Most powered penis strokers are focused on the “big finish,” but the MyHixel I sets out to prevent it — or at least to keep it from happening too soon.
MyHixel is a Spanish brand with a simple yet often medically complex goal: prevent premature ejaculation. While many men's sex toys claim to have the cure, MyHixel's debut product-and-service combination delves beyond physical stimulation techniques.
Just in the last three years, we’ve been able to help more than 13,000 men and we strive to help many more through our solutions and services.
Created by Patricia López, a former pleasure product marketing director turned entrepreneur, the MyHixel I is a warming, vibrating masturbator with a decidedly sextech-y design. In conjunction with the MyHixel app, users learn to develop self-control skills through a series of app-based games that work in tandem with the stroker.
López is quick to point out that the MyHixel I is not itself the "product," but rather constitutes part of a specific therapeutic service.
“The product is a premature ejaculation therapy service that, for the first time, has been brought into a digital environment, our app, with anonymization and gamification.”
Consumers can choose between two options. MyHixel TR includes an app-based activity program called Play TR and the MyHixel I device. López says this option is designed both for men who occasionally suffer from a lack of ejaculatory control and for men who simply want to enhance their sexual performance and satisfaction.
The second option, MyHixel MED, is mainly sold through medical and health channels. This version of the stroker package includes another app-based program called Play MED, the MyHixel I device — and an online consultation with one of the company's sexual health professionals. This more medically focused solution, López explains, is for men who ejaculate in under three minutes while having sex or anyone who regularly experiences premature ejaculations.
“The MyHixel methodology consists of the combination of MyHixel Play’s specific app programs for ejaculation control, combined with the MyHixel I device, to maximize the results,” says López. “After creating the methodology, we wanted to offer as many options as we could, in order to cover all men's needs regarding ejaculation control.”
Though the brand's focus began with therapy alone, López's consulting medical professionals — and undoubtedly her background as a former sex toy marketer — helped determine that a product pairing was the best route to consumer satisfaction.
“We could have limited ourselves to launching just the app, but our scientific team found that their patients improved more if they combined the therapy with a stimulator,” López reflects. “As a result, the next step was to design a specific device to optimize the results of the therapy. That’s how the MyHixel I was created, as the perfect tool to accompany our app.”
López has spent over four years collaborating with a sexological institute, public universities and hospitals in Spain, working to publish four medical trials and conduct medical research demonstrating the efficacy of the MyHixel I.
The MyHixel brand is now endorsed by doctors, therapists and pelvic floor experts. López employs two full-time sex therapists who offer online consultations and product assistance through the MyHixel MED program. Additional therapists are on hand to provide overall sexual wellness advice and coaching though the company's online counseling platform, MyHixel Clinic.
“In the MyHixel Clinic, we have a portfolio of more than 10 sexual health professionals who provide an exclusive counseling service where you can directly chat with them about your sexual concerns or doubts,” says López.
The entire MyHixel program, including the therapy sessions and stroker-based app games, is designed to last around eight weeks. López says users can continue to use the program as long as they need, though many will begin to see noticeable results within two weeks. Up to 81% of users have reported an improved ability to control their ejaculation by the eight-week mark.
As a female CEO, López's motivation to dive into the niche of premature ejaculation may come as a surprise, considering the modern pleasure industry's focus on women consumers. However, López found herself surprised when she learned that men's erectile health remained underserved and even taboo.
“The general idea of men as some sort of sexual animal continues to be promoted by adult videos and the concept of traditional masculinity,” says López. “Conditions such as premature ejaculation, delayed ejaculation and ejaculation control are still sensitive topics to talk about. This leads men to believe that it’s embarrassing to experience these conditions, and that it makes them seem weak or not masculine enough.”
In her research, López learned that one in three men have experienced premature ejaculation at some point in their lives, and most of these men could trace causality to psychological issues.
By registering her flagship product and its app as a CE-approved medical device with FDA approval, López legitimized the MyHixel brand as a valid, accessible solution for any man with internet access and a smartphone.
Now López aims to get the next-generation, Bluetooth-capable MyHixel II into the world while upgrading the MyHixel I and improving the app. Later this year, she plans to launch the MyHixel Care product line, a range of products that focus on male intimate care, including intimate wipes, gels and massage oils.
Continuing with the brand's therapeutic theme, the company is also opening a sex education platform called MyHixel Academy. Available to all regardless of prior product purchases, MyHixel Academy will provide access to affordable, quality sex ed courses covering various topics relating to male sexual wellness.
International expansion and enhanced interaction with distributors, retailers and trade events are also high on López's to-do list in the near future.
“Just in the last three years, we’ve been able to help more than 13,000 men and we strive to help many more through our solutions and services,” says López. “We started in Spain, but we’ve always had an international perspective, which is why we’re currently in the process of setting up the company in the USA and, from there, expanding to other countries.”
López is continually inspired by feedback from her consumer audience. In one rave review, a male user echoed her sentiments about the up-and-coming men's sexual health category, saying that it was “about time that a brand looked after our sexual health in a normal way, breaking taboos, and with positive communication.”
Since trading in her marketing director's chair for the ups and downs of CEO life, López has gained insights that should keep her fire burning in the name of men's sexual wellness for years to come.
“I have discovered that there is still a long way to go to normalize brands like ours. There is still a lot of hypocrisy in the world when it comes to dealing with sexuality, even if it is done from a therapeutic point of view,” concludes López. “But we aren’t giving up on our goal of bringing men products, services and educational content that will improve their sexual health, and their life in general.”
