Initially intended for the sexual pleasure of women and men, the sex toy may also have medical benefits. We take stock with sexologist and andrologist Catherine Solano.
To conceive a child
Sex toys are first prescribed to men wishing to conceive a child and having difficulty initiating ejaculation. In this case, applying a vibrating object to the penis for a few minutes most often makes it possible to obtain an ejaculation, which would not be possible for them through masturbation or during sexual intercourse.
The collected sperm can then be introduced into the vaginal area as a couple (with a simple small plastic pipette) or during a course of medically assisted procreation (MAP) if the woman has fertility concerns. If these men do not manage to ejaculate, it is because they may be in a situation of handicap – with paraplegia or quadriplegia, that is to say an attack on the spinal cord affecting not only motor skills legs, but also the ejaculation reflex.
Others have a neurological disease that has the same impact on the ejaculatory reflex. Still other men cannot trigger ejaculation for psychological reasons and in this case, even if psychotherapy is the most suitable treatment, while waiting for concrete changes, a vibrating sex toy can be used to collect sperm.
In case of female anorgasmia
When a woman has difficulty reaching orgasm, there are sex therapy treatments, including both a psychological approach and the prescription of practical exercises.
But in the case of total anorgasmia, that is, if the woman has never had an orgasm, if after a certain time of treatment the results are not there, “it may be indicated to use a vibrating sex toy to apply it near the clitoris, in order to allow a woman to experience the orgasmic sensation“, details Catherine Solano. However, you have to be careful, because the brain easily gets used to this type of vibrating stimulation, and it can subsequently have difficulty reaching an orgasm by simple caresses or during a relationship. sexual!
An artificial penis to the rescue of sexual health?
In women with vaginismus (impossible or very painful penetration), sexologist doctors recommend the use of vaginal dilators, utensils of increasing size (from a very small size to a size similar to an erect penis), so that the woman gradually trains herself to introduce this object and tame her vulva and vestibule (entrance to her vaginal area).
But we can’t really call it a sex toy, because this exercise is rather stressful for women, and quite far from a game! Another situation: certain patients presenting with a total impossibility to obtain an erection following an operation for prostate cancer sometimes use an artificial penis attached by a belt for a sexual relationship with their partner. One of them, very reluctant at first, found an improvement by warming the utensil before sex, and she now tells her husband: “It’s not so bad after all, it’s a lot like our sexual intercourse before the operation, because the movement is still you who do it!“, says Catherine Solano.
Thanks to Dr Catherine Solano, sexologist and andrologist at Cochin Hospital (AP-HP) in Paris.
