'Arousal training' app makes men last twice as long in bed in surprising study
In case we didn't already have enough to worry about in terms of the world falling apart, keeping a steady job, and a roof over our heads, there's also the looming pressure of performance in the bedroom.
With Louis Theroux's Inside the Manosphere shedding light on the alarming culture of toxic masculinity and messages being shared online, the subject of sex came up a lot as Harrison "HSTikkyTokky" Sullivan bragged about his own performance.
As the old saying goes, it's not the size of the boat but the motion in the ocean, although that doesn't really work if you don't have the aforementioned motion technique nailed.
No matter what your partner says to put your fears at bay, we know that how long you ‘last’ can be a nagging fear.
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Worry not, as a new app is said to help men go for up to twice as long thanks to a variety of different methods.
New Scientist reports on Melonga, a smartphone app that's said to help with premature ejaculation and extend intercourse. A preliminary trial has boasted about Melonga's results, apparently helping couples go at it like rabbits for longer than usual.
It's said that premature ejaculation is the most common sexual dysfunction in men, supposedly affecting 1 in 3. Drugs like topical anaesthetics and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are known to delay ejaculation, but as with any drugs, there are expected side effects/the hassle of having to take pills and losing some of that spontaneity. Added to this, Christer Groeben at Heidelberg University in Germany says: "The existing medical treatments are not curing the situation."
This is where Melonga comes into the story, developed by a Netherlands-based health start-up called Prognoix. Using a curriculum that's been designed by psychologists and urologists, it combines arousal-awareness training, pelvic floor exercises, mindfulness techniques, and cognitive behavioural strategies.
A 12-week trial studied 80 men, with them being randomized to use the app or have no structured intervention. Melonga is supposed to help them recognize the "point of no return” before ejaculation, using breathing, relaxation, and start-stop techniques to prevent climax. Different modules encourage them to communicate with partners and avoid negative thought patterns through the use of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT).
It's noted that while prostate and thyroid issues can overlap with depression as causes of premature ejaculation, only healthy participants were selected.
Out of the 66 men who completed the study, it's said that those who used the app managed to increase intravaginal ejaculation latency time from a 61-second average to 125 seconds after just four weeks. The control group experienced 'virtually' no change.
Giorgio Russo at the University of Catania, Italy, wasn't involved in the study, but stated: "Doctors prescribe pills much more than simple solutions. In 10 or 15 minutes [for an appointment], pills are the easiest solution for the doctor, but not for the patient."
Comparing Melonga to having a doctor in your phone, he praised the app as giving people the chance to privately “understand their premature ejaculation issue."
Groben similarly sang the praises of digital discretion, adding: "A lot of patients don’t go to see their doctor about this condition because they feel a stigmatising effect when they sit in the waiting room with other patients."
Russo said that the results are "dramatic", with 22% of those who took part in the study apparently no longer hitting the definition of premature ejaculation.
He concluded: "One of the reasons patients have premature ejaculation is anxiety. Kegel [pelvic floor] exercises and muscle control can help them manage that anxiety and control the reflex.”
Although similar apps focused on premature ejaculation are out there, none have been tested in the same way as the Melonga study.