Low libido? Zapping the clitoris with electrical impulses could help boost sex drive

It’s an issue that affects up to 40 per cent of women, but a low sex drive could soon be a thing of the past thanks to an unusual new therapy.

Experts from the University of Michigan say that zapping the clitoris with electrical impulses can increase arousal in women with a low libido.

The treatment involves two circular electrodes which are placed on the clitoris, before electrical impulses are applied for 30 minutes.

During testing, the team showed that the method was effective in five women, including two with spinal cord injuries.

‘Subjective arousal increased significantly from before to after stimulation,’ the team, led by Elizabeth Bottorff, wrote in their study.

Low libido is a common problem, affecting up to 20 per cent of men, and 40 per cent of women at some point in their lives.

‘It’s often linked to professional and personal stress, or important life-changing events such as pregnancy, childbirth or breastfeeding,’ the NHS explains.

‘However, an unexpected loss of libido – especially when it lasts for a long time or keeps returning – can also indicate an underlying personal, medical or lifestyle problem, which can be upsetting to both partners in a relationship.’

Depending on the cause, there are several things women can do to boost their sex drive, including relationship counselling, vaginal lubricants or hormone replacement therapy.

But in their new study, the team set out to see whether applying electrical impulses to the dorsal genital nerve – a wishbone-shaped nerve that runs down either side of the clitoral shaft and is responsible for clitoral sensation – could be effective.

Five participants with sexual dysfunction were enlisted, including two women with spinal cord injuries.

Before undertaking the treatment, the women were asked to rate their sexual arousal on a scale of one to five.

In a clinic, the researchers placed two small electrodes on the women’s clitorises, before applying weak electrical impulses for 30 minutes.

After the procedure was complete, the women were asked to rate their sexual arousal once again.

The results revealed that the three women without a spinal cord injury experienced an arousal increase by one to two points on the five-point scale. Meanwhile, the two women with spinal cord injuries saw an impressive increase of two to three points

The results, first reported by New Scientist, revealed that the three women without a spinal cord injury experienced an arousal increase of one to two points on the five-point scale.

Meanwhile, the two women with spinal cord injuries saw an impressive increase of two to three points.

Thankfully, the participants did not experience any side effects following the treatment.

‘The daily pelvic function surveys indicated that most participant’s bladder, bowel, and sexual function were stable and no participants reported carry-over effects from the stimulation session,’ the team wrote in their study, published in the pre-print journal, medRxiv.

In future studies, the team suggests that participants could watch porn during the procedure to boost their arousal even more.

‘Future studies may incorporate audio-visual materials or another type of sexual stimuli to better facilitate arousal,’ they added.

It remains unclear when, or even if, the procedure will be available for women in the UK.

The study comes shortly after researchers from Oregon Health & Science University revealed that the clitoris is even more sensitive than we thought. 

The team completed the first-known count of nerve fibres in the erogenous zone, and found the clitoris contains over 10,000 nerve fibres – 20 per cent more than previously estimated.

‘It’s startling to think about more than 10,000 nerve fibres being concentrated in something as small as clitoris,’ said Dr Blair Peters, lead author of the study.