Premature Ejaculation Cream and Gel Review

Guys who come too fast often have the impression that their penis is hypersensitive. While hypersensitivity of the penis could cause premature ejaculation, multiple other factors also determine ejaculation control. No matter the causes of your rapid ejaculation, reducing the penis sensitivity with a premature ejaculation cream is an effective way to delay ejaculation.

Premature ejaculation creams work the same way that delay sprays and delay condoms work. The cream contains an anesthetic that will numb some of the penis nerves ending. By desensitizing the penis, the cream will block the signal that the penis usually sends to the brain and spinal cord when it’s stimulated. Therefore, it will delay the time a man takes to reach orgasm.

For those reasons, the premature ejaculation creams are often called numbing cream, ejaculation delay cream, desensitizing cream or last longer cream. Since over-the-counter PE cream uses benzocaine as their active ingredient, we sometimes heard the term benzocaine cream.

Note that this page will talk about premature ejaculation cream as a generic term that contains both PE cream and PE gel. Premature ejaculation gels are essentially the same thing. Delay cream and delay gel both use benzocaine, and their mechanism of action is the same.

What Are Premature Ejaculation Creams

A Premature Ejaculation Cream is a semi-liquid solution made from active ingredients that will numb your penis and reduces its sensation. If you apply a PE cream to your penis, the numbing solution blocks your nerves signals and delay ejaculation.

How Delay Creams Make You Last Longer

Two things trigger the ejaculation in men: arousal and genital stimulation. Most men need a combination of both to climax. However, some men that suffer from severe premature ejaculation can actually ejaculate only from one.

For example, some men get aroused so quickly that they come before their penis is stimulated. On the other hand, some men can come when their penis is stimulated, even if it’s not in an arousing context. For example, it’s possible to ejaculate with a masturbator even if you have no erotic thoughts at all.

The genital stimulation and the arousal level both contribute to your arousal threshold. When this point reaches a certain level, you orgasm. You can learn more about why some men come faster than other here.

Premature Ejaculation Cream and Genital Stimulation

Premature ejaculation creams work on the genital stimulation aspect. The local anesthetic in a numbing cream block the signals that the nerves usually send to your brain.

The two main substances that premature ejaculation products use are benzocaine and lidocaine. Both ingredients are typically used as pain blockers. The nervous signals that they prevent are normally pain signals. For example, lidocaine is what your dentist uses to numb your gum before a surgical procedure¹.

But local anesthetics block more than pains signals. In our case, we use this substance to obstruct the signal that contributes to the ejaculation threshold. Benzocaine and lidocaine cut the communication line between your penis and your brain. So, by reducing the genital stimulation contribution, it takes more time to reach your ejaculation point.

Premature Ejaculation Creams Active Ingredients

Premature ejaculation products normally use two different type of anesthetics; benzocaine and lidocaine.

Over-The-Counter PE Creams

If both substances are approved by the FDA for the treatment of premature ejaculation, there is a caveat. While benzocaine PE products are available in a lot of different formats (cream, gel, sprays, condoms, wipes), the FDA only accept a lidocaine solution when it’s in a dose-metered spray bottle.

So, even if there is a lidocaine cream that can make you last longer, it’s only available with a doctor’s prescription.

Benzocaine Premature Ejaculation Cream

Benzocaine is an over-the-counter local anesthetic used to treat, among other things, sore throats and toothache².

Although it’s not as effective as lidocaine, it’s a relatively safe substance. That’s why, unlike lidocaine, the FDA doesn’t pose any restriction on its usage.

Another advantage of benzocaine is that it’s cheap. That’s also why most benzocaine products are less expensive than lidocaine products.

That make benzocaine creams or benzocaine gel excellent delay product for anyone who wants try a numbing solution for PE.

If you have already tried benzocaine products and you want something with a stronger delay effect, then you can try lidocaine products. If you suffer from severe premature ejaculation, you might want to start directly with a lidocaine product.

Lidocaine Premature Ejaculation Cream

Lidocaine is a local anesthetic available in different forms like cream, gel or sprays used as a nerve block numbing agent¹. In the USA, it’s only available over-the-counter when it’s in a dose-metered spray bottle.

You can read more about the reason behind this choice in our article where we compare in details lidocaine and benzocaine for premature ejaculation products.

In short, lidocaine is more potent that benzocaine. However, lidocaine can present some risk if you use too much of it. So, if you’re looking for something stronger than a benzocaine numbing cream, you should check for a lidocaine PE spray and make sure to respect the instruction on the product packaging.

ELMA Cream for Premature Ejaculation

There is one lidocaine cream that can make you last longer. It’s called ELMA cream, and it contains a mixture of lidocaine and prilocaine.

Although ELMA cream is adequate for premature ejaculation, it’s not available over-the-counter. The prilocaine and lidocaine mixture is effective³, but it can pose serious health issues if too much is absorbed through your skin, especially in certain conditions. That’s why you should never use ELMA cream, or any lidocaine cream, without a doctor prescription.

If you want to benefit from lidocaine stronger delay effect, the simplest way is to use a dose-metered lidocaine spray.

Other Ejaculation Delay Cream

Other than benzocaine and lidocaine, you can also find “natural” ejaculation delay cream. For example, it’s possible to find Panax Ginseng cream for premature ejaculation. Unlike benzocaine cream, the efficacity and safety of most of those products haven’t been tested.

How to Use a Benzocaine Premature Ejaculation Cream?

To take full advantage of the delay effect of premature ejaculation creams, you need to respect the manufacturer application procedure. You’ll find that instruction on the product’s packaging. Usually, it’s only a matter of dabbing the recommended quantity on your fingers and rubbing the cream on the most sensitive parts of your penis (your glans, frenulum and the inner/outer foreskin.)

Application Quantity

You’ll find on each product’s packaging specific instructions. Those instructions should tell you how much you need to apply. Yet, most packaging will use general terms like “small quantity” instead of precise measures.

It could be tempting you use more than the recommended quantity for an increased effect, but please be aware that it can increase the risk of side effect. Although it’s a safe and FDA-approved substance, at high dose, benzocaine can still be dangerous.

Time of application

You need to apply the product before penetration. Benzocaine’s effects aren’t immediate; it takes some time to kick in. Usually, it’s between 5 and 20 minutes. You’ll find the exact time of each product on its packaging.

So, you’ll have to plan ahead and apply the product before you engage in penetration. Of course, sex isn’t always planned. So, you can also use the cream during the foreplay and keep your partner’s arousal going with kissing/cuddling/caressing while you wait for the product to take effects.

Collateral Partners Desensitizing

If you aren’t using a condom, it is recommended to wash your sex with a damp washcloth once the cream is absorbed. The cream needs to be absorbed before washing it out, so wait until you feel the numbness in your penis before doing so.

If you do not do this before penetration, it’s possible to transfer the benzocaine to your partner and to reduce your partner’s sensitivity.

Of course, if you’re using a condom on top of the cream, it will remove the risk of accidentally desensitize your partner. The condom will act as a barrier between your partner and the benzocaine. By using a condom, you can avoid this “washing step.”

However, If you are using a condom, you need to wait for the product to be absorbed before putting your condom on. If you put the condom before you start to feel numb, it can reduce the cream efficacity and increase the risk of adverse effect.

Erection Stability

By decreasing penile sensitivity, the cream can also make it harder for you to keep an erection. However, if you haven’t any difficulties gaining and maintaining an erection, it shouldn’t be a problem for you.

Are Premature Ejaculation Creams Effective?

The International Consultation on Sexual Dysfunctions (ICSD) recommend local anesthetic like premature ejaculation cream as first-line treatment of PE⁴. Some studies show the efficacity of different premature ejaculation creams³. However, all those studies examined a specific lidocaine-prilocaine formula, the ELMA cream. Over-the-counter premature ejaculation creams don’t use the same active ingredients.

Still, we have at least one other study that measured the efficacity of benzocaine wipes⁵. Both the FDA and Health Canada also approved the usage of Benzocaine for “the prevention of premature ejaculation” and “temporarily prolonging the time until ejaculation.”

How Long Should I Last with a Premature Ejaculation Cream?

Since every product has their unique formula, with a different concentration of the active ingredient, the effectiveness of each product can vary a lot.

The study we mentioned about benzocaine wipes helped men to triple the time they take to orgasm (2-folds IELT increase)⁵.

As we mentioned, if the benzocaine numbing creams don’t make you last long enough, you should try lidocaine sprays instead.

If the cream does not affect you, maybe the reason why you ejaculate quickly has nothing to do with the sensitivity of your penis. It would help if you looked for other causes to your premature ejaculation.

Are Premature Effective Creams Safe?

Benzocaine and lidocaine, the active ingredient used in many creams, are available over-the-counter in the different form in the USA. They are well-known, relatively safe, substances when they are used in reasonable quantity. Still, they are drugs, and they could present severe potential side effects and cause allergic reactions. To assure a safe usage, always respect the instruction on the product’s packaging. Since this site isn’t a professional medical opinion, I recommend talking with a pharmacist or doctor before you start using any premature ejaculation products.

The Best Premature Ejaculation Creams to Last Longer in Bed

Since benzocaine is a cheaper substance than lidocaine, you can find a lot of different brand of premature ejaculation cream. Personally, when I have to put a product on my penis, I prefer to use products from larger companies. It’s not that smaller brands don’t offer quality products, but I trust more the bigger laboratories.

Reckitt Benckiser, the company behind Durex and KY is probably the largest company that manufacture benzocaine products. Under the KY brand, they offer a benzocaine gel (KY Duration Gel) that I have tested and that worked for me.

Another large brand is Mandelay, a benzocaine gel manufactured by Majestic. Although it’s not as big of a brand as KY, Mandelay was one of the first topical product available for premature ejaculation. They are also less expensive than KY duration benzocaine gel.

You can also find plenty of smaller brands of benzocaine creams and gels on Amazon.

Where to Buy Premature Ejaculation Creams?

You can buy premature ejaculation cream and gel in physical or online sex-shops. Some drugstore like CVS and Walgreen also carries some brands. Wallmart sometimes has some premature ejaculation gel available.

You can also buy premature ejaculation creams or gel on Amazon. We’ve listed our favorite products here.

Premature Ejaculation Cream vs Other Delay Products

There is two different alternative to premature ejaculation cream. First, premature ejaculation condoms also use benzocaine. The main advantage of condoms is that they are easier to apply. You just put them on like regular condoms. However, they are less effective than premature ejaculation cream or gel.

The other alternative is a premature ejaculation spray. Most sprays will use lidocaine instead of benzocaine. That makes sprays more effective than premature ejaculation cream. A delay spray is a good option for those who don’t find the delay effect of cream strong enough.