A cigarette can seem small compared to everything else that affects your health. When you are dealing with erectile dysfunction, though, that small habit can have a big impact. If you are wondering, “does quitting smoking improve erectile dysfunction?”, the short answer is often yes, especially if you stop sooner rather than later.
Below, you will see how smoking affects erections, what actually changes in your body when you quit, and what kind of timeline you can realistically expect for improvement.
How smoking affects your erections
To understand how quitting might help, it helps to know what smoking does in the first place.
Erections depend on healthy blood vessels and a chemical called nitric oxide. Nitric oxide relaxes the arteries in your penis so blood can flow in and stay there long enough for a firm erection. Cigarette smoking is an established independent risk factor for erectile dysfunction because it depletes nitric oxide and damages those blood vessels over time (PMC NIH).
Large studies from the United States, China, Europe, and the Middle East have all found the same pattern. Smokers have a significantly higher risk of developing ED than non-smokers, with odds ratios from about 1.4 to 3.1, even in men under 40 who do not have other obvious risk factors like diabetes or high blood pressure (PMC NIH). In other words, smoking alone is enough to raise your risk.
The damage is also dose dependent. The more you smoke per day and the more years you smoke, the more likely you are to develop ED and the more severe it is likely to be (PMC NIH). Heavy smokers, especially those with a high lifetime pack-year history, tend to have worse erections than light or occasional smokers.
What improves when you quit smoking
The good news is that the same body systems that smoking harms can start to recover once you quit. You are not stuck with the damage forever, especially if you stop earlier in life.
When you quit, several things begin to shift in your favor:
Your blood vessels start to open up again. Smoking narrows and stiffens your arteries, which limits blood flow to the penis. As you stay smoke free, vessel function improves, and blood can move more easily where it needs to go (Ro).
Your nitric oxide levels begin to rebound. Since nicotine and other chemicals interfere with nitric oxide, quitting helps restore this key erection supporting signal. Better nitric oxide means your penile arteries relax more normally in response to arousal (PMC NIH).
Your circulation and overall cardiovascular fitness get better. The American Cancer Society reports that circulation can start to improve within about two weeks of quitting, which indirectly supports better erectile function because erections are essentially a cardiovascular event (Ro).
You may also notice changes beyond firmness. In a 2020 study of men aged 30 to 60 who successfully quit smoking, researchers saw improvements not just in erectile function but also in sexual satisfaction, orgasmic function, and sexual desire (Ro). Quitting improves both the mechanics and the overall experience.
What the research says about improvement
Several types of studies have looked specifically at what happens to erectile dysfunction after men quit smoking.
A prospective study of 281 smokers with ED found a clear pattern. Before nicotine replacement therapy, researchers measured how many pack-years each man had smoked and how severe his ED was. More pack-years and more cigarettes per day were strongly linked to worse erectile function (PubMed).
Over one year of follow up, 118 men quit smoking and 163 continued. Among those who quit, at least 25 percent had a significant improvement in their ED. Among those who kept smoking, none had that level of improvement (PubMed). Ex-smokers also had better overall erectile status at the end of the year than current smokers, and this difference was statistically significant with a P value of 0.009.
The same study also showed that quitting does more than just stop things from getting worse. Only 2.5 percent of ex-smokers had their ED worsen over the year, compared to 6.8 percent of men who continued smoking (PubMed). Quitting both increases your chance of improvement and lowers your risk of further decline.
Other research lines up with these findings:
- A 1998 study by Guay and colleagues reported that stopping smoking rapidly decreased ED, suggesting that the benefits can start quickly after quitting (Ubie).
- A 2004 prospective study by Pourmand and colleagues confirmed that cigarette smokers with ED benefit from smoking cessation, reinforcing quitting as an effective step toward better erectile function (Ubie).
Overall, evidence suggests that over half of men with ED who quit smoking experience noticeable improvement in erections within about six months to one year, especially if they are younger than 50 and do not have multiple other health problems (PMC NIH).
How long it can take to see changes
If you are looking for a timeline, you probably want to know when you might see real world changes, not just abstract statistics.
Research and clinical experience point to a few key time windows:
Within 24 hours. In a small study of ten men with ED, researchers saw clear improvements in nighttime erections and erection stiffness just 24 hours after the men stopped smoking. Interestingly, similar benefits were seen in men using nicotine patches, which suggests the harmful effect comes more from smoke toxins than from nicotine alone (Ro).
Within a few weeks. Reviews of multiple studies indicate that some improvement in erectile function can begin within a few weeks of quitting, in parallel with early blood vessel healing and better circulation (Ubie).
Within a few months. As you stay smoke free for several months, your vascular system continues to recover, and blood flow to the penis improves more, which can lead to further gains in erection quality (Ubie).
Six months to one year. Studies following men for a year consistently show that many ex-smokers have better erections at the end than at the beginning, especially if they were not dealing with severe ED or multiple chronic conditions at the start (PMC NIH). This is also when improvements in stamina, orgasmic function, and desire tend to be more noticeable (Ro).
Big picture: some men notice minor changes quickly, but the most meaningful and stable improvements usually build over several months of staying smoke free.
Why some men improve more than others
Not every man who quits smoking will see the same results. Your personal history and health shape how much recovery is possible.
Studies point to a few main factors:
Age and starting severity. In the 281 person study, the chance of erectile improvement after quitting was inversely related to age and pre quitting ED severity. Younger men and those with mild or moderate ED were more likely to improve. Older men and those with advanced ED were less likely to see big changes, although quitting still helped prevent further deterioration (PubMed).
Other health conditions. Large epidemiological studies show that former smokers still have a higher risk of ED than men who never smoked, especially if they also have serious vascular conditions like advanced heart disease or long standing diabetes. This suggests that some smoking induced damage becomes less reversible over time, particularly when several risk factors stack together (PMC NIH).
How long and how much you smoked. The more years and the more cigarettes per day, the deeper the damage can be. Someone who smoked a pack a day for thirty years is less likely to fully return to non smoker level erectile function than someone who smoked lightly for a shorter period, although both can benefit from quitting (PMC NIH).
Your lifestyle after quitting. Reviews note that recovery timelines vary based on your broader habits, including exercise, diet, and alcohol intake. Men who combine smoking cessation with regular physical activity and a heart healthy diet often see better and faster improvements in erectile function because they are supporting vascular repair from multiple angles (Ubie).
Other sexual benefits you may notice
Improved firmness is only part of the story. As your cardiovascular and nervous systems recover from smoking, you may notice a range of positive changes in your sex life.
Former smokers in recent research reported:
- Better sexual stamina, likely due to improved cardiovascular fitness and lung function.
- Increased genital sensitivity as nerve endings begin to recover, which can make sexual stimulation feel more pleasurable.
- Higher overall satisfaction with their sex lives, not only because of better performance but also because of increased confidence and reduced anxiety about ED (Ro).
Quitting can also remove a mental weight. If you have ever worried that a cigarette habit was partly to blame for bedroom problems, taking clear action to quit can give you a sense of control, which itself may reduce performance related stress.
Practical steps if you want to quit for better erections
If you are ready to use smoking cessation as one of your ED tools, you do not have to rely on willpower alone. The same study that tracked erectile changes also used nicotine replacement therapy, and men still had meaningful improvement in erections after quitting, even with NRT in the mix (PubMed).
You might find it helpful to:
Set a clear goal. Instead of vaguely planning to quit “someday,” pick a date in the next month. Write down why you are quitting, and include better sexual health and confidence in that list.
Use evidence based aids. Talk with a healthcare professional about nicotine patches, gum, lozenges, prescription medications, or structured quit programs. These tools improve your odds of success and do not appear to blunt the erectile benefits of quitting (Ro).
Address other risk factors. Since ED is closely tied to cardiovascular health, combine quitting with steps like regular exercise, weight management, moderating alcohol, and controlling blood pressure and blood sugar. These changes reinforce each other and support better erections over time (Ubie).
Stay patient and curious. Improvement is often gradual. Instead of checking for a complete “fix” after a week, pay attention to small shifts, like morning erections returning more often or needing less stimulation to get firm.
The bottom line for you
If you have been asking, “does quitting smoking improve erectile dysfunction?”, current evidence strongly suggests that it often does, particularly if you are younger, your ED is not yet severe, and you do not have multiple advanced vascular conditions.
Smoking clearly raises your risk of ED in a dose dependent way, but quitting gives your blood vessels, nitric oxide system, and sexual function a chance to recover. Some changes can appear within days or weeks, and more meaningful improvement usually builds over several months.
Even if quitting does not completely solve your ED, it is one of the most powerful steps you can take to protect the erections you still have and to prevent further decline. If you are on the fence, you might treat quitting as a personal experiment. Give yourself a few smoke free months, support your body with healthy habits, and see how your erections respond.
About the Author
