How can lighting up affect YOUR sex life?

     Many people start smoking with the intention of just doing it once in a while. Although to many individuals this may seem like an okay short-term idea but cigarettes contain nicotine, a highly addictive substance.

Nicotine, not only serves as an addictive substance, it is also a vasoconstrictor. This means that it tightens the blood vessels and restricts blood flow within the body. Nicotine is a vasoconstrictor, meaning it tightens blood vessels and restricts blood flow within the body. Over a long period of time, vasoconstrictors can cause permanent damage to arteries, which can result in numerous health care issues.  

     Since a man's erection depends on blood flow, researchers assumed smoking would affect erections. Studies have confirmed this time and again.

    Numerous research studies have proven that since penile erections solely depend on blood flow smoking is the primary contributor to impotence.  

     An insignificant amount of only two cigarettes could cause softer erections in male smokers. Results are supported by a review of all studies done on impotent men over the last two decades. The research depicted “40 percent of men affected by impotence were smokers, as opposed to 28 percent of the general male population. That is either a really amazing coincidence, or there is a relationship between smoking and male impotence.”

     It should be noted that most of these men were older, and smoking is considered just one cause of erectile dysfunction. Young smokers may not notice negative effects right away, but they could be setting themselves up for "failure" later on.

     So what does all this about impotence mean for women? During sexual arousal, the labia, clitoris, and vagina also swell up with blood, similar to a man's penis, enhancing sensation and excitement. If nicotine can restrict blood flow and cause erectile dysfunction in men, it may be reasonable to predict that blood flow is restricted in women as well, and may also have a negative effect on sensation.

Effects of smoking on female sexual health include:

•       Accelerated loss of female reproductive functioning

•       Many harmful substance founds in cigarettes may harm the ovaries

•       It causes early menopause.

•       Women who smoke tend to suffer abnormal menstrual patterns and discharge, and more pain over several days.

•       It increases the risk of spontaneous abortion and ectopic pregnancy.

•       Smoking causes mutations in ovum and effects reproductive capability.

•       Studies show that women who smoke or have smoked in the past may encounter difficulties getting pregnant with the chances of conceiving being decreased by up to 40% for each menstrual cycle.

     It's hard to say whether your sex life will improve if you quit smoking, since there are many factors influencing your sex life beyond genital sensation. Of course, quitting smoking would also eliminate stained teeth, unhealthy skin, rapid accumulation of wrinkles on the face, and clothing, hair, and breath that smell of smoke. That might improve one's sex life. Decreasing your risk of cancer and heart disease — which tend to have negative effects on one's sex life — could be sexy in the long run.

     According to the American Lung Association, it takes the average smoker two to four attempts at quitting to successfully kick the habit, and the process usually isn't a pleasant one. Withdrawal symptoms can include headaches, sweating, intestinal pain, respiratory pain and congestion (as a result of the lungs clearing themselves out), irritability, mood swings, insomnia and, as you've seen all too clearly, depression. The good news is that there are millions of happy, healthy ex-smokers as living proof that those symptoms will eventually pass.