We all know that smoking is bad for your health. But how does smoking affect your sex life? Cigarette packets warn of erectile dysfunction, but are there other consequences to smoking as well?
We recently wrote about the affects alcohol may have on your sex life, and now we’re going to look at how smoking can affect it as well. The results are bad though. Whilst there are some arguments to say alcohol might have a few positive effects, there is practically zero benefit to smoking normal cigarettes.
There are a few different factors if you are smoking cannabis rather than normal cigarettes.
How nicotine effects your body
Nicotine is the ingredient that causes smoking addiction. Regular intake of nicotine from smoking can affect your sex life in various ways. Nicotine is a stimulant and causes direct spasms of arteries and arterioles. It also causes endothelial damage to the walls of the blood vessels.
It’s these effects that can cause erectile dysfunction in men, as it messes with blood flow getting to your penis for an erection. The problems with caused will also effect your ability to maintain an erection.
A lot of problems caused by nicotine in the body can be reversed once you stop smoking. However the longer you smoke for, the more permanent damages to your blood vessels your body will sustain.
How smoking affects women
It’s not just men who should be worried about adverse reactions from smoking. The same problems with blood flow causes women to be less sensitive, especially around their clitoris.
Smoking also affects women’s ability to produce natural lubrication. It may take longer than previously, and a woman may not produce as much lubrication as she would normally.
There’s also cases showing that it affects a women’s G-spot stimulation. Overall smoking reduces the sensitivity of women, their ability to lubricate, as well as the intensity of their pleasure and orgasms.
There have also been speculation on the affects of combining smoking with oral contraceptives, as some believe it can cause problems with the fallopian tubes which may cause problems with future conception.
Stamina in the bedroom
Smoking greatly affects your stamina in the bedroom, which leads to a more difficult sex life. Smoking causes harm to your lungs, leading to respiratory problems. Shortness of breath means your body won’t be able to get enough oxygen circulating during exercise, leading you to feel exhausted faster.
There’s also a lot of evidence that smoking reduces your overall energy level. This means that you’ll often feel tired, and the chances of sexual arousal decreases. Combining this with a reduced amount of time during sex leads to a very unsatisfying sex life.
Luckily these affects can still be reversed or at least reduced once you’ve quit smoking.