whether this is going to work, how long you should last, or on comparing the situation to something you have watched previously, arousal drops. A man who has spent years pairing arousal with a particular kind of intensity seen in porn has a longer way to travel to get there with a partner, and more room in the gap for anxiety to get in.

The short answer is maybe. Reducing or stopping porn may help some men, particularly where their use feels difficult to control, has replaced partnered sex or their erections are reliable with porn but not with a partner. However, there is no good evidence that quitting porn is a universal cure for ED, and there is no medically established 30-, 60- or 90-day “reboot” period.

Men in online communities may genuinely experience improvements after stopping porn. However, those accounts cannot tell us whether abstinence itself caused the improvement. During the same period, someone may also stop repeatedly testing their erection, masturbate less often, sleep better, feel less anxious, communicate more with their partner or simply recover from a temporary episode of ED.

A break from porn or reduction in porn can help you mentally. Rather than repeatedly watching porn to see whether the penis still works, the aim should be to observe whether arousal, confidence and partnered sex gradually change without it. Someone may also choose to masturbate without porn and vary a very fixed masturbation routine. There is no established requirement to stop masturbation or all sexual activity as part of this.

If erections improve, that suggests that porn-associated habits, expectations or anxiety may have been contributing. It does not prove that porn was the sole cause or that the brain has completed a neurological “reset.”

If they do not improve, this does not mean that someone is permanently damaged or simply needs to abstain for longer. ED that keeps happening should be properly assessed because physical health conditions, medicines, hormones, stress, depression, performance anxiety and relationship factors can all contribute, and more than one cause may be present at the same time.

There is no evidence-based recovery time for porn-related ED. Claims that it takes 30, 60 or 90 days for the brain to “reset” largely come from online recovery communities rather than clinical studies. Research has not established a standard period of abstinence after which erections should return, and porn-induced erectile dysfunction is not recognised as a separate medical diagnosis with a predictable course. 

A study analysing 104 abstinence journals from an online pornography “rebooting” forum found that men reported a range of benefits after stopping porn, including perceived improvements in sexual difficulties. However, the researchers could not establish whether abstinence itself caused those improvements. They said prospective studies were still needed to test abstinence properly as an intervention. ^[7]

This does not mean that men describing improvements are being dishonest. It means that several things may change at the same time. Someone who stops watching porn may also stop repeatedly testing his erection, masturbate differently, sleep better, feel less anxious, communicate more openly with his partner or gradually regain confidence after a previous episode of ED.

Where porn is part of the problem, improvement may therefore depend on what is maintaining it. Stopping porn will not automatically remove performance anxiety, repair a difficult relationship or treat compulsive behaviour. Equally, simply reaching a particular number of porn-free days does not guarantee that a man will suddenly be able to get an erection with a partner.

Progress may be more useful to judge by changes such as feeling less pressure to test whether an erection still works, becoming less dependent on one particular masturbation routine, feeling more comfortable during partnered intimacy and spending less time worrying about erection firmness. These changes may occur gradually and do not need to follow a straight line.

Online communities sometimes describe a temporary loss of libido or erections after stopping porn as a “flatline” and interpret it as evidence that the brain is healing. A flatline is not a medically recognised stage of recovery, and experiencing one does not prove that porn has damaged or rewired the brain. Changes in sexual desire can have many explanations, including stress, mood, tiredness, changes in masturbation frequency and anxiety about recovery.

Reducing or stopping porn can still be a reasonable personal experiment when its use feels difficult to control or appears closely tied to erection problems. However, there is no need to wait for an arbitrary 90-day deadline before seeking medical advice. If erection problems keep happening, the NHS recommends speaking to a GP or sexual health clinic because ED can be a sign of a treatable health condition.

Before you settle on porn as the explanation, it's worth knowing what else could be contributing or causing your erectile dysfunction. Erections depend on blood flow, nerve signals, hormones, sexual arousal and someone feeling sufficiently relaxed and comfortable. A problem in any one of these areas can affect erectile function, and it is common for physical and psychological factors to overlap.

We cover the causes more in-depth in our Which ED Tablet, and What to Do When It Doesn't Work article.

A routine ED assessment may include questions about morning and sexually stimulated erections, sexual desire, medicines, mental health, relationships and lifestyle. Depending on the circumstances, it may also include blood pressure, glucose or HbA1c, cholesterol and an early-morning testosterone test. Erectile dysfunction shares several risk factors with cardiovascular disease and can sometimes provide an opportunity to identify an underlying health problem before it has otherwise been diagnosed.

If you take the decision to stop watching or reduce your porn usage and your erections do not improve, it does not mean that the penis or brain has been permanently damaged or that you need to abstain for longer. It simply may mean that porn was not the main factor, or that anxiety, physical health, medication and relationship factors also need to be addressed. Likewise, an improvement after stopping porn may suggest that porn-associated habits were contributing, but it does not prove that porn was the sole cause.

You do not need to prove that porn caused your erection problem before deciding to change how you use it. If porn has become difficult to control, has started replacing partnered sex or seems closely tied to when you can and cannot get an erection, reducing or stopping it is a reasonable step. If you're looking up and reading articles like this, it is likely that it has already become a problem and you should consider reducing your watching of it.

Don't aim to punish yourself or complete a neurological “detox”. It is to remove one possible contributing factor, regain control over the behaviour and see whether your arousal, confidence and sex life change without it. The commonly discussed 30, 60 or 90 day target is not founded in any evidence. 

Easy changes like deleting saved material, unfollowing accounts that regularly lead to porn use, stopping "doom scrolling" for hours on end, keeping a phone out of the bedroom or implementing internet and website restrictions can all help.

What your GP can help with.

The NHS advises seeing a GP or attending a sexual health clinic when erection problems keep happening, as ED can sometimes be a sign of a treatable health condition. Blood pressure, cholesterol, blood glucose or HbA1c, and you medication should all be checked and reviewed.

When to consider a therapist.

A psychosexual therapist may be useful when erections are generally reliable alone but become difficult with a partner, or when performance anxiety, body-image concerns, previous negative sexual experiences or relationship pressure appear to be involved. Psychosexual therapy can examine the thoughts, behaviours and relationship patterns maintaining ED rather than simply telling someone to relax.

Support may also be appropriate when porn use feels out of control. Warning signs include repeatedly watching for longer than intended, your first instinct when you are on your phone or computer is to watch porn, being unable to cut down despite trying, losing sleep or work time, avoiding relationships or continuing even though the behaviour is causing clear harm.