How to Last Longer in Bed, Naturally: Treatments for ED (2024)

A healthy sex life can increase your confidence, reduce stress, and help you sleep better at night. But problems with stamina, premature ejaculation, or other sexual performance issues can be frustrating and embarrassing.

If you’re experiencing any changes to your sexual performance or are unable to maintain an erection during an entire sexual encounter, you may be asking yourself — how can I last longer in bed?

The truth is diagnosing the cause of these changes can be challenging sometimes. These issues may resolve naturally over time, or they could possibly indicate a larger, underlying medical issue.

There are several treatment options that you can try out on your own, or you can consider reaching out to your healthcare professional to discuss your options, too.

1. Quit smoking, if you smoke

Smoking could be to blame for sexual dysfunction, according to research. Smoking can impair circulation, increase your risk of ED, and decrease your sperm count and viability.

2. Exercise

Managing your weight and getting regular exercise can improve your sexual performance. Regular physical activity might also boost erectile function — one review suggests 40 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous aerobic exercise four times per week.

By fine-tuning your cardiovascular health, you could also build bedroom endurance.

3. Therapy

Though you may assume that ED is a result of your biology or physical health, there’s a frequent connection seen between ED and mental health. In many cases, ED can stem from depression, anxiety, and other mental health conditions — all of which can benefit from therapy and meeting with a mental health professional.

However, it can be a case of “chicken or the egg” when determining the cause. According to a 2018 meta-analysis on the subject, some people experiencing depression were more at risk for ED, while others currently with ED were at a higher risk of depression.

In a 2017 study that focused on people assigned male at birth, 28 participants younger than 40 years with ED symptoms showed a significant improvement after they underwent cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT).

4. Acupuncture

Acupuncture is a treatment method of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) that’s been practiced for more than 2,500 years. The practice of inserting small needles into certain points across the body stimulates the nervous system and affects natural opioids and hormones.

Research into the use of acupuncture to treat ED is limited. Only small studies are currently available, but some results seem promising.

In fact, a 2019 review analyzed many of the clinical trials exploring acupuncture as an ED treatment and found the results to be very positive. However, the review also notes the limited number of studies available and relatively low sample sizes from those studies, which could influence the overall results.

Despite its limited evidence as an ED treatment, there are still other benefits that are believed to come from acupuncture, like stress and chronic pain reduction, that can better your overall wellness and may be worth considering.

5. Talk with your healthcare professional about underlying health conditions

As mentioned, ED can be a symptom of several serious health conditions, like sleep apnea, diabetes, and cardiovascular problems. Make an appointment with your healthcare professional for a physical to determine if ED is a sign of something more serious.

6. Certain foods or drinks

Diet affects your overall health and well-being. A healthy, balanced diet could affect your performance in bed.

A Mediterranean diet consists of plenty of fresh, plant-based foods like fruits, vegetables, nuts, and legumes, as well as fish and healthy fats. It also includes some meat, but is low in highly processed foods.

As if you needed another reason to drink more water, staying hydrated is important for your overall sexual function. There’s a link between dehydration and temporary ED. Hydration helps promote blood circulation, which is essential for getting and maintaining an erection.

You might not be lasting as long in bed as you would like for many reasons. Experts believe there can be emotional and physical reasons.

You may be experiencing premature ejaculation (PE), which causes ejaculation to happen sooner than you or your partner would like, or you may be experiencing erectile dysfunction (ED), which causes difficulty becoming erect or keeping an erection long enough to have penetrative sex.

PE and ED are two separate conditions, and to address the “how to last longer in bed” question, it’s important to establish which of the two (or possibly both concurrently) conditions you have. For example, someone may not have any trouble becoming erect but find that they’re reaching climax much faster than usual — indicating PE and not ED.

If someone is having trouble becoming erect, it could be difficult to tell if PE is also a concern until they’re able to stay erect throughout sex. In this case, that person would want to meet with their doctor or a healthcare professional to explore and prioritize ED treatments first since ED and PE treatments are often very different. In this case, PE may no longer be a problem once ED is treated.

Stress, anxiety, and depression can all contribute to ED. Many underlying health conditions like sleep apnea, diabetes, and heart disease, as well as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and other mental health conditions, can also play roles. You may not even know you have one of these conditions.

Age may also be a factor. The likelihood of ED increases with age, but experts are now seeing it more in younger people. ED in young people is often ignored or overlooked, but it can be an indicator of future cardiovascular conditions.

If you aren’t finding satisfactory results through more natural treatments, there are a number of desensitizing wipes and sprays that might be worth considering. These products can be applied to the sensitive areas of the penis to help delay orgasm and treat PE symptoms. Here’s a quick look at some of the products we recommend. Remember that all of the products we recommend to you go through our intensive vetting process.

Prescription medication can help improve erection quality and sexual performance by increasing blood flow to the penis. Prescription ED medications include:

As with all prescription medications, they come with some risks. ED medications can lead to numerous side effects. For a quick rundown on what you might experience, check out this article on medications to treat ED.

If you want to explore if ED medications are right for you, consider meeting with your healthcare professional to discuss your treatment options. Additionally, if you want to meet with a doctor virtually, online companies like Hims and Roman can connect you with a medical professional in your state.

Generally speaking, ED medications are associated with flushing, headaches, visual changes, upset stomach, and nasal congestion. Sometimes, side effects can be dangerous for people taking nitrate drugs or those with heart problems.

Lifestyle changes like quitting smoking (if you smoke) and making positive changes to your diet and exercise routine may not present the same risks or drug interactions, and some of these changes may actually improve your overall health.

Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA)

DHEA helps create sex hormones, including testosterone and estrogen. Natural DHEA levels decrease as a person gets older. While some studies suggest that DHEA supplements could help ED, others have found no evidence to support this claim.

Side effects of DHEA can include:

It’s a good idea to speak with a healthcare professional before using DHEA supplements.

Yohimbine

Yohimbine is the main component of bark from Pausinystalia yohimbe trees, and it’s thought to be an aphrodisiac.

Plus, studies have linked yohimbine with severe side effects, including heart attacks and seizures. Other side effects include stomach problems, anxiety, and high blood pressure.

Yohimbine hydrochloride, a different form of yohimbine, is available as a prescription drug for ED. This is a different product than dietary supplements made from tree bark.

Horny goat weed

Epimedium grandiflorum, also known as horny goat weed, is a traditional remedy for increasing fertility. But there’s not enough evidence to support its use.

This supplement is often well tolerated. Side effects can include nausea, vomiting, irregular heartbeat, and dry mouth.

If you start noticing regular symptoms of ED or a loss of libido, make an appointment with your doctor.

Talk with a urologist about PE if you almost always ejaculate within 1 minute of beginning intercourse or if you’re almost always unable to delay ejaculation when you want to.

As mentioned above, ED can be caused by underlying health conditions that may need to be treated before you get back to your usual sex life.

Many people will experience concerns in the bedroom at some point in their lives, but the condition is highly treatable.

The first step is to contact a doctor to help you figure out the root cause. There are medications approved by the FDA to treat erectile dysfunction. There are also many herbal supplements to help you last longer in bed, but certain lifestyle measures can often yield positive results.