Putting the lights on or off in the bedroom can play a part in sexual enjoyment

Fascinating new Italian research has shown that male erectile problems can be rectified with the use of correct lighting in the bedroom! Dr Letizia Bossini who led the research explained that her studies show a “potentially favourable effect” of “bright light therapy” on male sexual function.

For her research program a group of men all of whom were suffering from sexual problems such as low libido, mild erectile dysfunction and the inability to climax were given burst of light for 30 minutes every day over a two week period. The light which came in the form of a 10,000 lux fluorescent lamp was reported to cure the sexual problems including erectile dysfunction in 3 out of 5 cases. A second group of men were exposed to a low wattage dim light and in this case no positive results were recorded.

Putting the lights on or off in the bedroom can play a major part in sexual enjoyment. Some men and women prefer to lights to be off because they feel less self conscious and say that it enhances the physical sensory aspect of lovemaking. On the other hand keeping the light on enhances the visual sensory aspect of sex which has its advantages but in certain cases has been known to create performance anxiety in men which lead to erectile dysfunction.

A number of different theories have been put forward as to why this research with light creates the enhanced erectile function and one of the ideas from Dr Bossini was that the pineal gland in the brain which is known to play a part in sexual function was stimulated by the light.

Other reasons for the improved sexual function could be connected to the fact depression can be caused by poor weather in the form of Seasonal Affective Disorder and that this can be cured by using bright lights in the same way that this experiment was conducted. Depression is a major risk factor for increased rates of erectile dysfunction in men.

This research done at Siena University will definitely open up new avenues of research into the treatment of sexual function problems in men and women.