If you suffer from early climax (PE), you may have heard that selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and topical creams and sprays with lidocaine can help you manage your symptoms.
And while it’s comforting that there are PE treatments out there, that can raise questions like: Is lidocaine for ED or is it a early climax cream? And: Can a numbing cream for intimacy really help me last longer?
Below, we’ve explained how numbing creams for your privates (and other numbing products, like sprays, wipes and condoms) work, compared some of the options and discussed additional early climax treatments so you can find the best one for you. (Learn more about Prevent Early Climax: How to Not Finish Fast.)
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What Is Numbing Cream for Your Privates?
A numbing lube, numbing spray or numbing cream for sensitivity in your privates is a topical anesthetic a man may apply before intimacy.
These products typically contain local anesthetics like lidocaine and benzocaine that reduce nerve activity in your privates, making targeted areas less sensitive to touch.
Lidocaine and benzocaine are also used in dentistry, surgical procedures and for preparing certain areas of the body for the insertion of equipment.
So if you’ve been to the dentist for a root canal or wisdom tooth removal, there’s a good chance they used lidocaine to numb your gums before and during the procedure. And the cough drop you had for your sore throat? It probably had benzocaine.
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How Does Numbing Your Privates Treat Early Climax?
Because sensitivity is one of the most important aspects of stimulation, applying benzocaine or lidocaine on the skin of your privates can have a big impact on your ability to delay climax.
In making certain parts of your privates less sensitive, they help you avoid feeling overstimulated during intimacy so you can last longer in bed.
Studies back this up, showing that lidocaine-prilocaine creams work well for stopping early climax. In a study from 2002, researchers found that a 5% lidocaine-prilocaine cream increased the average pre-climax period by 8.7 minutes (+/- 1.7 minutes) when applied before intimacy.
But don’t worry: Over-the-counter treatment options for early climax use a smaller dose of these desensitizing agents than dentists and surgeons do.
While they’re trying to completely numb the whole area, numbing creams and sprays for your privates aim to reduce sensitivity levels while keeping intimacy pleasurable for everyone involved. So you’ll feel slightly less than you normally would during intimacy or foreplay, but you won’t be completely numb. (Learn more about How Do Early Climax Pills Work?.)
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Safety and Side Effects for Numbing Cream for Your Privates
Anesthetics can cause side effects or adverse reactions when overused or applied to skin improperly. Most of the potential side effects of lidocaine and benzocaine treatments are similar to those of other topical anesthetics.
Common side effects of sensitivity creams and sprays for your privates include excessive numbness and skin irritation in the area of application. Some lidocaine topical products can also cause edema — a form of swelling caused by trapped fluid.
They can also cause allergic reactions and drug interactions, including with common medications for high blood pressure, infections, epilepsy, cancer and other conditions.
You may have a higher risk of experiencing issues if you have sensitive skin, or if you have previously experienced side effects from topical anesthetics.
To reduce your risk of experiencing issues while using desensitizing cream or spray for your privates, it’s important to inform your healthcare provider about any medications you currently use or have recently used, as well as any relevant health conditions.
It’s also important to seek medical attention if you feel any pain, discomfort or have other issues while using numbing cream or spray for your privates.
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Numbing Cream for Your Privates: FAQs
Some of the most common questions about intimacy numbing cream have to do with how long it takes to work and why it might be better than a spray.
Here’s what you need to know:
How Long Does Numbing Cream for Your Privates Last?
The numbing effects of a topical cream can last for up to three hours. You may notice that the anesthetic gradually wears off a few hours after the cream is applied to your privates.
How Long Does Lidocaine Take to Work?
Lidocaine cream usually starts to work within a few minutes, although it may take 20 minutes or longer to become fully effective.
In one study, researchers recommended applying lidocaine-prilocaine cream approximately 20 minutes before intimate contact. When used more than 30 minutes before intimacy, lidocaine cream may contribute to excessive numbness and loss of arousal.
What Are the Advantages of Numbing Cream for Your Privates?
The biggest advantage of numbing cream is that, for most men, it works. Applied around 20 to 30 minutes before intimacy, lidocaine-prilocaine cream can increase pre-climax time, letting you and your partner enjoy intimacy for longer.
Lidocaine-prilocaine is also inexpensive and readily available from most pharmacies, making it an easy medication to buy if you have a prescription from your doctor.
What Are the Disadvantages of Numbing Cream for Your Privates?
The biggest disadvantage of numbing cream is that, since it’s a cream, it can get messy. After you apply it, you’ll need to thoroughly wash your hands to make sure you don’t accidentally apply the anesthetic to other parts of your body.
You may also need to rinse it off 20 to 30 minutes after application to avoid transferring the cream to your partner during intimacy.
Basically, you’ll want to be near a bathroom if you’re using numbing cream to treat early climax.
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What about Numbing Spray for Your Privates?
We’ve alluded to this throughout our guide, but lidocaine spray works the same way as lidocaine cream — by making your privates less sensitive to touch.
Like lidocaine-prilocaine cream, you can apply it to the glans, or tip, of your privates, as well as the underside of the shaft.
Research shows promising results, with one 2003 study finding that use of a lidocaine-prilocaine spray increased men’s average climax latency time (IELT) from 84 seconds to 11 minutes and 21 seconds.
In short, when used properly, lidocaine spray can produce a significant improvement in performance, helping you to avoid early climax and last for as much as six or seven times as long in bed.
And although lidocaine spray does reduce sensitivity in your privates, studies of lidocaine spray show that you might feel a mild numbness in your privates, but that there usually isn’t any negative impact on your overall experience.
How Long Does Numbing Spray for Your Privates Last?
Lidocaine spray typically lasts for one to three hours. Like with lidocaine cream and other topical anesthetics, you may feel a gradual increase in your sensitivity in your privates as the effects of lidocaine spray wear off.
How Long Does Numbing Spray for Your Privates Take to Work?
Most research suggests that lidocaine spray takes about 10 to 20 minutes to start working. In one study published in the International Journal of Impotence Research, experts found that a lidocaine 5% spray increased climax time when used 10 to 20 minutes before intimacy.
What Makes Numbing Spray for Your Privates Different from Numbing Cream?
Compared to lidocaine cream, delay sprays with lidocaine tend to be faster-acting and easier to apply. This can make a spray a great option if you need a topical treatment that can be applied quickly before intimacy.
You’ll still need to wash your hands after applying lidocaine spray, but the fact that it’s a spray instead of a cream-based treatment means cleaning up is usually quicker and easier.
Since most lidocaine sprays come in a metered-dose spray bottle, it’s also easier to apply the right dose. You can also adjust your lidocaine spray dosage over time to get the best combination of improved performance and minimal sensitivity loss.
Oh, and unlike many cream-based medications, most lidocaine sprays only contain the local anesthetic lidocaine, without any other topical anesthetics.
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Other Options for Treating Early Climax
Of course, sprays and creams aren’t the only early climax treatments out there. You can also use physical techniques before or during intimacy to delay climax, change your habits and lifestyle, and work with a healthcare provider to get prescription medications.
Physical Techniques for Delaying Climax
There are several moves you can try to slow down the process of climax, including the “stop-start” method, which involves stopping movement when you feel climax approaching and then starting again once you feel confident you aren’t about to climax, and the “squeeze” technique, which involves gently pressing on the area between the glans and shaft of your privates when you feel close to coming.
Other common tactics that can help you delay climax and increase stamina include having solo-time before intimacy, using diversionary thoughts to avoid reaching orgasm and switching to thicker condoms to reduce sensitivity.
Healthy Habits and Lifestyle Changes
Sometimes, making small changes to your daily lifestyle can help to reduce the severity of PE and improve your intimate function.
For example, research has found that regular physical activity is associated with a lower risk of developing early climax. Certain exercises, such as pelvic floor exercises, may also help to reduce the severity of PE and improve performance during intimate activity.
Our guide to stopping early climax goes into more detail about lifestyle changes you can make to last longer in bed and improve your general intimate function.
Prescription Medications for PE
While there’s currently no medication approved by the FDA specifically for treating early climax, several existing medications are used off-label to slow down climax and help with performance.
These include the prescription antidepressants sertraline (the active ingredient in Zoloft) and paroxetine (Paxil).
We offer both sertraline and paroxetine as part of our selection of early climax treatments, following a consultation with a licensed healthcare professional who will determine if a prescription is appropriate.
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Numbing Your Privates and Early Climax: Takeaways
Numbing agents can significantly improve your ability to control climax — a key reason why lidocaine is an active ingredient in our Delay Spray for Men and benzocaine is an active ingredient in our Clockstopper Climax Delay Wipes.
These over-the-counter products, along with over-the-counter early climax cream, work relatively quickly to reduce nerve sensitivity in your privates so you can last longer, have better intimate encounters and improve your intimate health.
Our guide to lidocaine spray as an early climax treatment goes into more detail. You can also learn more about other treatments for early climax in our detailed guide to early climax pills.
This article originally appeared on Hims.com and was syndicated by MediaFeed.org.
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