How To Use Delay Sprays – Your Questions Answered

photo of me holding a delay spray

Have you recently bought a delay spray or are thinking of trying one? If so, you might have a few questions about using it correctly.

This is probably one of the most common topics readers ask me about, so in this article I’ll hopefully cover all the questions I’m regularly asked.

Not all sprays are the same

I think it’s important to start off by saying that not all delay sprays and creams work the same way. Many are quite similar, but there are often very important differences.

That’s why it’s important to check the instructions they come with, and the manufacturer’s website. There is, of course, a small problem with that in some cases: not all sprays have a dedicated website with instructions.

There are many generic lidocaine sprays for sale online that have limited instructions. That’s why in my opinion it’s better to stick with the brands which have a dedicated team behind them, rather than a generic product with a cool name, but no support.

A standard way to apply a delay spray

If the spray you’ve bought doesn’t have clear instructions, you have three choices: either try and find instructions, leave it and find a different product, or experiment by following the standard instructions other products give.

You’ll see below that I’ve tied to answer the key questions based on both my personal experience, combined with the information provided by some of the most well-known delay spray companies – Promescent, Super Dragon 6000, Stud 100, Dynamo Delay, Adam & Eve, and Fortacin.

Most lidocaine and benzocaine sprays will work in a similar way to the ones I’ll refer to in this article. However, it’s important to stress that if you follow these instructions for a different product, or one with different ingredients altogether, you do so at your own risk.

photo of three delay sprays

1. Start slow

My preference is to start with just one spray, so you can check if your skin will tolerate the ingredients. Most people tolerate them fine, but in my opinion if you’re going to spray your penis, it’s worth being cautious.

And if you find that just one or two sprays works for you, the product will last longer and you’ll save money.

This is the advice the companies give about the number of sprays:

  • Promescent: apply 3 sprays or more, but no more than 10.
  • Stud 100: apply 3 to 5 sprays.
  • Super dragon: apply 2 sprays.
  • Adam & Eve: apply 2 to 5 sprays.
  • Dynamo: 1-3 sprays, and no more than 10.
  • Fortacin: 3 sprays. No more than 9 in 24 hours. Leave 4 hours between each set of 3.

Ideally, you should be able to find the minimum number of sprays that works best for you, and then repeat that number when you next need to. Some men may need one, others five – you just won’t know until you try the product.

2. Target the right area

You can get conflicting advice on where exactly to spray. I think the best thing is to experiment and spray on the most sensitive parts of your penis, not to just cover it all. If you do, there’s a higher chance you’ll numb yourself too much. That can result in erection loss, or just not enjoying the sex as much.

Here’s what the companies say:

  • Promescent: the underside of the penis head, and some on the underside of the shaft.
  • Stud 100: head and shaft of the penis.
  • Super dragon: the head.
  • Adam & Eve: head and shaft of the penis.
  • Dynamo: head and shaft of the penis.
  • Fortacin: the head after retracting the foreskin.

Once you’ve sprayed it, gently rub it in until it appears to be absorbed. This shouldn’t take more than 10-20 seconds to achieve, though maybe longer if you rub it into the shaft as well as the head.

And again, with some experimentation, you should be able to find which part of your penis needs targeting, and which you can leave alone.

3. Flaccid or erect?

It doesn’t matter if you apply it when flaccid or erect. It will work equally well, so it’s up to you to decide what works best for you and your partner.

4. How long before sex to spray?

Different sprays have different timings. None of them allow you to have sex immediately after spraying though. There’s always a waiting time to make sure it’s absorbed and is working, and also so it doesn’t transfer to your partner.

  • Promescent: 5-10 minutes.
  • Stud 100: 5-10 minutes.
  • Super dragon: 5 minutes.
  • Adam & Eve: 5 minutes.
  • Fortacin: 5 minutes.
  • Dynamo: 5-10 minutes.

So you can see that 5-10 minutes is a pretty safe bet if you’re using a lidocaine or benzocaine spray.

5. Do I need to wash it off before sex?

This is probably one of the main areas of confusion, since the companies rarely tell you exactly what they mean by wipe/wash off the excess. Do you use a cloth, water, soapy water, straight away, just before sex?

Here’s what I think is a good idea to do:

  • Spray and gently rub it in. Note that Fortacin don’t say to rub it in, just to spray and wait. Some sprays don’t drip so you don’t need to rub them in. Others do advise rubbing it into the skin once you’ve sprayed.
  • Wait for the recommended time, usually 5-10 minutes.
  • Wipe off any excess with a damp cloth or tissue. Even if you can’t see any excess, you might want to give it a wipe anyway.
  • Wash your hands.

The washing bit is confusing as no company is totally clear about what to do. Personally, I think it’s good to experiment. I find a quick wipe after rubbing in helps remove most excess.

Then a wash or even a shower once the time for absorption has elapsed can help ensure there’s no transference to your partner. The good sprays definitely still work even after a lengthy hot shower in my experience, so there’s no need to worry about the effect not being there.

6. Wash your hands

Very few companies mention this, but those that do say it’s important. You should wash your hands after applying it to make sure you don’t transfer it to your partner, or get it in other sensitive areas such as the eyes.

7. How long will the delay spray last?

This very much depends on the person and the spray. In my experience, most of them keep you numb for at least an hour.

8. Can you choose to have unprotected sex or use a condom?

This again depends on the spray, so it’s important to check with the manufacturer.

  • Promescent: both are ok.
  • Stud 100: both are ok, but you should use latex condoms.
  • Super dragon: both are ok.
  • Adam & Eve: both are ok – use latex condoms.
  • Dynamo: they don’t specify.
  • Fortacin: both are ok. But for condoms, you can’t use a latex-free female or male condom made of polyurethane.

9. Can you have oral sex?

Once again, some say yes and others that it’s best to avoid it. The reasons usually being a bad taste or the risk of transference to your partner.

  • Promescent: yes, as long as you wash it off before.
  • Stud 100: yes, but wait up to 15 minutes first.
  • Super dragon: no because the taste might be unpleasant.
  • Adam & Eve: can’t find information about this.
  • Dynamo: yes as long as you wash it off first.
  • Fortacin: they don’t say. But they do say to take care if you accidentally numb their mouth.

10. Can you use it if you’re trying to get pregnant, or already are pregnant?

Most sprays advise against using them if you’re trying to get pregnant, or if your partner already is pregnant. Here’s a helpful quote from the Promescent website:

lidocaine has not been proven to be safe to use in pregnancy. We recommend to err on the side of caution

The Stud 100 website also says not to use it if your partner is pregnant.

Fortacin has a clear instruction about this:

Fortacin should not be used whilst your partner is pregnant unless you use an effective male condom…Fortacin may reduce the possibility of pregnancy. Therefore, patients hoping to achieve conception should either avoid using Fortacin, or, if this medicine is essential to achieve penetration, should wash the penis as thoroughly as possible five minutes after Fortacin has been applied, but prior to intercourse.

11. How often can you use a spray?

There’s no clear answer to this question, as it will depend on the exact type and quantity of numbing ingredient. Some sprays have instructions about this, but many don’t.

Here are two examples:

  • Promescent: no more than 20 sprays in 24 hours.
  • Fortacin: no more than 9 sprays in 24 hours, with 4 hours between each use.

12. Can you use a delay spray and viagra type drugs together?

As far as I’m aware, there are no safety concerns directly related to mixing desensitizing sprays and medication like viagra. So as long as it’s safe for you to use each one individually, it should be okay to combine them too.

Personally, I would err on the side of caution though and ask your doctor for their advice about combining medications especially if you take any other medication currently.

13. Preventing wastage of the spray

A clever trick I got from a reader is to first spray into a small glass. Then you can dip your finger into the liquid formed and rub it into the area you want to on your penis. This can help prevent wastage by the spray missing some of the penis.

The alternative is to spray from close up – 2 to 3 cm away should be fine.

14. What about delay creams?

Although sprays are the most common form of desensitizing product, there are some in cream form. Personally, I’m not a fan of creams, as you can never be sure if you’re using the same amount each time. However, with creams you can follow the same standard guidelines above.

Your thoughts & questions

Do you have any experience with using delay sprays or creams, and have any advice to offer other readers about the best way to use them? Or do you have any questions I haven’t answered here?

And if you found the article helpful, I’d really appreciate a quick comment to let me know.

You might also like

If you’d like to try a delay spray, take a look at my recommended delay sprays. There are some which either don’t work well or have ingredients which can cause unpleasant side effects. So I recommend seeing what I have to say about them.

424 Comments

  1. I have used this once.. but i haven’t washed my penis after spraying.. is there any problem for my wife after having sex?

    • Hi Kumar
      I don’t know which spray you intend to use – there are many. I also don’t know how they are for people in your condition. I think you’d need to check with your doctor, or check with one of the manufacturers.
      Ethan

  4. Hi Ethan
    My question is also related to use with pregnanant partner. Let’s say my partner is pregnant and and I apply stud 100 spray and wash off penis and put the latex condom on and have a sex. Will it be safe do like this ? or we can’t use this way as well during pregnancy?
    Thanks
    Raj

    • Hi Raj
      To be honest, what you say makes sense to me, and I probably wouldn’t have an issue doing that myself. But if the manufacturer says don’t do it, I kind of feel it’s better to take their advice!
      Doing that will make you very numb anyway. The combo. of numbing spray and condom tends to be overkill in my experience. Maybe you could just try a very thick condom instead?
      Ethan

  5. Can stud 100 spray be used during pregnancy with condom on? Or it can’t be use at all during pregnancy?

    • Hi
      I don’t know of any warnings that you shouldn’t use it with a condom even. Just make sure you wash off the excess properly before you use it.
      Ethan

      • Hi Ethan
        My confusion is stud 100 website says : do not use during pregnancy. But will be ok to use stud 100 if partner is pregnant with latex condom on ?
        Thx

        • Hi again
          I just checked, and you’re right – it doesn’t say anything about using a condom or not when she’s pregnant. My feeling is that they are being super cautious, which is understandable. As far as I know, the reason they say not to use it is that there’s no data on the potentially harmful effects, so they have to be careful with what they advise. I guess you could try writing to them to see what they say. If they don’t reply, I imagine being cautious too is probably the best course of action.
          I just looked again online midway through this comment and found an interesting article discussing condom use in general during pregnancy, as I was checking what the advice is about using benzocaine condoms like Durex Performax. There’s an interesting section about them in the middle of the article:
          https://pregnancy.lovetoknow.com/conception-birth-control/condom-use-during-pregnancy
          Ethan

  7. Hey Ethan..very helpful and as anyone can see..you really have focused on providing most of the information.
    And i have a question too- Bad taste and numbness are one thing but can there be any other side affects to her in case of oral sex?
    And what’s the diffrence between the numbers following the sprays’ names like Stud 100 and Stud 5000?

    • Hi Benoy
      Glad you liked the article!
      I think those are the only side effects with oral as far as I know.
      The numbers don’t mean anything – it’s just the companies trying to sell them and for some reason they all started adding long numbers to the name! Stud 5000 is a copy of the original Stud 100 as far as I can tell. I would stick with Stud 100 if you are going to choose one of them.
      Ethan

  8. Hi Ethan
    It’s nice to know I’m very newly married and i would try a spray name “universal stud” I think u didn’t heard, when i used it 1st times on my penis nip only i didn’t find any more instruction about rubbing the liquid all over on penis or anything like so i just sprayed it 3 times but it didn’t work and after some days I used it again and sprayed 5 times again as I said before this time I have some itching n jealousy on my testis and my nip is just gone like it didn’t feel anything and nothing happens again so can you please tell me something better than this spray.
    Hope you replied early thanks

    • Hi Niranjansingh
      Congratulations on getting married!
      I don’t know that spray – it sounds like maybe you used too much, or it’s just not a good one. I’d recommend promescent, stud 100 or fortacin most of all.
      Ethan

      • Why don’t u recommend dragon 6000 spray? it worked well with myself 2 sprays i couldnt always remain hard but ill try one spray next time. and i couldnt believe it made me bigger partner noticed and so did i

        • Hi Michael
          It’s not that I don’t recommend it at all, I just think there are some issues with it – as with all sprays! By the way, there is nothing at all in that, or any other spray, that can make the penis bigger. It was probably psychological or just a random coincidence that you were hornier or had better blood flow that day!
          Ethan

  9. Thank you.. your information has just saved me from buying a Chinese VEGA 60000 Spray. I think I am better off without using any. Once again thank you.

  10. Thanks Ethan, I have your article very interesting and may be very helpful. I would like to know, are there side effects and age limit in using the sprays?

  14. Hi. This article was very informative and one of its kind. I have question. Patient using maxman 75000 repored that spray desensitized but erection was also gone while using cialis 20mg. It happened for number of times. What would be the cause and solution to the problem. Regards

    • Hi Rashid
      Thanks, I’m happy to hear that. It’s very common for desensitizing sprays to cause erection loss. Even if you use an ED drug like cialis, they still need you to be stimulated to work well. So in cases where you don’t feel enough pleasurable stimulation, it’s possible the drug won’t help much. One solution is not to use the spray, or use a better one. Another is to get an erection first, and then use the spray.
      Ethan

  15. Hello I try super viga 15000 but It does not work for me so my friend now ask me to try super viga 400000 is still the same or different ? Thanks

    • Hi Obeng
      I’m glad the article was interesting. Just to be clear, there’s no Stud 400 – only 100 and 5000.
      Stud 100 is the original and better one though.
      Ethan

  18. hi i found ur post well well beneficial …but i have a question ?? how much amount of single spray should i apply??

    • Hi Shah
      Different sprays have different availability. Many are only sold on individual country websites like amazon or ebay. One of two can be ordered and delivered to most countries – promescent for example, and I think mayb stud 100.
      Ethan

    • Hi Asim
      Unfortunately they don’t work for everyone. You could try a different spray, but if that doesn’t work either, you’ll need to try a different method.
      Ethan

  21. Can you please tell me when to use the spray on our penis – normal or ready to have sex?

    Thanks.

    • Hi
      Yes, there can be. Most common is too much numbing resulting in erection loss, and a mild itching or burning sensation. This tends to happen if you use too much or are particularly sensitive to the ingredients.
      Ethan

  24. Four days ago i used the stud 100, and now am feeling pain in my penis especially when i want to urinate. Ave had std test and its negative. How do i stop the pain

  26. Is it necessary to wash it or wipe it before intercourse after applying the spray. Or go ahead with intercouse.

  27. Hi Ethan,

    Many thanks for your detailed information.

    I would like to know, whether I can use the lubricant during the sex if the Promescent applied before the sex as instruction.

    Frank

    • Hi Steve
      As far as I know, it should be ok. Just keep an eye that you don’t cause yourself any damage due to the lack of feeling you might end up with.
      Ethan

  29. Please can I use the spray without using condom. And how if she want link my the penis is it going to affect her.

    • Hi
      Yes, sprays can be used without a condom. If you have oral sex, it’s important to wash yourself well beforehand. So apply the spray, wait for the time it says, and then have a good wash or shower. The spray will still work, and you hopefully won’t numb her mouth.
      However, some sprays say not to have oral sex, so you need to check first.
      Ethan

  30. Ever since I used dragon spray, I have been having erection problem.. I can’t erect normal again . Am scared that my penis is dead but if I started watching hot porn movies it take some time to erect.. my penis is really weak. I used the spray and like 3 minutes time before having sex but the spray spread to the mouth of my penis.. so can I get any information about my problem

    • Hi Eric
      Sorry to hear you’re having problems because of that spray. You’re not the first, with several people saying the same recently, which is worrying. When I tried it, I didn’t have any permanent problems like this though, so I imagine some people are just reacting badly to it. My advice is that if you’re still having erection problems, talk to your doctor about it. There’s nothing else I can do to help I’m afraid.
      Ethan

    • Hi Hary
      It depends on the spray and the ingredients. The advice I’ve seen varies a lot – some don’t even have advice about this question! I’d err on the side of caution, and only use a few sprays a day, and leave a few hours between each dosing.
      Ethan

    • Hi Johnson
      As I understand it, there’s no real research into the long-term safety of lidocaine, benzocaine and prilocaine on the unborn child. For that reason, it’s better to avoid using the sprays if she’s pregnant.
      Ethan

  35. Hi buddy bit confused with this spray (super dragon)
    Once sprayed and massaged in then quick wipe down its ok to have sex right?
    If so then what’s the (extra) duration (I) you can get from it
    So if for example my sex time is between 2/5mins once entering the vagina whats the extra time it can possibly give me?
    And rating wise how good is super dragon spray?
    Thanks in advance
    Adam

    • Hi Adam
      You can either wipe once you’ve rubbed it in, or wait for 5 mins and then wipe. You might have to experiment to find out what works best for you. There’s no way to calculate how much longer you might last – it’s different for everyone. In terms of rating, it’s similar to most sprays really – sometimes works great, others not so. So it’s hard to give a reasonable rating!
      Ethan

  36. Hi.. I found your article very useful… My question is can we use spray on regular basis when ever having sex except planing to make partner pregnant…. is it safe using it often….

  37. After applying spray on flaccid penis and waiting for 15 min, will I be able to erect penis to insert into vagina….. And how long will the effect will be

    • Hi
      It’s impossible to predict! Some men have no problem getting erect, others find it difficult with a spray. But the type of spray, the amount you apply, how horny you feel, and the person you’re with can also have an influence.
      Ethan

    • Hi Danteh
      It’s not ideal to spray it into the Urethra. But not a lot will happen I imagine, other than some temporary numbing there too. But if you experience pain or a rash that won’t go away, talk to a doctor about it.
      Ethan

  39. please,am kinda confused! Should I wash my dick after the 5-10mins wait or should just go ahead with intercourse after applying the spray & the wait respectively??
    kindly answer me please.

    • Hi Mitchell
      You should wash after the waiting time is over. But if you want, you can wash earlier, as the effects might already be there. It’s worth experimenting to see what works best for you, and depending on the particular spray.
      Ethan

  40. I am not using delay spray. I don’t know about that. for me need hard penis. when I am going to sex my penis not hard. I need to be hard like a rod how I will get suggest me please. delay spray or any tablet and suggest good tablet?

    • Hi doss
      If you have erection problems, definitely don’t use a delay spray. The best tablet I’ve tried for erections is Viagra. But something else I tried recently (and will write a review of soon) is a penis pump.
      Ethan

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