spermatorrhea

{{Short description|Excessive, involuntary ejaculation}}

{{For|a type of spontaneous orgasm involving ejaculation during sleep|Nocturnal emission}}

{{distinguish|Spermaturia}}

{{more medical citations needed|date=August 2015}}

Spermatorrhea is a condition of excessive, involuntary seminal discharge. In several cultures, this referred to ejaculation outside of certain approved sexual practices and was thus a subjective term. A more modern medical definition is the excessive release of semen with no accompanying erection or orgasm.{{cite journal |title=Spermatorrhea in a Chinese patient with temporal lobe epilepsy: a case report |date=2021 |pmc=7812405 |last1=Zhang |first1=L. |last2=Yu |first2=H. |last3=Li |first3=D. |last4=Qian |first4=H. |last5=Chen |first5=Y. |journal=The Journal of International Medical Research |volume=49 |issue=1 |doi=10.1177/0300060520982814 |pmid=33445995 }}

In Western medicine during the nineteenth century, spermatorrhea was regarded as a medical disorder with corrupting and devastating effects on the mind and body.{{cite journal|author=Darby R|date=July 2005|title=Pathologizing male sexuality: Lallemand, spermatorrhea, and the rise of circumcision|journal=J Hist Med Allied Sci|volume=60|issue=3|pages=283–319|doi=10.1093/jhmas/jri042|pmid=15917258|s2cid=29249045}} The cure for spermatorrhea was regarded as enforced chastity and avoidance of masturbation, with circumcision sometimes being used as a treatment.{{cite journal|author=Keane JR|date=June 1994|title=The neurological complications of spermatorrhoea|journal=Arch. Neurol.|volume=51|issue=6|pages=600–3|doi=10.1001/archneur.1994.00540180078017|pmid=8198472}}William Acton. "[http://www.victorianlondon.org/disease/spermatorrhoea.htm Victorian London - Disease - Spermatorrhoea]." From Prostitution, considered in its Moral, Social, and Sanitary Aspects. 2nd edition, 1870. Compiled in Lee Jackson's The Victorian Dictionary.

Traditional Chinese medicine counts the production of semen as one of the biggest strains on jing (kidney essence). It is a recognized disorder in traditional Chinese medicine, in which certain patterns of involuntary ejaculation reflect problems with kidney qi.{{cite web |url=http://www.acuxo.com/library.asp?firstResponse=Spermatorrhea&condition=Seminal%20Emission |title=Acupuncture . acuxo . Library |website=www.acuxo.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060321061308/http://www.acuxo.com/library.asp?firstResponse=Spermatorrhea&condition=Seminal%20Emission |archive-date=2006-03-21}} {{Cite web|url=https://www.newtreatments.org/|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080612164614/http://www.findhealer.com/library/article19.php3|url-status=dead|title=New Treatments - Kratom, CBD, Kratom Reviews & Many More...|archivedate=June 12, 2008}}

In Ayurvedic Medicine, Ashwagandha and Bala are used to treat this vata ailment. The Indian Traditional Knowledge Digital Library also has medicinal prescription using the herb.{{cite web |url=http://ayurveda-tcm.com/ayurvedic-chinese-medicine-distance-learning/doku.php?id=bala |title=Bala - Medicine Buddha Healing Center - Ayurveda Healing Arts Institute - Nalanda University - Indian Tibetan Ayurvedic Chinese Medicine Distance Learning Buddhist Correspondence Courses |access-date=2009-12-13 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110707202235/http://ayurveda-tcm.com/ayurvedic-chinese-medicine-distance-learning/doku.php?id=bala |archive-date=2011-07-07 }}

In the 18th and 19th centuries, if a patient had ejaculations outside marital intercourse, or released more semen than is typical, then he was diagnosed with a disease called spermatorrhea or "seminal weakness". A variety of drugs and other treatments, including circumcision and castration, were advised as treatment.{{cite book |last1=Moscucci |first1=Ornella |editor1-first=Andrew H. |editor1-last=Miller |others=James Eli Adams |title=Sexualities in Victorian Britain|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kRsgkuRwNRgC&q=%22Male+masturbation+and+the+offending+prepuce%22+Moscucci&pg=PA63 |accessdate=April 7, 2011 |year=1996 |publisher=Indiana University Press |location=Bloomington |isbn=0-253-33066-1 |pages=63–64 |chapter=Male masturbation and the offending prepuce}}William Acton. "[http://www.victorianlondon.org/disease/spermatorrhoea.htm Victorian London – Disease – Spermatorrhoea]." From Prostitution, considered in its Moral, Social, and Sanitary Aspects. 2nd edition, 1870. Compiled in Lee Jackson's The Victorian Dictionary.{{cite book|last=Darby|first=Robert J. L.|title=A Surgical Temptation: The Demonization Of The Foreskin And The Rise Of Circumcision In Britain|year=2005|publisher=University of Chicago press|location=Chicago|isbn=0-226-13645-0|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sD6CALS2NtQC&pg=PA198|accessdate=29 July 2012|page=198}} Some alternative practitioners, especially herb healers, continue to diagnose and advise treatments for cases of spermatorrhea.{{citation needed|date=October 2012}}