Category: Premature Ejaculation

Timing is essential when it comes to sexual relationships – if you are climaxing sooner than you and your partner would like, then sex may be stressful when it should be a fun and bonding experience. There is no set time as to when a male should ejaculate, but it’s probably too soon if you are climaxing before reaching intercourse, or if you last less than a minute after you’ve started.

It becomes an issue because immediately after ejaculating, you enter a refractory period, where you lose your erection and the ability to perform. However, those who suffer from premature ejaculation will be glad to know that it’s a somewhat common issue that occasionally occurs, with several factors that contribute to its frequency.

What Causes Premature Ejaculation?

Many underlying factors can contribute to this issue, with it mostly surrounding physiological factors, depression, stress, relationship issues, and anxiety surrounding performance.

Premature ejaculation can also be caused by medical issues like diabetes, high blood pressure, and thyroid disease. These will need medical intervention to be remediated.

Is There Ways To Delay Premature Ejaculation?

Focus on Your Mindset and Relationship With Your Body. One way of prolonging the experience is to change your mindset leading up to the act. For example, rekindling your relationship with your body, and masturbating a couple of hours before actually having intercourse can help with premature ejaculation.

Change Up Your Techniques. There may also be the issue of you simply being too sensitive. You can switch up positions to delay ejaculation during the middle of sex. There might be positions you find that may be pleasurable, but not heighten your climax. Another technique is the “pause-squeeze” technique, where the tip of the penis is lightly squeezed right before ejaculation. Hold pressure where the tip joins the shaft and gently pinch for several seconds until the urge to ejaculate passes.

Strengthen Pelvic Muscles. These are specific exercises that you can implement to help with prolonging ejaculation. The pelvic muscles are a group of muscles surrounding the base of the penis. Regular pelvic floor exercises will not only extend the experience, but will enable you to enjoy longer, stronger, and more astounding orgasms.

The active ingredient in Levitra is called vardenafil. Like Viagra, it is most effective when taken about an hour before sex. The effects last up to seven hours. Unlike Viagra, however, Levitra can be taken with or without food and have the same effect.

Levitra and Staxyn can be taken with or without food.

Some doctors will prescribe drugs called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) to treat premature ejaculation. Though these are antidepressants, they’re prescribed “off-label” for premature ejaculation because of their common side effect of dampening sexual stimulation. Another medical treatment option is an anesthetic cream, like lidocaine.

Some men have had luck treating the problem with a drug called Tramadol, but this drug can potentially be addicting, so doctors are cautious about prescribing it.

Certain drugs can help men address premature ejaculation.

Newer research is finding that drugs in a class known as PDE-5 inhibitors (which include Viagra, Cialis, Levitra, and other erectile dysfunction drugs) are helpful in men whose premature ejaculation results from erectile dysfunction. In some men, a PDE-5 inhibitor plus an SSRI works better than either of those two options alone.

There is a small subset of men with primary premature ejaculation who have a short frenulum, which is the elastic band of tissue that connects the penis to the foreskin. Normally the frenulum is long and supple enough that it doesn’t cause problems, but when it’s too short, premature ejaculation can be a result. Fortunately, frenulectomy (removal of the frenulum) can successfully treat these cases.

Pelvic floor exercises can strengthen weak pelvic floor muscles, and a weak pelvic floor can impair a man’s ability to delay ejaculation. You can find instructions on doing helpful Kegel exercises on many reputable medical websites. Another exercise recommended by some doctors is known as the pause-squeeze technique. Here’s how you do it:

Start sexual activity as usual and continue until you are almost ready to ejaculate

At this point, have your partner firmly (but not painfully) squeeze the end of your penis where the head joins onto the shaft, squeezing for a few seconds, until the urge to ejaculate abates.
Repeat as necessary. Keep in mind that the pause-squeeze technique requires practice.

A 2015 meta-analysis of behavior therapy, drug therapy, and combination therapy found a small, but statistically significant improvement in results when drug therapy for premature ejaculation is combined with behavioral therapy (like the pause-squeeze technique, masturbating an hour or two before sex, or strengthening the pelvic floor).

Premature ejaculation happens on occasion to just about all men. It’s only considered a disorder if it happens consistently and causes personal distress. Though it’s not the easiest topic to broach with your doctor, talking to a professional is the first step in treating premature ejaculation. Left untreated, it can cause greater personal stress and even relationship problems. For couples trying to conceive, premature ejaculation can cause problems if ejaculation doesn’t occur intravaginally.

Fortunately, there are a number of ways to treat premature ejaculation, from the mechanical (condoms) to the behavioral to the pharmacological. There’s simply no reason to suffer in silence if premature ejaculation is a problem. Solutions exist, and you deserve a satisfying sex life as much as anyone else!

Some doctors will prescribe drugs called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) to treat premature ejaculation. Though these are antidepressants, they’re prescribed “off-label” for premature ejaculation because of their common side effect of dampening sexual stimulation. Another medical treatment option is an anesthetic cream, like lidocaine.

Some men have had luck treating the problem with a drug called Tramadol, but this drug can potentially be addicting, so doctors are cautious about prescribing it.

Certain drugs can help men address premature ejaculation.

Newer research is finding that drugs in a class known as PDE-5 inhibitors (which include Viagra, Cialis, Levitra, and other erectile dysfunction drugs) are helpful in men whose premature ejaculation results from erectile dysfunction. In some men, a PDE-5 inhibitor plus an SSRI works better than either of those two options alone.

There is a small subset of men with primary premature ejaculation who have a short frenulum, which is the elastic band of tissue that connects the penis to the foreskin. Normally the frenulum is long and supple enough that it doesn’t cause problems, but when it’s too short, premature ejaculation can be a result. Fortunately, frenulectomy (removal of the frenulum) can successfully treat these cases.

Pelvic floor exercises can strengthen weak pelvic floor muscles, and a weak pelvic floor can impair a man’s ability to delay ejaculation. You can find instructions on doing helpful Kegel exercises on many reputable medical websites. Another exercise recommended by some doctors is known as the pause-squeeze technique. Here’s how you do it:

Start sexual activity as usual and continue until you are almost ready to ejaculate

At this point, have your partner firmly (but not painfully) squeeze the end of your penis where the head joins onto the shaft, squeezing for a few seconds, until the urge to ejaculate abates.
Repeat as necessary. Keep in mind that the pause-squeeze technique requires practice.

A 2015 meta-analysis of behavior therapy, drug therapy, and combination therapy found a small, but statistically significant improvement in results when drug therapy for premature ejaculation is combined with behavioral therapy (like the pause-squeeze technique, masturbating an hour or two before sex, or strengthening the pelvic floor).

Premature ejaculation happens on occasion to just about all men. It’s only considered a disorder if it happens consistently and causes personal distress. Though it’s not the easiest topic to broach with your doctor, talking to a professional is the first step in treating premature ejaculation. Left untreated, it can cause greater personal stress and even relationship problems. For couples trying to conceive, premature ejaculation can cause problems if ejaculation doesn’t occur intravaginally.

Fortunately, there are a number of ways to treat premature ejaculation, from the mechanical (condoms) to the behavioral to the pharmacological. There’s simply no reason to suffer in silence if premature ejaculation is a problem. Solutions exist, and you deserve a satisfying sex life as much as anyone else!

Numbing creams are not your only option if your goal is to last longer during sex. Your other options range from the simple to the more drastic, though all are worth considering if you consider premature ejaculation to be problematic for you and your partner. Here are some of the most popular remedies:

• Ordinary condoms. For some men, this is the simplest, most straightforward solution, and is enough to help them last long enough to enjoy sex more. The main problem with this method is with couples who are trying to conceive. Men in this situation may choose to do without a condom on his partner’s fertile days and wear a condom on non-fertile days for prolonged enjoyment those times.

• Special condoms. You can actually buy condoms (known as “performance enhancing” condoms) that are lined with a numbing agent like lidocaine or benzocaine. These condoms can be more effective at delaying ejaculation than ordinary condoms, but for men who have difficulty having an erection, they may not be a good choice. Men who want to try these are advised to try one during masturbation to get an idea of its effects before trying it with a partner.

Some condoms are specially made to decrease sensation and prolong sexual activity.

• Special techniques during sex. The so-called “start-stop technique” and “squeeze technique” are recommended by sex therapists for building up endurance during sexual activity. Another exercise doctors and sex therapists recommend is Kegel exercises, which are purported to give men more control over orgasm. These exercises, of course, take time to learn to use, but many men consider them a worthwhile investment of time and effort.

• SSRI Antidepressants. You may have heard about people taking serotonin-specific reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) antidepressants and having difficulty with orgasm. For the man with premature ejaculation, however, SSRIs can be a practical solution for making sex last longer. But SSRIs are nothing to play around with. If you are interested in this option, you need to speak to your healthcare advisor and be candid about why you want the medications, so they can calibrate your dosage correctly to minimize side effects while addressing premature ejaculation.

• Attitude Adjustment. Sometimes what men consider a problem for their partner, their partner doesn’t mind at all. Women aren’t necessarily interested in marathon sexual sessions because face it, prolonged sex is demanding for them as well. Talk to your partner about your concerns. You may be pleasantly surprised that you’re upset about something that doesn’t bother her, and that alone may help you relax and enjoy sex more.

• Solo first. Some men find that a masturbation session an hour or so before sex with a partner helps them last longer. This is a simple solution that costs nothing and is worth a try. Numbing creams, numbing sprays, ordinary condoms, and specially designed condoms are all available to help men who experience premature ejaculation enjoy sex longer. It’s important for men to keep in mind that the occasional experience of premature ejaculation is usually just “one of those things,” and it is the men who regularly experience it, and in whom it causes distress, who would be officially diagnosed with premature ejaculation.

The creams and sprays are worth a try as long as you follow directions. They may be worth trying out solo before trying them out with a partner, so you’ll know what to expect. If these products don’t help or are more annoying than they’re worth, then talk to your physician about it. Your doctor has encountered enough truly bizarre medical cases that premature ejaculation won’t even raise an eyebrow, and it’s the first step to getting help and getting your great sex life back.

A few years ago, the FDA approved an over-the-counter topical spray specifically for helping sex last longer for men. The active ingredient is lidocaine, which is the same stuff doctors use for local anesthesia? And apparently, it works. But the right amount of use varies from person to person, and will probably require a certain amount of trial and error, just as with numbing creams. In fact, one danger of the numbing spray is that it can work so well (particularly if the man also uses a condom) that sex begins to feel like a chore, which is hardly great for your relationship. Many men will find it ultimately more satisfying to use too little of this stuff than too much of it.

Though specific user instructions may vary, typically the creams should be applied to an already-erect penis. After waiting five to 10 minutes, you should take a tissue or washcloth and wipe away the excess before actually engaging in sex. Ideally, the sensation will be less intense, and you’ll last longer than you would otherwise.

The thing is, these products don’t “know” the difference between you and your partner and will work on any tissue it comes into contact with. Therefore, it’s especially important to wipe off any excess cream before commencing sexual activity so as to avoid transferring any of it to your partner, on whom it would have the same numbing effect.

On average, the time from commencing sex to orgasm is about five to 10 minutes for most men. Yet most men (71%) want to be able to last longer than that.

Premature ejaculation is defined as ejaculation that happens less than one minute into the sexual act. If it happens only occasionally, it’s not considered premature ejaculation – only if it happens on a regular basis and is causing distress or relationship issues.

Premature ejaculation that happens rarely isn’t considered a medical problem.

Various products exist that you can purchase over-the-counter to apply topically to decrease sensation. Some men find that these numbing creams help them last longer during sex, but like any drug (prescription or over-the-counter) there will be side effects you’ll want to take into consideration.

If you’re with a new partner, the answer is yes, you should wear condoms, in the interest of practicing safe sex. If you’re in an established relationship and are having difficulty because of premature ejaculation, you may find that condoms help. You can try ordinary condoms or even condoms that contain numbing agents to reduce sensitivity. Some condoms are made of thicker latex to help delay ejaculation. By decreasing the sensitivity of the penis, condoms can help with premature ejaculation. If you and your partner are trying to conceive, however, this is clearly not a satisfactory solution.

One of the simplest ways to address premature ejaculation is through solo sex an hour or so before sex with a partner. Other options include numbing creams and sprays that contain ingredients like lidocaine that dull sensation. Wearing a regular or sensitivity reducing condom is an option, but can be problematic for couples who are trying to conceive.

It’s important to note that if you use a numbing cream or spray, you have to give it a few minutes to take effect, and then use a tissue to wipe away any excess before commencing sexual activity. If you don’t get rid of any excess cream or spray, the numbing agent can be transferred to your partner, which can disrupt their experience.

If the simple, over-the-counter methods of addressing premature ejaculation don’t work, it’s time to talk to a physician. You may or may not be a good candidate for a prescription drug like an SSRI or Viagra, and your doctor will need to understand your medical history to make the determination.

The concept of taking Viagra, or any drug designed to make erections stronger, as a way to address premature ejaculation may seem counterintuitive, but in some cases it works. If you’re unable to control problems with premature ejaculation through simpler methods, it may be worth discussing the possibility of taking prescription medications to address them.