Sweet morning glory. Whether you want it to go away because you need to get out of the house as quickly as possible or you’re poking your other half in the back with it, we’ve all had morning glory at some point in our lives.

We all know it as morning wood, morning glory, morning wood, I am sure there are a few other nicknames for it out there, but it’s actually called nocturnal penile tumescence (NPT). And while it doesn’t have the same ring to it, that is its actual name.

First off, you’ll be pleased to know that if you keep waking up with a boner, you are highly likely not to have erectile dysfunction. Even though it is commonly called ‘morning glory’ it isn’t actually just for the morning, it happens 3-5 times every night, maybe even more and it’s not just consigned to men, women have that problem too but it’s called clitoral erections and lucky for women not as embarrassing as a hard-on can be.

There isn’t any true and complete understanding as to why this phenomenon but there are some interesting theories.

Your very first morning glory was actually in your mother’s womb and it just continues from there. One theory is that rapid eye movement during sleep causes your night-time boner. Noradrenergic cells located in your brain stem, which are associated with inhibitory ‘tone’ of the penis, are switched off during this time which cause testosterone dependent ‘tones’ to be expressed which then cause erections.

The second theory is that NPT is triggered by nitric oxide. Nitric oxide is released by cells lining blood vessels which then diffuse into smooth muscle, causing everything to relax. While blood vessels dilate, blood flow increases to the penis and of course, we all know what that means by now.

So that’s HOW it happens but the question still remains, WHY does it happen?

One theory suggests getting a night time boner means you won’t wet the bed. As adults, most of us probably think we can control our bladders by now but that’s not entirely true. There are two types of erection – psychogenic and reflex. Psychogenic boners start with stimulating thoughts or images which then lead to nerve signals giving you a boner. Reflex boners are those involuntary ones you used to get in high school when any person you found attractive would walk past you, and usually just before you had to stand up to go somewhere, just to make it a little bit more uncomfortable.

It is thought one of the triggers for a random boner is a full bladder, which doesn’t really help as it is very difficult to take a piss when you have a major hard-on going on.

However, the most likely explanation is that quite simply, NPT keeps our pubic region nice and healthy. Boners cause the erectile tissue to swell which means the tissue then oxygenates. This oxygenation prevents cavernous fibrosis (leading to erectile dysfunction) and so your morning glory is actually just keeping you healthy.

So the morning glory or morning wood is not something that we should be all too concerned about, it’s good for our health but it’s just sometimes a little embarrassing.