About Ejaculation Discomfort in Chronic Prostatitis

• Many men who see a urologist for chronic prostatitis will be given the advice to increase ejaculation. In fact, it is very common for men with prostatitis/ chronic pelvic pain syndrome to experience discomfort during and/ or after ejaculation.
• There is often an increase in discomfort during or after sexual activity in men with prostatitis/ chronic pelvic pain syndrome because orgasm causes strong contractions of the pelvic, prostate, and seminal vesicle muscles that last about once a second during orgasm. Dr. Jeannette Potts observed that orgasm is a ‘pleasure spasm’. There is a significant increase in nervous system arousal during sexual intercourse or activity.
• The ‘pleasure spasm’ of an orgasm will tighten the pelvic muscles further. This increased tightening temporarily contracts an already contracted area which doesn’t relax well and tends to throw the patient further above the symptom threshold. After a while, the muscles relax and return to their baseline level, the normal state of the pelvic floor reasserts itself (which is back to some degree of pain or discomfort when a person has chronic pelvic pain syndrome). For this reason, we do not recommend increasing sexual activity when a person has a pronounced increase in symptoms after sex.

NOTE: While it is our hope that these facts about ejaculation discomfort in chronic prostatitis are helpful, this information is not to be misconstrued as medical advice. This should be presented as general information about the disorder.