This is how Viagra effects your penis… minute by minute over the course of a day.
It takes about an hour for Viagra to be fully absorbed into the system and the average time it takes to get an erection is 27 minutes after taking a pill.
VIAGRA is the wonder drug for men who suffer from erectile dysfunction.
Since it's debut in 1998 it has enabled millions of men to take control of their sex life and allow for a little more action in the bedroom.
But there are still some things about the little blue pill that remain a little blurry – how fast does it work and how long does it last in the body?
Now, Superdrug has shed some light on how it effects the penis and what effects you can expect from minutes to hours.
Erectile dysfunction is a very common condition, particularly in older men.
It is estimated that half of all men between the ages of 40 and 70 will have it to some degree.
The manufacturers of Viagra, recommend taking it an hour before having sex.
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But studies have suggested that it could work even sooner than that, according to the UK health and beauty retailer.
Some men have reported being able to have sex just 12 minutes after taking Viagra.
And, while the maximum concentration of the drug isn't reached until about an hour after taking it, the average time it took men to get an erection was 27 minutes.
But four hours after taking it, there is only half as much in the bloodstream as there was when it reach maximum concentration.
And even 10 to 12 hours after taking it, the drug was still present in the blood stream and men could still achieve an erection hard enough to have sex, although it didn't last as long.
It takes 24 hours for the drug to be completely out of a man's system.
Here is what happens step by step.
The first 12 minutes.
The drug is rapidly absorbed by the body and some men can get an erection within 12 minutes.
Viagra makes its way into the body's blood vessels, which will lead to an erection over time.
A man has to be sexually aroused for Viagra to work – it is not what it looks like in comedy sketches.
A study in the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology found it took men with erectile dysfunction 12 to 70 minutes to get an erection once they had taken viagra.
The middle ground was about 27 minutes for most men in the study.
The effects were found to last at least four hours.
27 minutes in.
This is the time most men in the study gained an erection.
The drug binds to a group of enzymes called PDE5 that breaks down a compound called cGMP that reduces blood flow to the penis.
This prevents the enzyme from working, therefore maintaining blood flow to the penis.
The maximum erection potential time – 57 minutes in.
Viagra reaches its peak effect within an hour of being taken.
At this point it reaches its highest blood saturation, which is why medics recommend men take it an hour before they want to have sex.
It may be delayed by an hour or so, though, if it was taken with food.
But just how long will the erection, whether it is fully hard or just hard enough for penetration, last?
A study in the Journal of Sexual Medicine found that men could hold an erection for an average of 33 minutes an hour after taking the little blue pill.
Eight hours after taking it, erections lasted for about 23 minutes and by 12 hours it dropped to just 16 minutes.
In the same study, men who took a placebo were only able to maintain an erection for seven minutes.
Four hours in and halfway gone.
By four hours, the half life of Viagra has been reached meaning there is only half as much present in the blood as there was an hour after taking it.
Many men think they cannot have sex four hours after taking Viagra, but that is a misconception.
The warning that comes with the drug is "if you experience an erection lasting longer than four hours" men should seek medical advice – which may have caused confusion for some.
But this only applies if a man has experienced a four hour long, continuous erection.
Ten hours later.
You may think that the drug has all but left your system – but it hasn't.
A man can still get an erection 10 hours after taking the drug.
As found in the study in the Journal of Sexual Medicine, the ability to get an erection does not decrease, just the amount of time a man can maintain an erection.
24 hours later and it is out of your system.
By now, most of the traces are gone from the bloodstream.
Men with erectile dysfunction will not be able to get an erection by this point.
Viagra's effects have also been found to boost the firmness of an erection.
According to Superdrug, a study of nearly 4,000 men with erectile dysfunction who were then treated with Viagra found a clear increase in the firmness of erections.
Prior to taking Viagra, 58.7 per cent of these men reported an erection hardness score of only one or two, considered insufficient for penetration.
However, after four weeks of treatment, 96.3 per cent found they were able to obtain erections of hardness grade three or four – with 63.6 per cent achieving grade four erections, the highest possible firmness.
Without Viagra, a majority of these men would have had great difficulty having sex.
But if Viagra doesn't sound like it is the right option for you, there are plenty of other impotency solutions on the market.
Similar medications like Cialis, Levitra, and Spedra have debuted as erectile dysfunction drugs to help men with impotency.
But some studies still found Viagra has a greater impact.
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This is how Viagra effects your penis
