Trusted medical source Urban Dictionary defines whiskey dick as “the inability to maintain an erection after a long night of heavy drinking. Usually occurs at the height of sexual opportunity.”
But speaking in a less colloquial manner, the effects of alcohol on libido are well documented. And while booze can loosen inhibitions, it also leads to a host of problems during your intimate moments. (It goes without saying that you should moderate what you drink and never get to a point during your imbibing that decisions or consent are an issue.)
Entering Valentine’s Day weekend, where intimacy and alcohol are likely to mix, we asked a few medical professionals about how booze can hinder (or help) your sex drive and performance in the bedroom.
Does alcohol increase or reduce libido?
Both, says Peter Bailey, MD, a family practice physician who regularly meets with patients related to sexual issues such as ED and lack of sex drive. “If you put that spike in libido on a graph, however, it would actually look like a bell curve,” he says. “Meaning, a couple drinks does increase your sex drive, but that increase quickly falls off after too many.” This is related to the increase in testosterone both men and women experience when drinking.
Can the type of alcohol you drink alter your mood or performance?
There’s an idea that tequila is an “upper” and wine or beer might hit differently than, say, gin. But booze is booze — it’s more about the environment you’re drinking it in. As far as sexual performance, the differences in tipples are more about ABV and what’s in your drink besides alcohol. “If you consume a drink with a lot of sugar, this can cause you to feel fantastic for a brief stint … but then you’ll crash and feel sleepy and generally terrible,” says Dr. Bailey.
Does drinking affect men and women differently in the bedroom?
“Chronic alcohol use can cause disruption in our hormonal axis between the brain and our reproductive organs,” explains S. Monty Ghosh, a clinical professor in the Department of General Internal Medicine & Neurology at the University of Alberta. “This can lead to not only a decrease in testosterone production in men, which is directly linked to libido, but can also lead to testicular shrinkage. And chronic alcohol use can led to both premature and late ejaculation. With women, disruption in this pathway can cause issues such as menstrual irregularity and decreased fertility, along with vaginal dryness.”
Your body can undergo major changes even with a single night of heavy alcohol consumption. “People have reported longer sex when intoxicated, but that could partly be due to the numbing effect and decreased sensation from alcohol,” says Dr. Jaydeep Tripathy, a primary care doctor at the online medical consultants Doctor Spring. “Because of this, it’s also harder to reach orgasm, if at all.”
Is whiskey dick a thing?
Only in that whiskey is a strong, high-alcohol spirit that you definitely shouldn’t be drinking at the same pace as someone drinking wine. “By reducing the production of testosterone, alcohol produces erectile dysfunction and lowers the libido,” as Dr. Alexandra Bausic, an Obstetrics and Gynecology doctor (and part of the team at Let’s Talk Sex). “So whiskey, being known to have a high alcohol percentage, decreases libido and promotes erectile dysfunction [aka “whiskey dick”] more than other drinks.” That high-proof booze is decreasing blood flow to the penis and hinders your central nervous system … so lay off the barrel-proof.
So how much should you drink if you’re having a romantic evening?
It’s about moderation, of course. Almost every physician we spoke with suggested “1-2 drinks” at most, and yes, keep those high-proof drinks to a minimum. But you don’t have to teetotal. “Alcohol, like all depressants, isn’t necessarily bad when it comes to sex drive,” says Daniel Sher, a clinical psychologist and sex therapy expert at Between Us Clinic, an online men’s sexual dysfunction clinic. “It can dampen our inhibitions: the part of the mind that is responsible for keeping primal impulses in check. This means that a few drinks can actually make a person feel a bit hornier, because their sex drive is suddenly brought into consciousness.”
Those 1-2 drinks may have a calming and temporary confidence effect, particularly in people who suffer from sexual performance anxiety. And that may help with premature ejaculation or erectile dysfunction.
That said, the easiest solution is this: Keep the drinking in moderation, pick something light and stay at the same level as your partner.
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