Poor sleeping quality due to frequent erections at night

Does anyone refer to psychiatrist for solving this i heard that some persons did cure with psychotherapy this is true I would like to have views from others

I posted a comment here several months ago about having this problem and trying to stretch my lower back to fix it. I was speculating that it was caused by compression on the pudendal nerve (though I didn't know its name then). I have been experimenting with variations of posture and stretching since then and thought I'd report back how it went.

I first visited a sports medicine / osteopathic / chiropractic doctor. He's the kind of guy who learns from a variety of medical disciplines and is really good at releasing stuck joints. He told me my pelvis was misaligned and locked up, and got it unstuck. That was step one.

Step two was dealing with a long term anterior pelvic tilt. Since I was young I have habitually held a posture (standing, sitting, whatever) where my lower back was tilted forward like my butt is sticking out. Correcting that involved training myself to sit upright with relaxed muscles in the lower back, strengthening my abs, and stretching my hip flexors so I could stand comfortably with my pelvis in a more neutral posture. The stretching is ongoing, but I have made enough progress to go on to the next step.

Step three is that with relaxed muscles in my lower back it's possible to prop myself up on my hands and stretch out the L1/L2/L3 joints in my lower back. I know the stretch has worked when I feel one or more of those joints release, or 'pop'. Sometimes I also feel the pop in that part of my hips that was stuck. I use a railing, a table, the inside corner of the counters in the kitchen, the arms of my desk chair, whatever is at hand that I can push up on to take the weight of my body off my back and let my legs hang. This only works if the muscles of my lower back are loose and relaxed.

I have been doing all of that for several months now. At first the joints would only sometimes release. Then it got more regular. Now when I prop myself up in my chair the joints are usually already loose and just make a kind of soft gentle popping noise. And I'm sleeping through the night. For the last few weeks the only time I wake up because of an erection is if I really have to pee and usually that's in the morning when it's time to get up anyways.

The hardest part of all of this is getting my lower back relaxed enough that it will release when I stretch it. I sit in a chair all day for work. Sometimes at the end of the day it's just tense and I haven't figured out why. But that's uncommon now.

And that's my story. Your mileage may vary. Your condition may not be the same as mine. I am not a doctor, etc. etc.

Thanks for the detailed update. Glad to hear that you feel better. Do you think an inversion table would work? Did you ever discuss about it with your doctor?

Prior to the lower back stretching how long did you have the condition? Sounds like you found something worth investigating - thank you!

Do you think an inversion table would work?
I seriously thought about an inversion table, or even just inversion boots I could hook onto a pull-up bar. I decided against it for three reasons. The main reason is I had an approach that seemed to be working well enough. Also I think it would require the same work to relax the muscles in the lower back, though I have no evidence either way. Finally I don't like the effect inversion has on intraoccular pressure. I also wondered if I could get ankle weights to help the stretching, but again, for me anyways, it's more about how relaxed my back muscles are than how much weight is pulling down on them.

Did you ever discuss about it with your doctor?
I did discuss it with the doctor I mentioned, but, like most everyone in this thread, he had no useful suggestions.

Prior to the lower back stretching how long did you have the condition?
I had been having progressively worse sleep until about two years ago it finally bubbled up into my awareness and I identified the cause. It was about a year later that I visited the doctor I mentioned and has been almost a year since then.

Incidentally I forgot to mention this and it may be relevant. About a month ago I was at the hardware store lifting a bag of potting soil and felt a sharp pain in my lower back. It was quite painful, especially at night, and didn't go away for a few weeks. I built a little triangular pillow out of sticks of foam to put under my knees at night. That helped a lot and within a week I felt better and set it aside.

Also it's worth mentioning that I often wake up half-way through the night to use the bathroom. On my way back to bed I do my back stretch. Whenever I get a release in the bottom couple of vertebral joints (or if they are already hanging loosely) it means I will sleep well the rest of the night.

Gents,
I've been experiencing this issue as well for the past ~2 years. I am thankful for this thread and have learned much! I've written before here, but here is another brief summary:
45 yo, mtn biker/ engineer/ sit/stand desk/ high stress job/ 3 young kids/ relatively fit.

I see commonality among us in the lower back / pelvic floor region.
My wife and me recently setup an inversion table a few months ago; While the table did wonders for reducing chronic neck and back pain it did not make the SPRE problem dissappear, as I was hoping it would. But it did help. A step in the right direction.

Through a random conversation with someone at work, Praise the Lord, I was led to purchasing an Accupressure Mat (~$20 ) from amazon and this has been nothing short of a miracle so far. I can make it much longer through the night. The mat has helped 100% in the immediate reduction of TENSION all along and within the lumbar area. Prior to the mat there was no exercise or stretch I could do that seemed to relieve the tension and 'bound' feeling in that general area. I believe the SRPE issue to be directly related to constriction in this area; the mat has had a profound effect on relaxing this muscle group after only a few days. I use it 1 hour or so before bed and find it to be incredibly relaxing.

I have been lax in daily strecthing and abdominal exercise but after reading the prior posts I will start this up.
As for the mat, I strongly recommend you all try this and report back.
Respectfully yours,
DP

Thanks DP. Can you tell us which brand you bought? Not sure if they allow you to post links here but maybe give it a try?

ProSource Acupressure Mat and Pillow Set for Back/Neck Pain Relief and Muscle Relaxation


DP

Does anyone went to a andrologist for this
hard flaccid and pelvic muscle spasms are causes by a loose/ torn suspensory ligament. when ligaments become loose and unstable the brain sends signals to tighten the muscles in the area to support the ligament this is causeing the pelvic muscles to spasm and tighten causing the mild errection this can and probably will eventualy cause erectile dysfunction and many other problems repeat this to a urologist you will need surgery im sorry to say there is a surgery supported by studys of a British andrologist mr Mr David Ralph where they insert non maliable structures to resuport the suspensory ligament. it is a very safe and statisticly effective corrective surgey your urologist will likely not be much help but repeat what I have told you and he will be able to refer you to a specialist andrologist

After some web searching, I found the paper 'The penile suspensory ligament: abnormalities and repair' by 'Chi-Ying Li, Vineet Agrawal, Suks Minhas, David J. Ralph' which talks about this.
You can read the entire thing but this is what It says- "The clinical assessment included a detailed medical history with particular emphasis on a history of trauma, penile deformity and/or ED. The diagnosis was confirmed on examination by the presence of a palpable gap between the pubis and the penis"
I do not have any of these symptoms, anyone else?

Doesn't fit for me either. Also I wouldn't cal the erection I get "mild". Doesn't hurt but it's at 100% and if my wife was up in the middle for it I would be ready to go.

You know what's interesting about this is I was healthy and then I dated a girl that basically used my penis as a dildo and she used to practically break my penis off during sex. I wonder if I damaged anything during those sessions with her? I do NOT have hard flaccid. I do have an irregularity on the left side, or at least it feels like it where the suspensory ligament meets my body. Worth looking into.

Hello starbuck,
during your stress-free vacation, did you receive those nocturnal erections?

Have any of you noticed a change in color on the tip of your penis? Mine is turning green black and purplish. I am very scared...

Those colors sound like something you need to show a doctor asap. Mine has never done that and I'm going on 4 years with condition. Never took any drugs. Just managing each night with the waking up.