LIFE & CULTURE

Is The O-Shot The Secret To Better Sex?

Its inventor certainly seems to think so, but the medical community is divided

Are you sitting down? Good. Let’s begin.

The O-Shot is the latest in a long line of medical innovations promising better, strong, more intense orgasms to women. It involves – wait for it – injecting your clitoris with your own blood to stimulate blood flow and sensitivity.

Other positive side effects include reducing incontinence and pain during sex. Oh, and it will empower women, or so says its creator.

It was invented by Dr Charles Runels in 2011, who first tried the practice on his then-girlfriend, after he had been injecting his own penis with blood for a year, reportedly experiencing “bigger and stronger erections”, The Guardian reports.

Better sex comes with a price tag – US$1,200 – $1,500 to be exact. But that hasn’t stopped some 20,000 women travelling from all four corners of the globe to Runels’ Alabama clinic to have the injection. There’s an 85% success rate, according to Runels’ estimates.

But, here’s the million dollar – or at least the US$12-1,500 question. Does it work?

Its inventor certainly seems to think so. He’s put almost $100,000 of his own money into a test into its efficacy, led by a scientist at George Washington University.

But this is the only test of the O-shot thus far, which means its technically unapproved by the FDA. The O-shot’s critics add that the results it engenders are merely placebo. 

Still, the O-Shot – and orgasm-centric cosmetic surgery – is opening up a very important discussion about the importance of orgasms in a woman’s life.

““Only 14% of women in their whole lifetime will ever have a conversation with their doctor about sex,” Runels told The Guardian, “and if she brings up the subject, most times the doctor will change the subject after the first question.”

“It’s time for us to quit avoiding the subject of a woman’s sexual function, and actually start thinking about how the system of her sexuality might work.”

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