The issue of premature ejaculation (PE) is one which is often confused with erectile dysfunction (ED). These are two separate issues in Men’s Health. Erectile Dysfunction is defined as the inability to achieve or sustain an erection for satisfactory sexual activity.

ED can be a total inability to achieve erection, an inconsistent ability to do so, or a tendency to sustain only brief erections. The cause of ED basically comes down to blood flow into the penis. This blood flow can be restricted by physical causes such as diabetes or by psychological causes such as stress or anxiety.

Premature Ejaculation is not a blood flow issue but rather an issue with ejaculatory control. There is a lack of a universally agreed definition of what exactly premature ejaculation is, a factor which has hampered its treatment. Definitions of premature ejaculation have ranged from "coming within six thrusts" to "coming within two minutes" and even "coming before your partner". A simpler definition is that if you come before you want to and you feel you're not able to control it, then you're suffering from premature ejaculation. Most men will come sooner than they'd like on some occasions, particularly if under stress or in situations of very high excitement. However, if you are unable to control when you come more than 50 per cent of the time, then it becomes a problem.

PE can be caused by medical and medicational problems but generally it is down to a man not knowing when the signals come through that he's going to climax. The standard sexual therapy technique for curing premature ejaculation is called sensate focus or ‘the stop start technique’, where you are training him first by helping himself, then by introducing a partner, to recognise those signals and to be relaxed enough to notice them. It involves the practice of stimulating yourself to the point just before ejaculation, then stop and start again when the sensations have subsided. It's a straightforward not all that long procedure but it has to be introduced and monitored by a therapist.

While there's a lot of research going on in this area and there are new treatments in development, at present there are no licensed medications for the treatment of premature ejaculation within Europe. Health Care providers sometimes make use of what might be considered an unwanted side effect of antidepressant medication which can delay organism and ejaculation on an unlicensed basis and also sometimes topical anaesthetics are used as well to help reduce penile sensitivity.

Another alternative may be Erectile Dysfunction treatments such as Viagra, Cialis and Levitra. These treatments may not treat PE per se, but the extra time that they allow is useful as a psychological tool.