How to stop an erection

Changing your position when you have a random erection might sound self-explanatory, but it actually has two functions.

Firstly, you can try and manoeuvre yourself to hide the erection and reduce how self-conscious you feel. This could include crossing your legs, for example.

But certain positions may also help to move pressure away from the blood vessels that supply the penis and induce an erection. The way you’re sitting may also inadvertently be stimulating, so changing position could help to reduce the effect of stimulation.

Another thing you may want to try if you have a random erection is changing your train of thought or distracting yourself.

For example, try thinking about something serious like your rent or mortgage, bills or work deadlines. Or you may want to think about something completely random or even humorous.

Meditation may also help with random erections because it shifts focus from the physical and external to the mind and the internal. This might sound hard to grasp in practice, so here’s a good way to get you started:

1. If you have a random erection, shift the focus to your breathing.
2. If you can, close your eyes.
3. Sit with your back straight and inhale through your nose for four seconds.
4. Hold your breath for seven seconds.
5. Exhale through your mouth for eight seconds.
6. Try to do this with a completely blank mind, don’t think of anything at all. (It’s harder than it sounds.)

This is known as the “4-7-8 technique.” It might not always be practical to meditate fully, but focusing on your breathing alone is a subtle way of practicing meditation without drawing attention to yourself.

Going to the toilet is a good method to try to help unwanted erections subside. This is because you’re concentrating your mind on something else. Plus, there’s also the physical fact that it’s difficult to urinate with an erection.

When you have an erection a muscle contracts in order to prevent semen from entering the bladder, but also stop urine from passing through the urethra.

As your erection subsides this muscle relaxes, opening up a passage for urine once again. This is why it’s possible to urinate while ‘semi’ erect.

If you go to the toilet with a random erection, concentrate on the process. If it helps, you can gently press on your bladder to promote the need to pee.

One technique that might work if it's convenient for you is to have a warm bath or shower.

In their guidance on priapism (an erection that lasts for several hours and won't go down and can be painful), this is one of the approaches the government advises if you're trying to reduce an erection.

A downside to this method is that taking a shower isn’t always practical, especially if you have a random erection in a public setting.

Another method to help alleviate a random erection is to simply sit and wait. Moving may inadvertently feel stimulating, and so not moving at all and waiting patiently might help the erection subside.

Just sit, relax and focus on your breathing — and remember, nobody is more conscious of your erection than you. So don’t panic; wait it out.

Erections happen because blood flows into the penis. One there, vessels at the base of the penis constrict which induces lasting firmness. This is all well and good, except when you don’t want it to happen and it does.

To try and get rid of an erection, focus on basic exercise. Exercise will get your blood pumping and the circulatory system will divert blood to other areas of the body, specifically those you’re targeting through physical activity. So a brisk walk would divert blood to the legs, pushups to the arms.