Those Wedding Night Blues
Those Wedding Night Blues
June 1, 2001 -- It is the season of rings and rice. This month, thousands of couples will say their vows and become husband and wife. But what happens if after saying "I do," the groom just can't? A condition known as honeymoon impotence may be to blame, and it is more common than you think.
Actually, most western newlyweds have little to fear, because their first sexual encounter is probably but a distant memory when they walk down the aisle. But honeymoon impotence is apparently common among males who are virgins when they marry, and a new study suggests it isn't all in their heads.
Researchers in Turkey, where religious and cultural mores discourage sex before marriage, have thrown cold water on the belief that honeymoon impotence is almost always caused by performance anxiety. They found that for approximately one in four of the men in their study there was a physical reason for their failure to perform. The findings were published in the April issue of the journal Urology.
"It is true that 98% of the people in Turkey are Moslem, and sexual intercourse before marriage is forbidden in Islam," study author Mustafa Faruk Usta, MD, of Istanbul University, tells WebMD. "In Turkey, virginity until marriage is still a matter of honor on the part of the bride and groom. Most couples expect to have their first sexual experience on their wedding night, and obviously this can cause heavy psychological stress on both parties."
Because little research has been done on the phenomenon, stress has been blamed for first-time failures. But when researchers studied 90 patients who sought help for impotence during the first months and even years of marriage, Usta and colleagues found that almost 28% had penile blood flow problems that prevented erections.
Many of the patients in the study, who ranged in age from 18 to 39, waited more than a year after marriage to seek a physical cause for their impotence. Usta says some of these men first sought psychiatric counseling for the problem while others were too embarrassed to seek treatment at all.
Actually, most western newlyweds have little to fear, because their first sexual encounter is probably but a distant memory when they walk down the aisle. But honeymoon impotence is apparently common among males who are virgins when they marry, and a new study suggests it isn't all in their heads.
Researchers in Turkey, where religious and cultural mores discourage sex before marriage, have thrown cold water on the belief that honeymoon impotence is almost always caused by performance anxiety. They found that for approximately one in four of the men in their study there was a physical reason for their failure to perform. The findings were published in the April issue of the journal Urology.
"It is true that 98% of the people in Turkey are Moslem, and sexual intercourse before marriage is forbidden in Islam," study author Mustafa Faruk Usta, MD, of Istanbul University, tells WebMD. "In Turkey, virginity until marriage is still a matter of honor on the part of the bride and groom. Most couples expect to have their first sexual experience on their wedding night, and obviously this can cause heavy psychological stress on both parties."
Because little research has been done on the phenomenon, stress has been blamed for first-time failures. But when researchers studied 90 patients who sought help for impotence during the first months and even years of marriage, Usta and colleagues found that almost 28% had penile blood flow problems that prevented erections.
Many of the patients in the study, who ranged in age from 18 to 39, waited more than a year after marriage to seek a physical cause for their impotence. Usta says some of these men first sought psychiatric counseling for the problem while others were too embarrassed to seek treatment at all.