What gay men over 50 should know about their sexual health

This story originally appeared on Out.With age comes wisdom, but it also brings a whole host of health issues and the potential for sexual dysfunction.As middle age starts to slip through your fingers and you move into your 50s, 60s and beyond, things about your body and sexual health are going to change. Some of these changes are psychological, some are physical, but both can profoundly affect your sex life.Your sexual health is important at any age, but as you get older, you can no longer afford to ignore changes in your body the way you did in your 20s. For gay and queer men who are starting to notice their bodies are different than a decade ago — like lack of stamina, erectile dysfunction issues, and low libido — there are plenty of things you can do to stay healthy and improve your sex life. You may not be able to literally slow the sands of time, but you can make changes so your sexual health doesn’t take a nose dive as you age.So as you move into your silver fox era, what do you need to know about your sexual health?What sexual health changes should men over 50 expect?Menopause can hit like a wrecking ball, but so can testosterone loss in men after age 50. Men don’t experience the same steep drop-off that women get with estrogen after menopause, but testosterone levels start declining slowly around age 40, so that by the time you hit your 50s, you may notice the change. “The most common sexual health issues that men experience after age 50 include erectile dysfunction and low libido due to lower testosterone levels,” says Suzannah Weiss, a sex therapist and resident sexologist for adult toy company Erojoy. “Other common issues are premature and delayed ejaculation and enlarged prostate, which can cause pelvic discomfort including pain with ejaculation.”According to the Journal of Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology, men’s total serum testosterone decreases by 0.4% annually after the age of 35. This doesn’t even take into account that me