ASK THE DOCTOR
“If Viagra for men causes increased blood flow to the penis, can it help a woman in the same way to her clitoris? Aren’t they the same type of skin and nerve endings to make it more “pleasure sensing”?”
Good question that gets some media attention. Yes, the type of skin and the nerve endings are similar in men and women. There are a few studies about this question, but nothing new for the past 3-4 years. Of the few studies I found, one noted that there was increased blood flow to the clitoris and clitoral enlargement with Viagra, but no comment about whether it increased sexual pleasure. Another found some benefit of viagra for women already taking SSRI antidepressants, the same family of medications to which Addyi belongs, the new drug approved for female low sexual desire. Another found no benefit in postmenopausal on hormone replacement therapy.
If there was good scientific data that Viagra is effective for women, I think pharmaceutical companies would be very interested and doing lots of studies. Since that is not the case, the science probably isn’t there to justify further investigation and development. The “pleasure sensing” that you ask about probably is not affected by Viagra, even if there is clitoral enlargement.
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