It is not too far-fetched to compare premature ejaculation to bed-wetting. A small infant has no control over its bladder. When the urine stretches the bladder, a reflex occurs which makes the bladder contract and the infant urinates. As the infant grows it learns to suppress the reflex, and delays urination until an appropriate time. In some ways, a man with premature ejaculation is like the infant; he has not learned to delay his ejaculation until a more appropriate time

Premature ejaculation is not only frustrating to a man’s sexual partner, but also reduces his full sexual enjoyment. Men who have been cured of premature ejaculation report that when they had the sexual problem, their orgasms were less pleasurable. Some men have said that it was as if their penises were anaesthetized.

In addition to reducing a man’s sexual pleasure, premature ejaculation can cause anxiety and distress to both partners. The man feels guilty about his inadequate sexual performance, the woman feels perplexed, rejected, and perhaps hostile to the man who seems to be ignoring her sexual needs.

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In an over-populated world, it may come as a surprise to learn that between 10 and 15 per cent of couples who desire to have a child are unable to do so. They are barren, sterile, or infertile. The terms are interchangeable.

Until about thirty years ago, the fault was thought to be due to the woman’s inability to conceive. If a man could obtain an erection and could ejaculate within the woman’s vagina, it was believed that he could not be sterile. It is now known that this belief was wrong. In most investigations of infertility, the man is at fault in nearly one-third of cases. Although he can get an erection and can ejaculate, he has few or no spermatozoa in his seminal fluid. The absence of sperm obviously prevents him having children, although his sexuality is not affected.