- A cream made with sildenafil increased women’s pleasure and orgasms
- Clinical trial in women with sexual arousal disorder yielded promising results
- It works by widening small arteries under the skin, increasing blood flow to the vagina
A cream based on the same drug used in Viagra can do wonders for women’s libido, a study has found.
Early results from a US clinical trial show that women with sexual arousal disorder who applied the cream to their genitals had increased desire, more pleasure and better orgasms.
The cream is made with sildenafil – the same ingredient that has made Viagra one of the world’s best-selling drugs.
If you apply it 10 to 20 minutes before sex, it dilates the small arteries just under the skin, increasing blood flow to the vagina.
It is thought that this influx of oxygen-rich blood makes women want to have sex.
A cream made from the same drug used in Viagra could do wonders for women’s libido, research shows. Pictured: the iconic orgasm scene from When Harry Met Sally starring Meg Ryan
Early results from a US clinical trial show that women with sexual arousal disorders who applied the cream to their genitals had greater desire, greater pleasure and better orgasms (file photo)
It could help restore intimacy for many of the one in five British women who suffer from low libido.
Viagra pills have changed the love lives of millions of men around the world since the drug first hit the market in the late 1990s.
The ‘little blue pill’ is being investigated as a possible treatment for a range of other conditions, from Alzheimer’s disease to heart failure.
But treating female sexual dysfunction is much more difficult.
Although two drugs are approved for it in the US – one is a tablet that can have serious side effects and the other an injection – neither is available in the UK.
Scientists from two independent US research companies, together with Dare Bioscience – the San Diego company that developed the cream – recruited 33 women with sexual arousal disorder.
This means that there has been no sexual activity, or any interest in it, for at least six months.
The women were asked to apply a dab of cream to their fingertips just before sex, or an identical amount of a fake cream that looked the same.
Before and after the three-month experiment, researchers asked the women about their sex lives, assessing libido and sexual satisfaction.
The results, published in the journal Obstetrics and Gynecology, showed that the scores of women who used the Viagra cream improved significantly: they had greater sexual desire, more pleasure and stronger orgasms.
But those who used the placebo cream saw little or no change.
The researchers, who are planning a larger study to see if the results can be replicated, said: ‘Trials of sildenafil pills in women have shown marginal effectiveness and intolerable side effects.
“But a fast-absorbing cream might have fewer adverse effects and a more immediate biological response.”