Premature Ejaculation: Treatment options Can PE be treated? The first step to treating PE is to ascertain the cause behind it. Once your doctor has been able to advise you on what might be causing your PE, there are multiple routes available to treating and addressing the causes and the effect. Since each person is different, there is no one single treatment method that works for all men. Instead, your doctor might recommend a few different options, or perhaps even a combination of several different methods. Treatments like prescription medication, natural supplements and topical anaesthetics can help with physiological causes, while methods like behavioural therapy and counselling can help address the psychological reasons behind PE. It may take time for you to find the one or the combination of methods that works for you, and that might require you to try out different options. However, under the guidance and advice of your doctor, you can better work towards having a satisfactory and joyful sex life. Erectile Dysfunction Treatment What are the treatment options for PE? These are some of the treatment options that your doctor may suggest to help you overcome problems with PE, either by itself or through a combination of them. ● Prescription medication SSRIs, or selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, are sometimes prescribed by doctors to treat PE. Serotonin is a neurotransmitter, i.e., a messenger chemical that carries signals between nerve cells in the brain. It’s thought to have a good influence on mood, emotion and sleep. It also plays a role when it comes to sex and ejaculation. Increased levels of serotonin delay ejaculation, while decreased levels of serotonin can shorten the ejaculatory time, which is, can cause ejaculation to occur quicker and thus lead to PE. Oral SSRI medication deals with this factor behind PE. SSRIs work by inhibiting serotonin from being reabsorbed by the nerve cell. This makes more of it available to pass messages between nerve cells, i.e. increases your level of serotonin by inhibiting it from being reabsorbed. Ed Dysfunction Treatment SSRIs are often prescribed to treat depression, but can also have the effect of delaying orgasms, which is why they are prescribed for treatment for PE, too. Dapoxetine is a type of SSRI developed specifically to combat PE, and is categorised as a short-acting SSRI that shows effects within 60 minutes. If you’ve been prescribed PE medication on the Bold Care platform, please contact your doctor from your account or through WhatsApp to discuss this with them further. ● Topical treatments Another option that exists to address PE is topical anaesthetics. An anaesthetic is a compound that reduces feeling or sensitivity in an area of the body. For PE, topical anaesthetics are designed to reduce penile sensitivity, thus delaying when ejaculation occurs. They can come in the form of gels, sprays or creams, which can be applied to the penis prior to sex. Some brands also offers these in the form of condoms, usually marketed as climax control condoms, which contain a topical anaesthetic to achieve the same effect. The active ingredient in these anaesthetics is usually lidocaine, a numbing agent, and have been shown to be fairly effective for many men. ● Behavioural therapy There are multiple behavioural practices and methods that may help people who struggle with PE. One that is commonly suggested is masturbating before sex in order to increase longevity during penetration. Another method is the stop-start method, which, as the name suggests, is where one stops penetration and relaxes when they feel close to ejaculation. After you feel more in control, you can then continue. You may repeat this multiple times during sexual intercourse to help increase your longevity and delay ejaculation. A third method is the squeeze technique. This is one where, when you feel close to ejaculation during intercourse, you or your partner squeezes the area of the penis between the shaft and the glans to delay ejaculation. Once again, this can be repeated multiple times during sex to help you gain better control. Pelvic floor exercises like kegels have also been shown to have positive effects in helping those who struggle with PE. These are short, easy-to-do exercises. They include squeezing your pelvic muscles for a few counts, relaxing, and then repeating for multiple counts. You can identify these muscles by attempting to pause mid-urination by clenching — the muscles involved in doing that are your pelvic floor muscles. Done over an extended period of time, kegels have been shown to not only help with PE, but also with ED and incontinence. ● Counselling For people who struggle with their mental health or body image, which in turn might affect their sex life, including causing issues with PE, counselling is a helpful tool to work through those issues. Men are not often encouraged to seek out professional help for their mental health, but there is no shame in reaching out for the good of your own self. Therapy can be helpful not only when it comes to sexual intimacy, but also for your mental health in general. Counselling can help you work through issues with depression, anxiety, poor body image, low self-esteem, relationship problems, avoidance of sexual intimacy, stress, guilt and shame. Furthermore, it can help address certain mental health issues which not only contribute towards causing PE, but may also arise from experiencing PE itself, creating a vicious cycle. It can be an effective way to address the root causes of many issues. ● Lifestyle changes and natural supplements Certain lifestyle changes can help keep you in good overall health, including in the bedroom. Keeping active and exercising regularly, eating a healthy, balanced diet, quitting smoking, and reducing your alcohol consumption all contribute towards better sexual wellness, aside from also keeping your heart happy and your body healthy. Our nutraceutical supplement Forever contains natural compounds to help your body function at its best, including managing stress and helping increase your longevity in bed. Ingredients like Ashwagandha, Shilajit, Safed Musli, Ginseng, and Guarana, as well as multivitamins, all help with your sex drive, testosterone levels, stress levels and ejaculatory health.
