Treatment Options For Men Suffering From Regular Premature Ejaculation

For many men, premature ejaculation happens so frequently, they are not able to enjoy a healthy sex life with their partner. The condition, defined as ejaculating within a minute or so after intercourse begins, can be a life-long problem or one that develops later in a man’s sex life. But when it is a regular occurrence, it is time to consult with a doctor for treatment.

That is good news for men who suffer from premature ejaculation. There are various common treatment options that can help delay ejaculation. These treatment options can include behavioral techniques, medications, and counseling. In some cases, multiple treatments might be recommended to suit the needs of a specific patient.

For example, behavioral treatment may be prescribed, in addition to drug therapy, as the most effective treatment option for some men. While it may take time and experimentation to find the treatment option or combination of therapies that work best for you, the point is that there are methods available to take more control of ejaculation and to improve your sexual health.

What types of medications are available to treat premature ejaculation?

While not necessarily the first option for many doctors treating premature ejaculation, a number of medications have been found to be effective in treating the condition. In some cases, drugs that have been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for use in treating unrelated conditions have been found effective in treating premature ejaculation.

Other products that include a numbing agent, such as benzocaine, lidocaine, or prilocaine, can be used as a premature ejaculation treatment. These topical numbing agents in creams, gels, and sprays help to reduce the sensitivity of the penis and can delay ejaculation. While many of these products are available without visiting a doctor and obtaining a prescription, a cream formulated with both lidocaine and prilocaine (EMLA) can be obtained through a prescription written by your doctor. These topical products typically are applied to the penis within 15 minutes of any sexual activity to reduce sensation and to help delay ejaculation.

Antidepressants as premature ejaculation treatment

Your doctor also may consider prescribing oral medications to help you delay your ejaculation. There are many medications that help delay orgasm, and those often are drugs used for this purpose that have been approved for use to treat an unrelated condition. Among the drugs used in this way are some antidepressants. Your doctor may prescribe these medications for use on-demand before you intend to have sex or for use daily to help produce and maintain the ability to control ejaculation. 

Some of these medications can be really effective for men suffering from premature ejaculation. Dr. Laurence Levine discusses some studies that show sertraline can increase ejaculation time for men.

When studying the effects of antidepressants, researchers observed that a known side effect of some of these antidepressants is delayed ejaculation. This is particularly true with regards to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or SSRIs. The SSRIs that are most commonly used to treat premature ejaculation include paroxetine (Paxil, Pexeva, Brisdelle), escitalopram (Lexapro), citalopram (Celexa), sertraline (Zoloft) or fluoxetine (Prozac).

Behavioral techniques for premature ejaculation treatments

There also are non-medicinal treatments available for premature ejaculation. This type of therapy involves treating the condition through a series of simple steps. Such behavioral techniques can include controlled masturbation as a method of learning ways to control ejaculation and masturbating an hour or two before intercourse to help reduce sensitivity. These techniques can offer a reliable way that allows you to delay ejaculation when you have sex with your partner.

Another behavioral technique recommended by some therapists is to avoid sexual intercourse entirely for a period of time. The idea is to focus on other types of sexual activity that do not overstimulate the penis. Focusing on these alternative types of sexual activity can help eliminate the pressure to perform that some men experience before participating in sexual intercourse.

Pelvic floor exercises as premature ejaculation treatment

Some health professionals may recommend certain pelvic floor exercises as a treatment for premature ejaculation. The therapy is designed to strengthen weak pelvic floor muscles, which may be making it more difficult for you to control ejaculation. These pelvic floor exercises, also known as Kegel exercises, will produce stronger pelvic muscles that can help with control. 

In order to perform these exercises, you must first find the right pelvic floor muscles. You can do this initially by intentionally stopping your urine stream in midstream. You can also do this by tightening the muscles you use to help keep from passing gas. Once you learn to feel your pelvic floor muscles, you can exercise them by holding them tight for three seconds, then relaxing them for three seconds. Perform this exercise a few times in a row. 

As your pelvic floor muscles become stronger, you can continue doing these exercises in any position, whether sitting, lying on the floor, standing, or even walking. This will give you even more control of these muscles. You should repeat these exercises three times a day, with a goal of doing at least three sets of 10 repetitions each day.

The pause-squeeze technique as premature ejaculation treatment

Another non-medicinal treatment for premature ejaculation that your healthcare provider may recommend is the pause-squeeze technique. This method, which usually works best when performing with a partner, essentially stops sexual activity when the urge to ejaculate surfaces. At that point, you or your partner should squeeze the top of your penis tightly where the head meets the shaft for several seconds until the urge to ejaculate subsides.

This squeeze method can be repeated multiple times during sexual activity as a way to condition the penis not to ejaculate. The idea is that you are retraining your penis not to ejaculate quickly. An alternative to this is the stop-start method, which involves stopping sexual stimulation when you feel the urge to ejaculate and then starting again when the urge goes away.