Health & Fitness

What Can You Do With a Four-Hour Erection?

ED drugs such as Viagra come with a stiff warning. Should we pay any attention?

The time had come to answer another pressing question, but it seemed as though our Body Eccentric mailbox was overflowing with nothing but spam:

To: questions@drbillyandleyner.com
Your lady can’t have orgasms? Heh, body, it’s your fault. Do you want to fix that?

To: questions@drbillyandleyner.com
There is no need to exert yourself with silly doubts while you are in bed.
Are you insecure about your sexual prowess? Having problems keeping it up?

To: questions@drbillyandleyner.com
Can’t have sex like you did 10 years ago? Tired of your sexual problems?

Then we came upon this:
To: questions@drbillyandleyner.com

Dear Dr. Billy and Leyner,
I keep seeing those commercials on TV for Viagra and Cialis. It seems so idyllic. You take a pill, and next thing you know, you’re sitting with some smokin’ hot lady in a paddleboat on a lake and you have this huge boner. What could be bad about that? But then they give that ominous list of side effects. Don’t all drugs have side effects? And what the hell could be wrong with a four-hour hard-on? We spend so much time fretting about impotence and premature ejaculation, it would seem that an eternal erection would be a godsend.  —Steven J. Horton, Seattle

Dear Stiff in Seattle,
We hear you. We’ve rarely been so inspired to research a question. And yes, that line of full disclosure—“If you experience an erection lasting more than four hours, call your physician”—befuddles almost every man who hears it.