For men, smoking is the main cause of erectile dysfunction.
From reducing blood flow to impairing fertility, smoking can seriously harm your love life. If you want to enjoy intimacy to the fullest or ultimately start a family, it's time to kick the habit for good.
Sex permeates our pop culture, but conversations about it are still associated with stigma and shame in Indian homes. As a result, most individuals trying to deal with sexual health issues or seek information about sex often rely on unverified online sources or follow unscientific advice from friends. To address widespread misinformation about sex, News18.com is publishing a weekly sex column titled 'Let's Talk Sex'. With this column, we hope to start a conversation about sex and address sexual health issues with scientific insight and nuance.
In this article, we'll take a closer look at how smoking can be a curse to your sex life and bedroom satisfaction.
You probably already know that smoking is bad for your health, but did you know that it can also seriously affect your sex life? Not only does lighting affect your lungs and heart, it can also impair your performance in the bedroom. From reducing blood flow to impairing fertility, smoking can seriously harm your love life. If you want to enjoy intimacy to the fullest or ultimately start a family, it's time to kick the habit for good. Once you understand the full implications, you'll find all the motivation you need to finally quit smoking.
- Reduced blood flow: When you smoke, nicotine constricts blood vessels, reducing blood flow throughout the body. These include blood vessels in the genitals, making it more difficult for men to achieve erections and for women to become aroused. Smoking delays arousal and inhibits pleasure receptors in the brain.
- Low libido: Smoking reduces sexual desire or sex drive over time. Chemicals in cigarette smoke disrupt hormone levels, including testosterone, which stimulates sex drive in both men and women. A low libido can lead to decreased interest in sexual activity and intimacy.
- Erectile Dysfunction: For men, smoking is the main cause of erectile dysfunction. Nicotine and toxins damage the blood vessels and nerves in the penis that are needed for an erection. Smoking greatly increases your risk of erectile dysfunction, and quitting smoking may help reverse some of the damage.
- Infertility problems: Smoking reduces fertility in both men and women. In men, it damages sperm cells and in women, it accelerates the aging of eggs and follicles. Smoking makes pregnancy more difficult and increases the risk of genetic abnormalities and miscarriage. Quitting smoking may help restore your ability to conceive over time.
Secondhand smoke also harms your partner's sexual health.
Secondhand smoke is harmful not only to the health of the smoker, but also to his or her partner. Exposure to secondhand smoke can be very harmful to your sex life and your partner’s sexual health.
The toxic chemicals in secondhand smoke damage blood vessels and restrict blood flow throughout the body. This makes it difficult for men to achieve and maintain an erection. In women, the same toxins restrict blood flow to the vaginal area, inhibiting arousal. Secondhand smoke also depletes the body of nitric oxide, a molecule important in relaxing and dilating blood vessels during arousal.
Additionally, carcinogens contained in secondhand smoke can ultimately cause reproductive cancer in both men and women, harming fertility and sexual function. The effects of 30 minutes of exposure to secondhand smoke are so severe that they are comparable to smoking four cigarettes!
The good news is that your body can heal the damage caused by secondhand smoke exposure if you stop doing so. So, have a good sex life. Avoid secondhand smoke if possible. Ask smokers to take their smokers outside and away. Your sexual health and your partner will thank you for it.
Quitting smoking improves sexual function
There are many benefits to quitting smoking, but better sex is definitely one of the most motivating.
- Stronger Erections: When you quit smoking, you will start to feel stronger and firmer erections again. Smoking negatively affects blood flow throughout the body, including the penis. Better blood flow means better erections that last longer. After just a few months of kicking the habit, many men's erections become noticeably harder and more stable.
- Increased stamina: Smoking reduces your stamina and endurance, making you more likely to tire during sex. Quitting smoking will increase your energy levels and allow you to last longer without having to stop to rest. You'll have the stamina to try new locations and take on multiple rounds. Both you and your partner will appreciate your newfound sexual endurance.
- Enhanced Orgasm: Increased blood flow and stamina will make your orgasms more intense. Each orgasm can feel stronger, last longer, and be more pleasurable overall. For many men, quitting smoking leads to the best orgasm they've had in years. As your libido and libido improve, you may find it easier to reach orgasm.
- Breathe and smell fresher: Let's face it, smoking makes everything smell terrible, including your breath and your body. Quitting smoking will make you smell better overall, and most partners will appreciate this during intimate moments. Your breath, hair, and clothes will no longer smell like smoke, and your sense of smell and taste will begin to return. Even without the taste of cigarettes, kissing will be more enjoyable for both of you.
How long does it take to feel the effects?
You can feel the improvement about 1-2 weeks after quitting smoking. However, it may take three months to a year to receive full benefits. It takes time to rebuild lung function and widen blood vessels again. Don't be discouraged if you don't see dramatic changes right away. The rewards of quitting smoking will continue to pay off over weeks and months. If you do your best to quit smoking, you will feel more energized than ever.
So there it is. Smoking is seriously bad news for your sex life. Studies have shown that it lowers your sex drive, makes performance more difficult, and makes you and your partner less satisfied. The chemicals in cigarettes can damage blood vessels and nerves, ruining key parts of the body that are essential for a healthy sex life. However, ditching cigarettes is one of the best things you can do if you want to have fun in the bedroom. Your lungs and heart will thank you too. Breaking a habit might just lead you to discover a whole new spark. So, do yourself and your partner a favor and quit smoking for good. If you do that, your sex life will be much hotter and healthier.