How to End an Erection

Co-authored by Christopher M. Osborne, PhD | Medically reviewed by Sarah Gehrke, RN, MS

Last Updated: March 31, 2022 References Approved

Having an erection is a natural physical experience, but it can be uncomfortable if you get one at an inopportune time. While simply waiting it out is often the best option, you may be able to ease your discomfort by focusing on something else, hiding it, or taking a warm shower.

Method 1

Method 1 of 3:

Shifting Your Focus Elsewhere

1
Relax, or instead use your anxiety to your advantage. Remember, seemingly random erections are normal and no reason for concern, and odds are that no one has noticed anyway. Take a few deep breaths, and keep calm. Worrying about your erection can cause you to focus even more on it and make it more difficult to end.^{[1]
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- That said, anxiety can actually be to your benefit in ending an erection. Stress causes a "fight or flight" reaction in the body, which includes the redistribution of blood towards the arms and legs. The sympathetic nervous system is also involved in erections.^{[2]
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  Trustworthy Source
  PubMed Central
  Journal archive from the U.S. National Institutes of Health
  Go to source} Drawing blood away from your genitals can help end your erection.^{[3]
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- So, the best advice may be not to worry about having an erection, but feel free to worry about other things that may distract and deflate your problem.^{[4]
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2
Try to focus on something complicated and non-sexual. You may have heard the old joke that men have only enough blood to supply either their brains or their penises at any one time, but there is some validity to the idea that distracting the mind can help bring about penile detumescence (the return of a penis to its flaccid state).^{[5]
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Trustworthy Source
PubMed Central
Journal archive from the U.S. National Institutes of Health
Go to source}
- Try to occupy your mind with something besides sex, but don't try to forget about your erection. In other words, don't think to yourself, "OK, I'm thinking about baseball now. Definitely not my erection." Your erection won't go away until you are fully focused on something else. Force yourself to perform a task that takes a lot of mental concentration: play a musical instrument, read, exercise, or solve a math problem.
- If you can't distract yourself by doing an activity, try to visualize the activity in your head. If you're in a social situation and you can't distract yourself without arousing suspicion, imagine yourself doing something different. If you love playing guitar, imagine every little detail: where you're putting your fingers, how you're strumming, how the song sounds.
3
Get a change of scenery. Sometimes, the best way to distract yourself is to go somewhere else for a while. If the erection was triggered by someone or something in the room, it might be difficult to end it until you leave the room. Give yourself five minutes to calm down, then return with renewed resolve.^{[6]
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- Ignore sexual stimuli. Don't allow yourself to see, hear, or experience anything arousing. Distract your senses by diving into things that take a lot of attention. If you can't stop noticing the attractive person in the seat next to you, force yourself to focus on the book in front of you.^{[7]
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4
Give yourself mild pain. No legitimate medical authority will now recommend that you cause yourself any amount of pain to stop a natural and harmless body process, but the traditional notion that mild pain can end an erection is still out there. So long as you only cause yourself very mild pain (mainly as a distraction), it is unlikely to be a problem to give it a try.
- Try, for example, discreetly pinching your thigh. It's easy to hide, it won't seriously hurt you, but it can hurt enough to distract you.
- If you're truly desperate, some people may recommend you try flicking a testicle through your pants. Don't flick too hard, though, or you might injure yourself!
- Remember, it's never worth injuring yourself over an erection.

Method 2

Method 2 of 3:

Hiding It While You Wait It Out

1
Take a seat. When you sit, the fabric of your pants naturally bunches up around your groin, making it harder for others to tell the bulge of an erection from a crease in your jeans. Sitting also allows you to obscure your groin with your legs. Pulling your legs together or crossing your legs makes an erection even harder to see. This tactic should give you time to let your erection shrink naturally.
- Sitting down also gives you more options for concealing your erection. If you're sitting at a table or a desk, for instance, you can pull your chair closer to cover your crotch. You can fold your hands in your lap.
2
Cover your crotch. If your erection won't go away, try to buy time by subtly holding something in front of your groin. Try covering your lap with a book, a laptop, or a newspaper. If you're standing, try holding a bag, backpack, briefcase, coat, or newspaper about waist-high.^{[8]
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- Whatever you choose, be subtle. Hold the cover-up object as if everything is normal. Otherwise, you may simply draw added attention to the area you're trying to conceal.
3
Tuck your erection into your waistband. If your erection won't go away, try to quickly and discreetly adjust it by hand. Tuck the rigid shaft up into the waistband of your pants or underwear. This aligns your penis with the zipper or seam of your pants and makes an erection less noticeable.
- Use caution when wearing a tucked-in shirt or a shirt that doesn't reach all the way down to your waist. If your shirt rides up, you might accidentally expose yourself!
- Be aware that while this technique will help hide your erection, the friction of the fabric may also inadvertently arouse you further.
- Some people prefer tucking downward against one of the thighs. It is really just a question of personal preference and comfort.

Method 3

Method 3 of 3:

Hastening Its Demise

1
Relieve your discomfort. Depending upon your situation, the tightness of your pants may be making your erection worse. Try discreetly loosening your pants. Sit down behind a table or desk and unbuckle your belt. If needed, unbutton and partially unzip your pants to give your erection more "breathing room" with less pressure.^{[9]
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- Be conscious of where you are. Don't be obvious. You don't want to be mistaken for some sort of pervert.
- If you have a bit of privacy, applying a cold pack to your crotch (outside your clothing) can soothe discomfort and encourage your erection to dissipate as well.^{[10]
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  Research source} If you've ever been in a cold swimming pool or outside on a cold day in shorts, you know that the penis and testes tend to retract towards the warmth of your body.
2
Try a warm bath or light exercise. While taking a cold shower is often considered the way to "cool off" raging sexual desires, a warm bath can actually provide a soothing, comfortable environment that may bring your erection to a faster conclusion.^{[11]
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Trustworthy Source
National Health Service (UK)
Public healthcare system of the UK
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- Light exercise, like walking on a treadmill or simple aerobics, can also help provide distraction and a shift in blood distribution.
- These alternatives are often used as initial efforts to end a possible case of priapism, in which the pooled blood becomes trapped in the shaft of the penis. If you have an erection that lasts for more than four hours for any reason, seek medical attention immediately. If not treated quickly, priapism can lead to permanent damage, including but not limited to erectile dysfunction.
3
Urinate. This may not be easy to do with an erection, but urinating can sometimes make an erection go away. Urination causes pleasant, relaxing feelings in your groin, which can make an erection feel less "tight" or "urgent."^{[12]
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Trustworthy Source
National Health Service (UK)
Public healthcare system of the UK
Go to source}
- Waking up in the morning with an erection is common for men of all ages. It can occur with or without the prompting of sexually-arousing dreams. Despite the degree of difficulty in hitting your target while you have an erection, urinating can often help bring it to a conclusion quickly.^{[13]
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4
Masturbate. When it comes down to it, the most effective way to end an erection is to bring it to its natural conclusion. Barring a medical condition, ejaculation almost invariably causes an erection to end.^{[14]
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- Discreetly excuse yourself from the situation and find a private area: a bathroom, a bedroom, or anywhere else you feel sure that you won't disturb anyone. Do your business, clean up, and return to the situation relieved and ready to go.
- Avoid masturbating in public. If you do find yourself in a public place with an erection, find somewhere relatively private to do your thing. A lockable bathroom stall will do in a pinch, as long as you aren't loud or obvious about what you're doing. Public masturbation is illegal in many places, and you might disturb people if you aren't careful.^{[15]
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Warnings

If you have had an erection for longer than four hours, call your doctor and ask to be checked out. This may occur after taking a sexual stimulant, or it may be linked to an underlying medical condition.^{[16]
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Trustworthy Source
National Health Service (UK)
Public healthcare system of the UK
Go to source}

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