Page 274 - Urological Health

Premature ejaculation

Dr. Joe King Chien Lee
Urologist
St Joseph’s Hospital, London, ON, Canada

What is premature ejaculation?

Premature ejaculation (PE) happens when a man regularly reaches an orgasm (or ejaculates) much
sooner during sexual intercourse than what he or his partner would have desired.

There are 2 types of PE:
1.Lifelong PE (primary), which existed when you first became sexually active.
2.Acquired PE (secondary), which develops over time after you have had a normal sexual
life, without ejaculation issues.
The formal definition for lifelong PE is: “Ejaculation which always or nearly always occurs prior to or
within about one minute of vaginal penetration, and the inability to delay ejaculation on all or nearly
all vaginal penetrations, and negative personal consequences such as distress, bother, frustration
and/or the avoidance of sexual intimacy.”

There is no fixed definition for acquired PE, but it is believed to share the same characteristics as
lifelong PE except that it comes on later in life, after a period of sexual normalcy.

What are the symptoms?

People who suffer from the following conditions are at greater-than-normal risk of developing kidney
failure and/or progressive loss of their kidney function (or end-stage renal disease):
• The symptoms become clear when the sexual relationship between a couple becomes
affected due to PE. The man usually experiences distress as a result of this.
• PE does not go away with different sexual environments or scenarios, such as
masturbation.

How do you get PE?

It’s a mix of psychology and biology. No one really knows how it is caused.

Psychology
The psychological part includes fear or anxiety – maybe because you had to reach orgasm quickly
when you were young for fear of being discovered. This has now caused you to reach orgasm quickly
and early.

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