Don't let a false start spoil your whole sex and love-life.

With rare exceptions, immediate ejaculation is the rule in the animal world. Man is subject to this same law of nature, but he has "civilized" the sex act by spinning it out in order to procure more pleasure.

As a result, premature ejaculation is common in young men during their first sexual encounters as an inborn, instinctive function. An inexperienced young man is unable to sense the "point of no return" as the ejaculation urge mounts. Then, little by little, or sometimes quite quickly, he learns to detect and control the surge of sexual arousal.

Unfortunately, at this stage some men find themselves unable to slow down and control the process of arousal leading to ejaculation. Far from disappearing, the problem only gets worse. Fear of the sex act, leading to disappointment on both sides, ends by turning early ejaculation into an automatic process.

There are many reasons for this. First experiences can set the tone for the future. The man's first sexual experiments may just have been a matter of satisfying curiosity or of stilling a purely sexual need; "quick fixes" bought from hurried prostitutes are poor models of performance; early sexual acts with a partner about whom you feel indifferent can also distort the experience. The problem may also be due to overemotion, apprehension, a lack of self-confidence, fear of disappointing one's partner, relational or other psychological difficulties.

But these are all false starts. Happily, we now know what to do about this. Thanks to the therapy for psycho-mechanical and sensory re-education of the ejaculation reflex by Dr Assal and Dr Benès, anyone can now learn how to master premature ejaculation - the natural way, as most men find out for themselves.

So premature ejaculators and their partners are not doomed to a lifetime of frustration. In this area, all men are equal. Love is a feast, to which everybody is invited.