"An experimental approach in which penile nerve tissue is frozen to knock out overactive nerves helped men with premature ejaculation https last three times longer. Researchers tested the technique on  men who hadnt been helped by standard treatments. They lasted an average of  seconds before ejaculation or nearly two minutes over the three months they were followed compared with  seconds before treatment. Thats about what you see with standard drug therapy says researcher J. David Prologo MD assistant professor of interventional radiology at Case Western Reserve Universitys School of Medicine in Cleveland. A time to ejaculation of more than two minutes is normal he tells WebMD. Its supporters say the technique or a similar one involving heat therapy could someday become a standard treatment for the condition. But other experts tell WebMD that questions about the longterm consequences remain. Also unknown whether men would opt for the treatment. The findings were presented here at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America. Prologo consults for Galil Medical which funded the study. Common Sex Problem for Men Premature ejaculation affects  to  of men making it among the most common forms of male sexual dysfunction worldwide. Treatment options include certain antidepressants https such as Celexa https citalopram https Paxil https paroxetine Prozac https fluoxetine https and Zoloft https sertraline https as well as anesthetic ointments and cream and behavioral therapies. But many men arent helped by the treatments Prologo says. The new technique involves inserting a tiny hollow needle into the skin https near the belly button. Using computerized imaging for guidance the doctor snakes it down to one of the two dorsal penile nerves. Overactivity of these nerves has been implicated as a cause of premature ejaculation. Then we knock out the nerve by freezing it Prologo says. Its not painful though some men feel a cold sensation he says. The procedure takes about  minutes and men can go home the same day. While still experimental Prologo estimates the cost at . Repeat Injections May Be Needed After the procedure men were asked five questions relating to their sexual satisfaction. All improved on at least one sexualrelated symptom. There were no side effects from the procedure. However three men reported their erections werent as firm afterward for reasons Prologo cant explain. Unknown is how long the treatment will last. In the third month of the study some men started ejaculating more quickly again. Prologo says repeat injections may be necessary and he is following the men for six months to see what happens. Paula Novelli MD clinical assistant professor of radiology at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor says that could be a problem. How many times can you repeat it before you do damage she says. Novelli moderated the session at which the findings were presented. Prologo says he doesnt think there will be longterm problems because only one of two nerves is destroyed. Still he is testing a similar but less aggressive technique that uses heat to decrease the activity of overactive penile nerves without destroying them. The researchers plan a study comparing one or both techniques to placebo https in larger numbers of men. These findings were presented at a medical conference. They should be considered preliminary as they have not yet undergone the peer review process in which outside experts scrutinize the data prior to publication in a medical journal."