What is it?

Premature ejaculation (PE) means 'coming too quickly'.

It's one of the commonest of all sexual problems. Recently, we did a survey of several thousand British males, and approximately 10 per cent of them said that they 'often' or 'sometimes' had this trouble.

We found that it's commoner in younger men - which is not surprising, as there's a distinct tendency for it to improve with age. Men generally get better control as they grow older.

However, a 2004 survey in Europe showed that middle-aged men still have this problem.

Fortunately, good treatments are available.

Does it matter?

Well, in most cases it does matter - because it makes people unhappy and frustrated. And in severe cases PE can threaten or even ruin a marriage - simply because it spoils the sex lives of both partners. Sometimes, the condition is so bad that the man cannot even manage to have intercourse because he invariably ejaculates before he can get into the vagina. This can be devastating for a man's self-confidence. And it can be hugely frustrating and annoying for his partner, too.

However, most men merely find PE a considerable irritation - a condition that makes them 'come' very soon after they enter their partners (say, after only one to two minutes), so that neither party gets a lot of satisfaction.

What causes it?

For many years, sex experts have tended to say that premature ejaculation is caused by early 'conditioning'. In other words, the man's early, rushed (and perhaps furtive) sexual experiences had to be quick - so as to avoid detection! The idea is that all this hectic rush 'conditions' him to climax as quickly as possible.

However, in our own surveys we have found that many men with PE say that they did not have rushed, hasty early sexual experiences (though others say they did). These maintain that they were 'highly triggered' right from the start of their sex lives.

It's worth noting that from an evolutionary point of view, it's probable that throughout human history, males who climaxed quickly were more likely to have children. (In other words, if you were a caveman who 'came' very fast, you'd stand more chance of impregnating cavewomen - and, therefore, enlarging and strengthening your tribe - than a chap who took all day about it.)

Therefore, we feel that the tendency to reach orgasm quickly may often actually be inherited rather than learned.

Finally, there's no question that anxiety (or 'nerves') plays a part in many cases of PE. If you're nervous, you're likely to come too quickly. That's why many males have discovered for themselves that a small amount of alcohol eases their nerves and makes them less likely to climax prematurely. But we wouldn't recommend alcohol as a treatment!