A little. A regular condom dulls sensation slightly, and 'delay' condoms with a numbing agent (benzocaine) add a bit more time. Useful as a helper, but the gain is modest.
Condoms are the most low-key option on this list: no prescription, nothing to explain, and you might use them anyway. What follows comes from the studies rather than from me.
Regular condoms
A condom puts a thin layer between you and the stimulation, so you feel a little less. Cleveland Clinic mentions condoms as a simple way to reduce sensitivity. For some men that’s enough to gain a little time, for others it changes nothing noticeable.
“Delay” condoms
Some condoms have a small amount of local anaesthetic (benzocaine) on the inside, to numb the penis slightly without reaching your partner. A 2026 study in the Journal of Sexual Medicine followed 143 couples, with men who didn’t have premature ejaculation but wanted to last longer. Both benzocaine condoms increased the time to ejaculation compared with the starting point, and the men felt an improvement; even a regular condom added about a minute. Side effects were rare.
Keep in mind that this was in men without premature ejaculation. For men with a real problem, numbing sprays and creams have more research behind them (see do delay sprays and numbing creams work).
My take
If you use condoms anyway, trying a delay one costs nothing and can take a little pressure off. Just don’t expect it to change the underlying reflex: like every numbing product, it works on the night, not on the long run. And if finishing fast is recent, or comes with erection trouble, pain or urinary symptoms, see a doctor rather than relying on a condom.
Sources
- Premature ejaculation, Cleveland Clinic
- Natural rubber latex condoms with benzocaine paste may help patients without evidence of premature ejaculation increase ejaculation latency, International Society for Sexual Medicine, summary of a 2026 Journal of Sexual Medicine study
The whole theme in one read: Premature ejaculation treatments: what works and what doesn’t