One study found if men ran 30 minutes for five days each week, this would serve as medication for those who experience premature ejaculation. In fact, a new research review says that running, yoga, and pelvic floor workouts will help with this issue.
Exercise may be as good as pharmaceutical treatments when it comes to the treatment of premature ejaculation. This was according to a new study published in the journal Trends in Urology and Men’s Health.
The review made looked into 54 studies of almost 3,500 participants. They wanted to see how effective nondrug interventions are when it comes to treating problems of premature ejaculation.
“We know premature ejaculation is a common complaint among men worldwide. The lack of a clear definition of what is or isn’t premature ejaculation has repercussions in terms of treatment, and there are relatively few effective drugs available,” said Lee Smith, PhD, senior author of the study and professor of public health at Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge, England. He spoke in a press release recently.
The findings of this review are geared towards saying that physical exercise, such as running and pelvic floor workouts, can help with premature ejaculation, as per Dr. Smith.
Premature Ejaculation – Is it Common?
There isn’t a single definition of premature ejaculation. However, there are estimates on how many men experience it, but it also widely differs, said the U.K. researchers. The prevalence ranges from 30 percent to 83 percent of men, depending on what study was reviewed, they said.
Mayo Clinic said that premature ejaculation means that man ejaculates sooner than he wants to during intercourse. If it happens rarely, this shouldn’t be an issue.
However, the diagnosis is made with the following scenarios:
- Always or nearly always ejaculates within 1 to 3 minutes upon penetrating
- During intercourse, he never or rarely has the ability to delay ejaculation
- Feels distressed and frustrated when it comes to timing the ejaculation, and hence, usually avoids sexual intimacy
Regular Exercise Could Help Delay Ejaculation
The authors saw that engaging in regular physical activity as an intervention showed good and hopeful results with the studies they analyzed when they reviewed the research made.
An instance would be the study that involved 105 participants. They noticed that running for 30 minutes five times weekly helped delay or extend latency time (time until ejaculation occurs). This was as effective as Dapoxetine, which is a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) drug that was approved for use in premature ejaculation outside the U.S.
Two other exercise studies connected to this is yoga, which men said has proven to be statistically significant to them when it came to delaying ejaculation.
Pelvic Floor Exercises Also Work
Also beneficial is exercising pelvic floor muscles. Men who practiced pelvic floor exercises saw an increase in latency time from a median of 1 minute to 3 minutes.
Pelvic floor muscles have something to do in ejaculation, and those who can strengthen and improve these muscles are also to control and delay ejaculation. They do this relaxing their perineal muscles, as per the Sexual Medicine Society of North America (SMSNA).
Pelvic floor are also called Kegel exercises and these strengthen the crucial muscles needed to day ejaculation, said Mayo Clinic.
Limited Medication for Premature Ejaculation
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not given their approval on any drug that’s specifically for premature ejaculation. However, some physicians may prescribe off-label meds for it.
There are also topical numbing agents to help reduce sensation, which delays ejaculation. Then, there are oral medications to help delay orgasm. Included here are antidepressants, pain relievers, and drugs used for erectile dysfunction, according to the American Urological Association.
“Given that drugs often have side effects, it appears that after all, the best medicine for avoiding premature ejaculation may well lie in exercise, and this possibility requires larger studies and further investigation,” Smith shared.
Treating Erectile Dysfunction Could Also Help with Premature Ejaculation
Some of the studies in the review made saw benefits when the men who suffer from premature ejaculation were treated for concurrent erectile dysfunction (ED), said Raevti Bole, MD. He is a urologist at Cleveland Clinic, who was not involved in the research.
“I would agree that treating ED (if present) is a very important initial treatment,” she said.
Always Think About Multiple Treatment Options
Systematic reviews are useful. Why? Because they can consolidate the results of many studies made, explained Dr. Bole.
However, even a well-executed systematic review can only go so far as the studies that come with it, she stressed. Many of the studies the review included didn’t make use of the same definition when it comes to premature ejaculation. There are different types of patients with varying degrees of this issue, said Bole.
“The studies included also had small numbers of patients, which makes it difficult to tell whether the result was due to the treatment or chance,” she also said.
Nonetheless, the review is able to demonstrate the importance to thinking about multiple options when it comes to premature ejaculation treatment. “A lot of factors affect premature ejaculation, including hormones, stress, anxiety, prior sexual episodes, and [overall] erectile function,” she added.
It must be noted that every patient is a little different. This means that there is no generic kind of treatment that applies to all. “Medication, exercise, counseling, sex therapy, yoga, pelvic floor rehabilitation, treating underlying medical conditions — all of these things play a role,” she said.
Premature Ejaculation Concerns Need to be Discussed with the Physician
It’s also important for those who are suffering from this problem to comprehend how there are several men who could be concerned about premature ejaculation. There should be no embarrassment when it comes to discussing the issue with their doctor, said Bole.
“Many times, patients will talk to us and realize that they’re very much within normal range for ejaculatory latency. They just didn’t know what ‘normal’ was,” Bole said. “But if we do diagnose an issue, we can work together to come up with a solution,” she also advised
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