Premature ejaculation (PE) sprays have been around for well over a decade, yet in the past few months, I’ve received countless emails from various companies announcing their newest premature ejaculation product.
I’m not 100% sure why all these PE products are popping up now. Premature ejaculation has been a problem for men since the dawn of mankind. I Googled to see if a patent expired in early 2019, but it didn’t seem like that was the case. Perhaps it’s easier to sell this stuff now that talking about sex is less taboo. There’s also the fact that—as Men’s Health previously reported—men’s wellness brands are making a fortune off re-packaging and re-branding already existing medicine and selling it to insecure millennials who are “more willing than ever to pay money to take care of themselves.”
Whatever the reason, I’m not complaining, because when I get too excited, I can shoot pretty quickly. It’s embarrassing, especially when I have someone who came all the way down from Harlem to visit me in Brooklyn, and I only last 2 minutes. (You can only say, “Sorry, you’re just so sexy, I couldn’t hold it” so many times.)
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According to WebMed, studies dating as far back as 2007 have found that using sprays can delay ejaculation by twofold. So I decided I’d give one of these sprays a try to see if they actually work.
I ended up going with Skyn’s Endurance for no other reason than I spotted a pitch from them in my inbox. The main ingredient in Endurance is lidocaine, a regional anaesthetic. In every wipe or spray I mentioned above, the main ingredient is either lidocaine or benzocaine. (The latter is another common topical anaesthetic.)
This actually isn’t the first time I’ve applied lidocaine directly to my penis. Earlier this year I tried out GAINSWave—a form of extracorporeal shockwave therapy for men with erectile dysfunction—because why the hell not? Even though I don’t have ED, GAINSWave removes plaque that forms in your penis, and it can be used preemptively.
here, before “shocking” my penis and the area surrounding it, the technician graciously applied a lot of lidocaine gel to my junk. I remember he went to grab it, and I couldn’t even feel his hand. (Which is exactly what you want before you get your genitals shocked).
I knew while using Endurance I wouldn’t be that numb, but I did have an idea of what to expect. The Endurance instructions suggest using anywhere between three and 10 sprays. I used seven. I then rubbed it all up and down my penis to make sure everything got a little numb.
While lidocaine acts pretty quickly, I’d still recommend waiting at couple of minutes for it to take full effect. I wouldn’t just rub it on and immediately stick it in, since you won’t be completely numb yet, and you run the risk of blowing your load before it’s fully kicked in.
For testing purposes, I simply masturbated with the spray, so I could take more mental notes and focus on the effects of the spray fully. It took about three minutes when I realised I was squeezing my penis a lot harder than I usually do when I masturbate, which is good. It meant the spray was working.
At this point, I applied lube. The spray is not a substitute for lubricant, and it can be used in conjunction with any lube. Then I masturbated—squeezing harder than I usually did— and before I was about to ejaculate, I stopped stroking myself. I wanted to see if the spray could help prolong my masturbatory experience. Sometimes when you stop and start, you come back right where you left off and proceed to ejaculate. Other times, in my experience, stopping and taking a few deep breaths “resets” your body, and you can go for another few minutes without feeling the urge to ejaculate.
After backing off, I was able to reset myself and go back to masturbating without orgasming immediately. I believe it’s because the cream helped to numb the sensation.
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Finally, when I did orgasm, it didn’t necessarily feel as intense, which I guess is to be expected, since you are numbing yourself slightly, but obviously it still felt great.
If you struggle with PE, using a spray like Endurance could be a great help, but for me, personally, I’m not sure how much it’ll actually do when I’m getting down and dirty with a partner. When I’m really turned on by someone I’m with, it’s psychological. Just by making out with them, I could probably orgasm. That has nothing to do with any physical sensation to my actual penis. But if you’re someone who finds themselves ejaculating quickly and it is due to the actual physical sensation, then a spray could be exactly what you need.
And if you want some additional advice to help with PE, read this.
This article originally appeared on Men’s Health