Blood Flow to the Penis
Blood flow to the penis is essential for achieving and maintaining erections. Exercise, diet, and stress management can help increase blood flow naturally.
1. Avoid Smoking
Smoking affects blood vessel linings and decreases nitric oxide (NO) production. NO is a gas that helps widen blood vessels. Decreased NO production prevents the penile muscles from relaxing to allow blood flow.
Smoking may also increase your risk of ED. It damages the circulatory system, which carries blood through the body and to the penis. E-cigarettes can contribute to ED but may have a less severe effect.
2. Strengthen Your Pelvic Floor
Training your pelvic floor muscles, which support the bladder and bowel, may boost blood flow to the penis.11 These include the ischiocavernosus and bulbospongiosus muscles, which move blood into the penis.
What the Science Says: Limited research has shown that pelvic floor exercises improve erectile function in people with ED. A 2016 study found pelvic floor muscle training improved erectile function after prostate surgery.
Steps To Perform Kegels
Here’s how to perform a type of pelvic floor exercise known as Kegels:
- Empty your bladder.
- Start standing, lying down, or sitting in a chair.
- Tighten your pelvic floor muscles like you are holding in pee, and hold for 10 seconds.
- Relax the muscles for another 10 seconds.
- Repeat 3-5 times a day.
Tip: Do not overdo the number of reps and how often you do Kegels. Over-exercising your pelvic floor can cause muscle fatigue and urinary incontinence (leaking urine).
3. Do Aerobic Exercises
Adding more aerobic exercise, also known as cardio, to your routine can increase blood flow.1 These workouts rhythmically engage large muscle groups to boost heart rate and oxygen supply.
Types of aerobic exercise include:
- Cycling
- Dancing
- Hiking
- Running
- Spinning
- Step aerobics
- Swimming
Exercise can also boost testosterone production, which may improve erectile dysfunction (ED).
4. Consider Supplements
What the Science Says: A 2018 review found that 40 minutes of moderate to vigorous aerobic exercise, four times a week, helped men with ED.
Certain herbal and dietary supplements show promise as alternative remedies to boost blood flow to the penis.23 No supplement has been definitively proven to treat ED safely and effectively.
Supplements like L-arginine, ginkgo biloba and yohimbe may improve vasodilation (opening of the blood vessels). L-arginine and ginseng can improve blood flow and relax the muscles needed for an erection.
Before taking any supplements, talk with a doctor to make sure they will not interact with medications or conditions. Ginkgo biloba can increase bleeding and is unsafe if you have a bleeding disorder or take blood thinners.
5. Manage Your Weight
Maintaining a weight that’s considered healthy for you may improve erectile function. Research has shown that large waist sizes are more strongly associated with ED. Work with a doctor to develop a sustainable weight-loss plan that’s best for you and your health goals.
6. Make Dietary Changes
A balanced diet may increase blood flow to the penis and maintain erectile function. Combined with exercise, a nutritious diet can also support testosterone production.
Eat a Nutritious Diet
Following a Mediterranean or Alternative Healthy Eating Index 2010 diet may lower your risk of ED. Both diets avoid red and processed meats.
Foods in the Mediterranean diet include:
- Dairy, meat, and eggs in moderation
- Fruits like apples, berries, and citrus fruits
- Grains like millet, barley, farro, and buckwheat
- Legumes like lentils, chickpeas, and white beans
- Nuts and seeds like almonds, pumpkin seeds, pistachios, walnuts
- Olive oil
- Poultry
- Seafood like fish, mussels, shrimp
- Vegetables like leafy greens, zucchini, squash, and asparagus
Limit Alcohol
Drinking too much alcohol affects brain chemicals that help the penis fill with blood when you are aroused.
What the Science Says: A 2024 study found that people with alcohol use disorder (AUD) improved erectile function after a month alcohol-free.
7. Decrease Stress
Ongoing stress and anxiety raise cortisol levels. Too much cortisol can lower testosterone levels and raise your risk of ED. It also increases blood pressure, slows blood flow, and may damage blood vessels.
Ways to help manage stress include:
- Acupuncture: Limited research has shown that acupuncture may improve blood flow and erectile function. It uses thin needles to improve energy flow, or Qi
- Breathing exercises: Diaphragmatic breathing may improve erectile function. It involves deep inhaling and exhaling through your lips.
- Meditation: Meditation can improve blood flow and sexual performance. Mindful meditation may also help with sexual performance anxiety.
- Yoga: Yoga can improve erectile function.
When Should You See a Doctor?
See a doctor if you often have difficulty forming or keeping an erection. They can help you figure out the cause and find treatment.
Medications like antidepressants, blood pressure drugs, and sedatives may cause ED. It can also be a sign of a condition like:
- Anxiety, including fear of intimacy and sexual performance anxiety
- Atherosclerosis, or arteries that become narrow due to plaque build-up
- Depression
- Diabetic neuropathy, or nerve damage from diabetes
- Heart disease
- Hypertension (high blood pressure)
- Injuries to the penis, spinal cord, prostate, bladder, or pelvis
- Kidney disease
A doctor will likely refer you to a urologist (a specialist in the urinary tract). They will ask about your health history, perform a physical exam, and order blood tests.
What Treatments Are Available for Erectile Dysfunction?
If natural remedies do not increase blood flow to the penis, a doctor may recommend treatments like:
- Oral medications: Phosphodiesterase (PDE) inhibitors relax smooth muscle in the penis to increase blood flow during arousal.
- Injectable medications: MUSE (alprostadil) or Trimix (papaverine and phentolamine with alprostadil) improve blood flow to the penis. These are injected directly or used as a suppository in the urethra.
- Surgery: Surgery may be necessary for severe ED that does not respond to medication. However, there’s a higher risk of infection.
- Therapy: Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) can help you learn ways to decrease stress that affects sexual performance.