Premature ejaculation is so common that it’s considered as the most prevalent form of male sexual dysfunction. Just like any other sexual problems, premature ejaculation is usually accompanied by various negative psychological burdens.
This is why it’s important for men to manage premature ejaculation, especially if it’s already causing relationship problems or affecting your quality of life. Here are a couple of ways by which you can effectively manage this burdensome sexual problem.
Overview
Premature ejaculation occurs when you’re unable to control the timing of your ejaculation, causing you and your partner to become distressed or dissatisfied. The condition may be lifelong, meaning you’ve always had it, or acquired, meaning you used to be able to control your ejaculation or that it happens only under certain specific circumstances.
When doctors diagnose premature ejaculation, they usually look at your intravaginal ejaculatory latency time. This refers to how long before you ejaculate after vaginal penetration.
If you have lifelong premature ejaculation, it means that your intravaginal ejaculatory latency time has always been a minute or less since the first time you’ve had sexual intercourse. If it’s acquired, it means that you’ve ejaculated within 3 minutes or less at any point in your sexual life.
With regard to causes, neurobiological and genetic factors are usually associated with lifelong premature ejaculation. On the other hand, for acquired premature ejaculation, the causes may be urological, psychological, relationship problems, or even hormonal.
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Conservative Management of Premature Ejaculation
Options for conservatively managing premature ejaculation include psychotherapy, behavioral therapy, as well as complementary and alternative therapy.
In the past, psychological therapy was the standard form of treatment for premature ejaculation. Over time and as newer forms of therapy have been developed, the use of psychotherapy for premature ejaculation has declined.
Nevertheless, psychological therapy is still used as a first-line treatment, especially in cases wherein it is clear that sexual dysfunction is a result of psychogenic causes. In addition, in cases wherein premature ejaculation is subjective, psychological therapy is also employed.
Subjective premature ejaculation means that you feel and believe that you’re suffering from premature ejaculation even though a clinical examination says otherwise. For instance, you may notice that you always ejaculate within five minutes after vaginal penetration and you feel that you need to be treated so that you can ejaculate after a longer period of time.
For clinicians, a five-minute intravaginal ejaculatory latency time is considered normal since the threshold is just 1 minute for lifelong premature ejaculation or 3 minutes for acquired premature ejaculation. However, if you really feel distressed about not lasting for more than 5 minutes, your doctor may recommend that you go through psychological therapy.
Behavioral therapies for premature ejaculation involve techniques such as the stop-start method wherein you’re supposed to stop genital stimulation until after the sensation of heightened arousal wanes. Other techniques include masturbation before penetrative sex, pelvic floor exercises, and even using multiple condoms to decrease penile sensitivity.
Alternative therapy for premature ejaculation includes acupuncture and the use of Ayurvedic or Chinese herbal medicines. Ayurveda and traditional Chinese medicine have been around for thousands of years, and both offer a wealth of herbal remedies for various sexual problems including premature ejaculation.
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Medical Management of Premature Ejaculation
Medical management of premature ejaculation involves the use of topical anesthetic agents, serotonergic antidepressants, as well as phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitors (PDE5Is).
Topical anesthetic agents for premature ejaculation include sprays and creams. These anesthetic agents usually contain lignocaine or lidocaine, prilocaine, benzocaine, or a combination of these. There are also herbal-derived anesthetic agents that are used for the treatment of premature ejaculation.
The main purpose of these topical anesthetic agents is to reduce penile sensitivity so as to delay ejaculation. Depending on the medication, the product may need to be topically applied to the penis 10-30 minutes before engaging in sexual intercourse.
However, when you use a topical anesthetic agent, you should wear a condom during sex. This is to avoid getting the medication transferred from your penis to your partner’s genitals. If it happens, it may result in numbness and reduced sexual pleasure for your partner.
Serotonergic antidepressants are typically used to treat major depressive disorder. However, serotonin is widely known to inhibit ejaculation, which is why doctors sometimes prescribe serotonergic antidepressants to help treat premature ejaculation.
However, some of these medicines like tricyclic antidepressants usually have other adverse effects such as nausea, hot flushes, and erectile dysfunction. Among the various tricyclic antidepressants, clomipramine, which has the least known side effects, is the one that’s usually prescribed for premature ejaculation.
SSRIs or selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors are also used to manage premature ejaculation. Paroxetine is the most widely used SSRI for premature ejaculation. However, when SSRIs are prescribed to treat premature ejaculation, daily dosing is usually necessary.
In many cases, it takes a week or two before you can fully feel the effects of your SSRI medication on your ejaculatory latency time. SSRIs are usually preferred over other medications for premature ejaculation because it doesn’t affect the spontaneity of sex, unlike topical anesthetic agents which you have to apply prior to sex.
Despite the fact that there’s abundant evidence proving that SSRIs and clomipramine are effective in treating premature ejaculation, such use of these medications is not approved by the US Food and Drug Administration.
Phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitors are usually used to treat impotence or erectile dysfunction. They’re sometimes used to manage premature ejaculation if the patient also concomitantly suffers from erectile dysfunction.
Managing Sexual Dysfunction
For men dealing with sexual dysfunction, an all-natural male sex enhancement supplement offers various benefits. Low testosterone levels and reduced drive are common in men with sexual dysfunction. This can help you solve this problem by boosting your testosterone production and increasing your testosterone levels. When your testosterone levels are high, your libido follows suit.
This is also known as a potent enhancer of erectile function. It contains natural ingredients that have long been used to treat impotence as well as various other male sexual problems. These natural ingredients include maca, horny goat weed, damiana, Tribulus terrestris, muira puama, and Tongkat Ali.
Aside from improving your erection and libido, you can also use it to boost your sexual stamina. The herbs used in the formulation of these supplements also give you the added benefit of enhancing your fertility.
