So today’s news could amount to another option for performers: Scientists said a new Viagra-like treatment using nanoparticles has been developed.
Under a new technique, nanoparticles that release the anti-erectile chemical nitric oxide are rubbed on and absorbed directly into the skin.
Scientists at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York have successfully tested the new technique — which involves tiny objects called nanoparticles — on rats and believe it could also be used to help humans.
Of seven rats treated at Albert Einstein College, five showed signs of arousal, according to results presented to the American Urological Association.
The new treatment would likely have fewer side effects than Viagra, which is taken orally and been shown to cause headaches and facial flushing.
Researchers also believe that the nanoparticle therapy could work much more quickly than Viagra, which takes up to an hour to kick in.
Viagra is the first oral drug for erectile dysfunction. Before the FDA approved Viagra in 1998, impotence was treated with surgical implants, suppositories, pumps and drugs injected into the penis, such as Caverject, which was used widespread in the porn industry before Viagra.
Taken as a pill shortly before sexual intercourse, Viagra selectively dilates blood vessels in the penis, improving blood flow and allowing a natural sexual response.
Longtime performer and director Dave Cummings told XBIZ that "it seems like nanoparticle technology might possibly be a plus."
"As a performer — one who can’t take two of the present three medications and one who gets inconsistent results from the other pill — I’d welcome an alternative for multiple sex scene shoots when and where my 69 years of age could use an assist," he said.
"I wish we had such pills or technology when I entered the Adult Filming Industry in 1994. Maybe I would not have lost so much hair worrying about getting wood."