Delay cream

Delay creams contain locally acting anesthetics such as benzocaine or lidocaine and serve to prolong sexual intercourse in the event of severe early or premature ejaculation. With the foreskin pushed back, the glans of the penis is rubbed and anesthetized about 20 minutes before intercourse with the foreskin pushed back, so that the highly sensitive touch feedback that contributes to premature ejaculation is suppressed.

What is a delay cream?

With delay creams that contain local anesthetics such as benzocaine or lidocaine, the highly sensitive touch feedback of the male penis during sexual intercourse is desensitized and suppressed. The touch feedback from the penis is partly responsible for the problem of premature or premature ejaculation (ejaculatio praecox). Ideally, men who suffer from the problem can have sexual intercourse much longer before ejaculation occurs.

Depending on the active ingredient, the glans of the penis is carefully rubbed and massaged in a few minutes before sexual intercourse with the foreskin completely pushed back so that the active ingredient (s) can penetrate the skin. After a few minutes, the man then feels local anesthesia on the glans.

Before you actually start in bed, the glans must be carefully freed from excess cream residues, otherwise there is a possibility that the partner's vagina will also be anesthetized during intercourse.

The active ingredient benzocaine has the advantage over lidocaine that it works quickly after application - usually within a few minutes. However, the effect wears off after 10 to 15 minutes. In contrast, lidocaine has the advantage of being effective for up to 60 minutes. However, the disadvantage is the long lead time of up to 30 minutes before the anesthetic effect sets in after the cream has been massaged in. This is more of a hindrance for spontaneous sex.

Shapes, types & types

Delay creams are sold under more or less imaginative names. So-called long-term sprays, which contain the same or similar active ingredients, are also offered in a large selection, mainly in pharmacies, sex shops and online shops.

Another variant of the delay creams is found in special condoms that contain small amounts of a local anesthetic in their tip, which is supposed to additionally reduce the sensitivity of the glans during sexual intercourse in order to delay the ejaculation as far as possible in favor of longer sexual intercourse.

Structure & functionality

The descriptions of the delay creams and long-term sprays are often flowery and imaginative, but usually do not allow any conclusions to be drawn about the specific active ingredients they contain. However, it can be assumed that all products contain more or less effective local anesthetics. Usually these are benzocaine or lidocaine as the main active ingredient.

The stimulation in the skin occurs through four different classes of mechanoreceptors. The receptors, which react particularly sensitively to special stimuli, transmit their electrical action potential via voltage-dependent sodium ion channels.

Benzocaine has the ability to dock on voltage-dependent sodium channels, so that a blockage arises and action potentials can no longer be passed on. The active ingredient lidocaine also prevents the transmission of stimuli in a similar form. This means that the mechanical pressure and sliding stimuli, which are sensed by the numerous mechanoreceptors during sexual intercourse, mainly via the male glans, cannot be passed on to the spinal cord and brain.

One of the problems with premature ejaculation is that the many mechanical stimuli reported by the sensors in the glans as it penetrates the vagina to the appropriate centers in the spinal cord and brain triggers the immediate cascade of actions that lead to immediate ejaculation. The effect of the delay creams or long-term sprays is that the brain has no reason to trigger the ejaculation cascade due to the lack of mechanical stimulus signals, so that longer sexual intercourse is possible.

However, ejaculatio praecox is not only based on the mechanical stimuli that are reported to the brain, but is also strongly influenced by psychological factors and the hormone serotonin, among other things.

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Medical & health benefits

The line between early ejaculation and premature ejaculation, which can be classified as pathological, is blurred and cannot be clearly drawn, as many factors influence that can change daily and hourly. The partnership relationship can also have a major impact on the timing of ejaculation.

The medical and health benefits of delay creams and long-term sprays are less in the medical-physiological than in the psychological area. The actual causes of premature ejaculation cannot be remedied by the creams or sprays. By blocking the sensitive messages of the penis glans to the spinal cord and brain, only one of many possible causes is taken into account.

However, if the various creams or sprays are successful and the ejaculation can be delayed sufficiently, positive psychological effects of considerable significance can arise. If the problem of premature ejaculation persists, not only relationship problems can arise, but also psychological difficulties arise in the affected man that go far beyond the purely sexual area. Conversely, the mind can calm down if the existing sexual problem is resolved through the use of creams or sprays.

If the premature ejaculation cannot be remedied with creams or sprays, further therapeutic measures are available, including training the pelvic floor muscles.