It’s Valentine’s day, you take your partner for a magical date, you buy the perfect gift and then you get home with plans to take their breath away… But the only thing hard is the truth, smoking can cause a lack of sexual desire, erectile dysfunction and decreased sexual performance, even in men as young as 20.
Smoking is known to decrease sexual arousal, appetite and satisfaction, so much so that a study by Quit Genius shows that non smoking men had sex nearly twice as often as men who smoked.
If you want to keep it up, put the cigarette down: an erection is only possible when blood vessels in the penis enlarge and fill with blood; tobacco constricts blood vessels restricting blood flow to the genitals which can cause erectile dysfunction (it can also cause a lack of desire in females). Quitting can help you get hard faster and stay firmer. A study in the British Journal of Urology International showed that people who quit smoking and remained nicotine-free had a wider, firmer erection and reached maximum sexual arousal compared to those who continued smoking/ relapsed. However, it is important to note that improvements were not seen until the participants stopped using nicotine patches.
Another problem with smoking and sex is that it really will leave you breathless, but maybe not your partner. Smoking reduces the body’s ability to carry oxygen, oxygen is responsible for 90% of our energy; it is responsible for stamina and, of course, breathing. Therefore, smoking can lead to breathlessness during sex and a lack of stamina. A study published in the International Journal of Impotence Research shows:
A decrease in libido + a fallen ability to get aroused = lower quality performance
Quitting smoking could help you give your mattress the bounce it deserves. If you are over 50 or pregnant and looking for help to quit smoking visit the website to see if you are eligible for support, or call: 0333 005 0095, or fill in an assessment today.