How Does Complete Spinal Cord Injury Affect Sexual Functioning in Men?
The following aspects of sexual functioning are likely to be affected when a complete spinal cord injury has occurred in men: • Genital sensation or orgasm. For women and men with spinal cord injuries that are complete at any level, there is not likely to be any genital sensation or orgasm. Some people learn to transfer erotic feelings from other parts of their bodies that do have sensation. • Erotic mental and physical feelings. A complete injury does not rule out erotic sexual feelings. Many people are able to shift their source of eroticism so that the brain receives sexual signals from parts of the body other than the genitals. The brain learns to react sexually to pleasurable touching in other areas of the body, such as the ear lobes and the back of the neck. • Erection to touch (reflex erections). Men who have injuries that are T10 and above are likely to experience uncontrolled reflex in response to touch on the penis. This occurs because the reflex arc (from the penis to the lo
