What is sexual dysfunction?

Myth – Taking Testosterone or any hormonal injections will help with ED & PME.     

Fact – ED/PME is not always a problem due to hormones. In fact, low testosterone levels are a rarely observed cause of it. Injecting unnecessary testosterone, without doctor’s advice may actually inhibit your sexual drive due to negative feedback effect on the pituitary gland.

Myth – Having a glass of prior to coitus wine would help you perform better 
Fact – It is a commonly held myth by most of the men & women. Alcohol has a relaxing effect on the brain & it may increase your desire due to disinhibition of mind. But in the long run, many males suffer ED due to alcohol abuse. Even the sexual performance is hampered due to the effect of alcohol on cerebellar coordination that is required in any kind of sexual activity. Alcohol may even make you get into a risky sexual behaviour due to loss of judgement under intoxication.

Myth – ED has nothing to do with the depth of relationship & emotions in between partners.
Fact – Many a time, couples try to work upon improving the relationship by engaging in sexual activity. If the emotional bonding between the partners has been impacted for long (maybe due to fear, anger, resentment or guilt) then men experience problems related to erection & PME; it further creates issues in the relationship. Hence, it is better to resolve the emotional issues & to improve upon the relationship at first, to avoid such misunderstandings.

 Myth – Erections are not impacted by your physical health & level of activity.
Fact – It is the heart that pumps blood to your penis during coitus. Doing regular aerobic exercise and graded cardiac training may naturally improve the quality & sustenance of erection in men, whereas sedentary lifestyle &  smoking may make the men prone to ED and PE

 Myth – ED may occur due to masturbation 
Fact – First of all, masturbation isn’t a crime. Many men get into the guilt trap & wrongly correlate their bad erections as a result of masturbation at adolescent age. But it is important to understand that masturbation is a healthy way of releasing your sexual tensions, provided you do it without any compulsion. 

Myth – Watching porn prior to sex will improve the erections & timing of ejaculation.
Fact – Most of the men report to had been masturbating after watching porn, in the absence of a partner. But if you are getting dependent on watching porn for getting erections then it definitely needs to be assessed and worked upon. A good relationship & bonding between you and your partner should not make it necessary to watch porn compulsively prior to sex. In fact, watching porn can make you prone to premature ejaculation due to the sudden burst of excitement & flooded erotic content as reflected in some forms of porn.

Myth – Sexual abstinence for some days will automatically improve the ED/ PME.
Fact – Abstaining from sexual activity is not a solution to solve the problem. In fact, the longer you abstain, it may further hamper your sexual performance. A good point to note is that masturbating an hour prior to coitus can actually resolve PME in most of the milder cases (provided your erections are stronger enough to last & recover)

Myth – PME remains the same irrespective of the sexual positions that you try.
Fact – It has been reported that performing coitus in some positions where the woman is held on the top of man, helps some men to prolong their ejaculation & overcome
PME to some extent. This is due to better control & natural benefit of the anatomical structure of the male genital tract in these positions.

Myth – Medicines used to treat anxiety & depression may cause sexual dysfunctions.
Fact – Many men are so concerned with the sexual side effects of medicines prescribed for anxiety & depression, that they suffer from these conditions rather than getting treated. But sadly, anxiety & depression itself can make you experience ED & PME. If untreated, anyhow your sexual life is going to suffer. In fact, some class of medicines (known as SSRIs) actually help to increase the ejaculation time in PME which is a common sexual dysfunction seen in men with anxiety &/or depression. So better not to google your medicines & always do keep in mind your mental health, as it could be suffering together with your sex life.

Myth – Using any kind of over the counter (OTC) medicine to treat your sexual dysfunction is okay.
Fact – Sexual performance is a multi-factorial orchestra of various biological systems. There is no kind of single treatment that treats all kind sexual dysfunctions. It needs a detailed evaluation by the specialist & specific medication as per the severity of the problem, age, other comorbid medical conditions. Many OTC preparations are not regulated by the FDA and may cause harm with complications & side-effects if consumed unsupervised. Hence, you should get evaluated by the sexologist rather than experimenting with yourself.