All You Need to Know About Premature Ejaculation

Many of the issues, which hamper your intimate life are primarily not big problems, but because of the taboos and social beliefs they are not discussed openly. Hence, they failed to get resolved and become big because of continuous worry they give. In fact, most of them are not even symptoms of any organic disease process or functional problem. Many of them are very basic issues because of ignorance, myths, and social taboos leading to development of anxieties, distress and further worsening of the problem in question.

Generally, men are concerned about their performance in bed with their partners (wife or girlfriend), like how best then can do, how long they will last, concerns about their masturbation habits, size of penis, sperm quality and many more.

Premature Ejaculation (PE) is one of them. Not a disease; Not at all..!!

The person even if he is sexually fit, having normal erections, but due to anxiety, just fails to hold back the orgasm/discharge for reasonable time, and becomes worried. We need to reassure, it is not a disease and it can be easily manageable.

We will discuss this topic in Four parts a) what is it , b) how it happens, and c) how to approach to resolve this problem with behavioral methods, exercises, techniques and d) Medical Treatment - both modern as well as alternative medicine.

Part 1: What is Premature Ejaculation (PE)? Definitions and how commonly it occurs.

PE is also referred to as early or rapid ejaculation or discharge is a sexual dysfunction, most common in men under 40 years. In elderly men above 60 years, though erectile dysfunction is more common, but they do suffer from PE as well. A study conducted by the Journal of Sexual Medicine revealed that this condition is almost equally prevalent in sexually active men of all age groups. 

If a man experiences uncontrollable ejaculation (discharge of semen ) either before or shortly after sexual penetration (usually within 1-2 minutes of penetration), he may be suffering from premature ejaculation. Mayo clinic in USA defines PE as, when a man “always or nearly always ejaculates within one minute of penetration”.

An occasional instance of premature ejaculation might not be a cause of concern, but, an abnormal pattern usually exists if the problem occurs in more than 50% of attempted sexual encounters, for which treatment may be required.

Premature ejaculation happens with negligible sexual stimulation or before you wish to ejaculate. As a consequence, both you and your partner may end up experiencing highly unsatisfactory sex. In fact, it can dramatically increase anxiety, which may worsen the problem. 

Many therapists or clinicians who treat PE describe it as the occurrence of ejaculation sooner during sexual intercourse than he or his partner would like. This broad definition thus avoids specifying a precise “normal” duration for sexual activity and reaching a climax. The duration of sexual activity varies and depends on many factors specific to each individual.

Take a situation, a male may reach orgasm after 7 to 8 minutes of sexual intercourse, but if his partner is able to achieve climax most of the times in 5 minutes and both are satisfied with this timing, then this is not PE.

Alternatively, a male might delay his ejaculation for up to 15- 20 minutes, but if his partner, even with foreplay, requires 25-30 minutes of total sexual activity before reaching climax, he may still consider his ejaculation premature because his partner has not been satisfied (at least, not through intercourse). But in routine practice we do not like to call this kind of situation as PE.

So every individual is unique. Every couple is unique. Same individual may have different sexual behavior with different partner and different times. Varied situations and varied places of performing the act have a role to play in determining the outcomes of individual sexual performance/s.

Statistics of PE:

You are not alone! PE is a common sexual complaint. As many as 30-40% men across the world including India experience problem of PE at some time in life.

Approximately 30%-70% of American males experience premature ejaculation. The National Health and Social Life Survey (NHSLS) indicate a prevalence of 30%, which is spread across all adult age groups. Estimates of PE rates in India and many European countries are similar to those of the United States.

That is all for now on this topic. In the next follow up parts I shall discuss, types of PE, how it happens, how to approach the men / couple suffering from it to resolve this problem. The therapy includes wide spectrum of approach including counseling, behavioral methods, exercises, techniques and medical remedies both modern as well as alternative medicines. If you wish to discuss about any specific problem, you can consult a sexologist and ask a free question.