Look and learn: premature ejaculation behavioral treatment methods (learn not to ask for help)

  The goals of psychotherapy for premature ejaculation should focus on the gender relationship between the patient and his or her sexual partner, and include (i) improving not only the patient’s self-confidence in sexual ability but also his or her overall self-confidence; (ii) reducing operational anxiety; (iii) enhancing communication and communication with the sexual partner and improving couple bonding; and (iv) addressing interpersonal problems that may contribute to premature ejaculation. Because most psychological treatments reported in the literature are small samples or small non-randomized controlled studies, and because of the lack of long-term follow-up, their immediate efficacy has been reported inconsistently and their long-term efficacy is unknown. This guideline recommends psychotherapy for situational PE or premature ejaculation-like ejaculatory dysfunction.  Behavioral therapies began in the 1970s and include Semans’ “stop-and-go” technique and Masters/Johnson’s “squeeze and pinch” technique. Patients undergo a series of progressive exercises to master and build ejaculatory control. The method starts with self-stimulation, changes to partner stimulation, followed by non-pumping intercourse, and finally the “stop-motion-stop” technique. This repeated training weakens the patient’s response to sexual stimulation so that the patient can receive more stimulation and maintain the appropriate intensity and duration of stimulation at the ejaculatory threshold. A few studies have reported that behavioral therapy results in prolonged IELT, increased sexual self-confidence and self-esteem in patients. Masturbation before intercourse is a frequent method used by many young PE patients. Masturbation decreases penile sensitivity after ejaculation and prolongs ejaculatory latency during the inactivity period. Behavioral therapy for PE, although in the short term to achieve a certain degree of effectiveness, but because of the need for long-term close cooperation with the female partner, many patients because of the difficulty of persistence and affect the long-term results. Behavioral therapy is generally effective in about 2 weeks and can be continued for 3-6 months to consolidate the effect.  The purpose of the “stop-and-go” technique is to increase the ejaculatory stimulation threshold. The partner stimulates the patient’s penis until the patient feels that ejaculation is imminent, then immediately stops stimulation and gives stimulation again after the ejaculation premonition disappears completely, and so on for more than 3 times. The “squeeze and pinch” technique involves the female partner placing her thumb at the tether of the penis and her index and middle fingers below the coronal rim, squeezing and pressing the head of the penis for 3 to 4 seconds, and when the ejaculation threshold is reached, the spouse holds the body of the penis until the feeling of ejaculation disappears. Recently, a few medical centers have adopted sexual function therapy devices to desensitize patients with premature ejaculation, which train patients’ ability to control ejaculation through physical stimulation and enable them to master the intensity of stimulation to reach the ejaculation threshold in order to delay ejaculation. The guidelines recommend considering a combination for patients for whom pharmacological treatment is ineffective and less effective.