Forget Viagra: Soon, you could use SOUND WAVES to treat problems in the bedroom
- Viagra has side effects that can include hearing loss and headaches
- As an alternative scientists are using 'extracorporeal shock wave therapy'
- In a recent study, men received low-intensity sound waves on their penis
- By the end of the trial, 57 per cent could have intercourse without pills
Viagra has revolutionised sex lives all over the world.
But the little blue pill has some side effects that can include nasal congestion, dizziness and sudden hearing loss.
Now scientists say they have found an unusual alternative that could help treat people with severe erectile dysfunction; sound waves.
Scientists have given new hope to men who suffer from severe erectile dysfunction. They claim sound waves could help them have intercourse without using Viagra
Researchers used a technique similar to that used to break up kidney stones to shock the penis into life with low-intensity waves.
The procedure involves placing a probe on the penis after a gel is applied to help conduct the shock waves.
High-energy waves may cause pain and require a local or regional anesthetic. Low-energy shock wave therapy often is performed without anesthesia.
So-called 'extracorporeal shock wave therapy' (ESWT) has been found to improve blood flow to the heart by inducing blood vessel growth.
Experts speculated that such waves might also improve circulation to the penis.
Use of the technique as an alternative to Viagra was proposed at a meeting of the European Society for Sexual Medicine in Madrid, Spain.
The New Scientist reports that one study of ESWT in the Scandinavian Journal of Urology involved 112 men with erectile dysfunction.
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Half received five weekly doses of low-intensity sound waves which were focused at six points on their penis. The remainder of the volunteers were given a placebo.
None of the men were able to have penetrative sex without medication at the start of the study.
By the end, 57 per cent could have sex without pills in the group who had ESWT.
Viagra has revolutionised sex lives all over the world. But the little blue pill has some side effects that can include headaches, dizziness, nasal congestion and sudden hearing loss. Now scientists say they have found an unusual alternative that could help treat people with severe erectile dysfunction; sound waves
In the group who took a placebo, only 9 per cent could have intercourse.
Ilan Gruenwald of the Rambam Medical Center in Haifa, Israel said that the treatment prove to be a long-term solution.
In an earlier study, nearly 30 per cent of patients achieved normal sexual function and no longer required medication two months after treatment.
The men, whose average age was 61, were given 300 shocks over a period of three minutes on five points along the shaft of the penis during each session.
There were two sessions per week for three weeks, then three weeks off, and then another three-week treatment period.
While no men reported pain or adverse side-effects during treatment, critics say you 'might as well hit your penis with a hammer' because such technology is designed to be destructive.
More tests need to be done to reveal just how effective the technique could be, the researchers said.
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