Sexual Health Network - credentialed experts providing sexuality education from pleasure and orgasm to sexually transmitted diseases, sexual dysfunction, and sex and disability




The Sexual Health Network is dedicated to providing easy access to sexuality information, education, support, and other resources.

	contact us \| privacy policy \| Fri Sep 05 2008

print this page

Question:
My husband has recently had difficulty ejaculating. Over the past two weeks he has had less interest in masturbation and intercourse. When we had intercourse he was able to ejaculate, but has not been able to since, which was three days ago. I am presuming this is not a physical problem per se in that it worked one day, and not the next. Is this likely due to stress? Should he see an MD?

Answer:
by Scott Gross: (01/05/2005)
Hi. I apologize if this answer is a long time in coming as we've been rebuilding the website. It is difficult for me to make an exact diagnosis of what is going on for you and him without a more detailed history, but I will do my best to help you out. Is your husband under new stresses or feeling particularly anxious about any thing in general? Stress can greatly change the way people feel about sex, and it can have a tremendous impact on a person's desire for sex as well as their ability to feel pleasure and orgasm. Furthermore, smoking over a long period of time can have negative affects on a man or woman's ability to orgasm. If your husband is still enjoying sex when he feels ready for it, I would suggest that you try and slow sex down. This technique is called "sensate focus" and you may have heard of it. The purpose is to focus on touching and feeling and taking your time to indulge your senses. By taking your time to relax and touch each others' bodies you also take the focus off of orgasm. Orgasm is just a point along the road of sexuality and should not necessarily be seen as an endpoint. I hope this helps you. I agree that your husband is probably not suffering from a physical problem, but I would not rule out a visit to a doctor just in case. Also a sexuality counselor or therapist could be very beneficial in offering more suggestions of techniques and positions to try as well as helping to alleviate some stress factors that may be involved. Feel free to ask us more questions if you have them. Scott Gross

Reviewed by: Patricia Fawver Ph.D. in Sexology

This question appears in the following topics: