Premature Ejaculation – Causes and Treatment

What are the symptoms of Premature Ejaculation (PE)?

One major symptom of Premature Ejaculation is ejaculating in less than a minute or two or even before actual penetration. This can happen even when masturbating, ejaculation starts as soon as your penis becomes hard.   If you are facing premature ejaculation problems intermittently and if you are able to control your ejaculation, the condition is called ‘Natural Variable Premature Ejaculation’.

Types of Premature Ejaculation:

1. Acquired Premature Ejaculation – This is temporary. You were once able to ejaculate normally but now you are having PE issue.
2. Lifelong Premature Ejaculation – These people have had the problem right from beginning and mostly never had normal ejaculation.

What causes Premature Ejaculation?

The causes of Premature Ejaculation are classified as psychological or physical.

Psychological reasons for Premature Ejaculation include:

1. Stress – It may be due to your personal or professional life. Problems in your relationship can lead to stress and Premature Ejaculation.
2. Anxiety or Performance Anxiety – This can happen when you are having sex with a new partner. The thought of impressing your partner or performing longer can also lead to Premature Ejaculation. Some face this problem even with their existing partners. If you had no big sexual experiences in the past, that can also lead to anxiety issues when having sex.
3. Guilt – A feeling of guilt about sex and ejaculation due to incidents happened in the past.
4. Depression – A man in depression for different reasons can also suffer from Premature Ejaculation adding to the depression condition.
5. Poor Body Image – If you have grown out of proportion or obese, you may not have enough confidence during the act. This can also lead to Premature Ejaculation.
6. Worrying about ejaculating quicker – Some of you would have faced this situation especially when performing with new partners.

Physical reasons for Premature Ejaculation:

1. If you are suffering from injury or trauma to the genitals, this can cause Erectile Dysfunction. When you are aware that you are having ED, you may want to ejaculate as soon as your penis hardens.
2. Imbalance of hormones in the body or problems with your nervous system (neurotransmitters) can lead to PE.
3. Prostate inflammation can cause Erectile Dysfunction or Premature Ejaculation.

Read more on what causes premature ejaculation.

Who should you consult to treat Premature Ejaculation problem?

A male sexual health expert (Sexologist) or a urologist can treat Premature Ejaculation problem.  You must see a good sexologist near you when:

1. If you are persistently having PE problem.
2. If you have become self conscious about the problem and hesitating to get intimate with your existing partner (if you are in a relationship) or pursuing new relationships.
3. If you are ejaculating too quick when masturbating.

Your doctor will have a set of questions for you when you see him/her. You should tell your doctor about the issue, when it started, if you have taken any medicines previously or if you are under any medication currently for a different problem etc.

Treatment for Premature Ejaculation

Treatment for Premature Ejaculation depends on the cause of the problem.  If it is psychological, then finding out if it is stress and it’s root cause can help you get rid of the problem eventually.

1. Practicing yoga, meditation to relieve anxiety and stress can help.
2. If your sexologist can offer therapy sessions for you and your partner, you may choose to attend to rid of your problem. At times, your partner’s role in curing premature ejaculation is very important.
3. You can practice ‘start stop’ technique wherein you stop your act when you get the urge to ejaculate, squeeze your penis to stop ejaculation. Once you calm down a little bit, you can continue your act and then repeat. This helps in giving you more and better control over the premature ejaculation problem with time.
4. Kegels exercise also helps strengthening of your pelvic muscles and helps in treating PE.
5. Decreasing the sensitivity of your penis can help handle Premature Ejaculation. You may use numbing sprays or wear a condom to reduce sensitivity on the penis head. Make sure that your partner doesn’t have any itching or irritation when you use them.

If physical condition is the cause of premature ejaculation, your doctor may put you on appropriate treatment as deemed necessary.