Two weeks ago, we reported on what sounded like a great new product—a special condom infused with a vasodilating gel that would help the wearer maintain an erection. The media, including Time magazine and The Wall Street Journal, jumped on the story and so did we. It sounds great, right? They were calling it the “Viagra™ condom”.
Well, not so fast. Thank you, Men’s Health, for following up.
The magazine reports today that there may be a big problem with the whole idea. That vasodilating gel needs to penetrate your penis, which isn’t easy. “The erectile tissue is almost impermeable,” says Larry Lipshultz, M.D. and Men’s Health urology advisor. “Researchers have tried to develop topical medicine for peyronie’s disease—a condition involving inflammation of penile tissue—but it never worked.”
So, Dr. Lipshultz can’t imagine a topical gel being effective, Men’s Health says—unless it’s psychological. Men might believe their erections are stronger, when they’re actually the same.
So file the “Viagra condom” under “too good to be true” for now, along with those pills that promise you extra inches where you wish you had them the most.