Healthy Aging 10 Practical Tips for Older Men Who Want Long, Healthy Sex Lives By Mark Stibich, PhD Mark Stibich, PhD LinkedIn Twitter Mark Stibich, PhD, FIDSA, is a behavior change expert with experience helping individuals make lasting lifestyle improvements. Learn about our editorial process Updated on January 13, 2020 Medically reviewed by Rochelle Collins, DO Medically reviewed by Rochelle Collins, DO LinkedIn Rochelle Collins, DO, is a board-certified family medicine doctor currently practicing in Bloomfield, Connecticut. Learn about our Medical Expert Board Print Maintaining your sexual health is an important part of aging. By keeping yourself healthy, confronting problems calmly and talking openly with your partner, you can improve your chances of having a long healthy sex life. 1 Talk Openly With Your Partner Tetra Images / Getty Images Good sex always relies on open communication with your partner. As both of you age, things will change. These changes will require patience, understanding, and experimentation. Emotions can greatly impact sexual health. By maintaining good communication and intimacy, you and your partner will be able to adapt to changes as necessary. 2 Manage Your Health Conditions Health conditions like high blood pressure and chronic pain can make a healthy sex life difficult. By aggressively managing any health conditions, you can greatly reduce their impact on your sex life. A good approach is to follow your healthcare provider’s advice and make lifestyle changes. 3 Talk to Your Healthcare Provider Your healthcare provider cannot help you with your sexual concerns unless you mention them. Some sexual problems are actually medication side effects, which can be handled by adjusting medications that you are already taking or changing the time of day that you take medications. Many medications also directly treat sexual problems. 4 Experiment With Positions and Timing Sometimes changing the time of day or the position used in sex can relieve sexual problems. If a health condition is interfering with your sex life, you may notice that your symptoms are better at a certain time of day. Try having sex then. Varying the sexual positions that you use can help too, especially if the pain from arthritis or other condition interferes with sex. 5 Expand Your Concept of Sex You may tend to think of sex in terms of orgasms, but there can be a lot more to sex. As you age, you may need more time and physical contact to become aroused. Hugging, kissing, and other forms of contact can help build intimacy. Masturbation is also part of a normal, healthy sex life. 6 Avoid Alcohol and Smoking Both alcohol and smoking can hinder a person’s ability to achieve an erection. These two substances alter the blood flow in your body and can limit the amount of blood that enters the penis. This can lead to the inability to have an erection, difficulty maintaining an erection, or an erection that is softer than normal. If you are having sexual difficulties, consider abstaining from smoking and alcohol. 7 Expect Changes As you age, you will experience certain changes in your sexual function. When these changes occur, don’t panic. Rather, think of them as problems to be solved. If you react emotionally to these problems, you can make them worse. By expecting some degree of sexual change as you age, you can react calmly and troubleshoot your situation. Sex in the Senior Years 8 Eat Healthy and Lose Weight Being overweight puts a strain on your body that can result in high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, and other health conditions, all of which can interfere with a normal sex life. By eating healthy foods and losing excess weight you can prevent sexual problems. 9 Stay Sexually Active If you have a long period of time in your life when you are sexually inactive, it will be more difficult to become sexually active later. Not only can frequent sex improve your sexual performance, but it can even help you live longer. 10 Practice Safer Sex As older people continue to have an active sex life, the issue of safer sex remains. All sexually active people must take this matter very seriously. STIs and HIV are on the rise in older adults. You cannot assume that having sex is risk-free just because you and your partner are older. In fact, as the age of your sexual partner increases, their sexual history is longer, too. Always practice safer sex. How to Prevent STIs 7 Sources Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy. Taylor A, Gosney MA. Sexuality in older age: essential considerations for healthcare professionals. Age Ageing. 2011;40(5):538-543. doi:10.1093/ageing/afr049 Cleveland Clinic. Sexual dysfunction. CreakyJoints. Best sex positions for arthritis. Lee AC, Ho LM, Yip AW, Fan S, Lam TH. The effect of alcohol drinking on erectile dysfunction in Chinese men. Int J Impot Res. 2010;22(4):272-278. Obesity Action Coalition. Men: is obesity affecting your sex life? Cabeza de Baca T, Epel ES, Robles TF, et al. Sexual intimacy in couples is associated with longer telomere length. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2017;81:46-51.. Fileborn B, Brown G, Lyons A, et al. Safer sex in later life: qualitative interviews with older Australians on their understandings and practices of safer sex. J Sex Res. 2018;55(2):164–177. doi:10.1080/00224499.2017.1280121 Additional Reading National Institute on Aging. Bound for Your Good Health: Sexuality in Later Life. By Mark Stibich, PhD Mark Stibich, PhD, FIDSA, is a behavior change expert with experience helping individuals make lasting lifestyle improvements. See Our Editorial Process Meet Our Medical Expert Board Share Feedback Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! What is your feedback? Other Helpful Report an Error Submit