On average, 1 in 4 women experience some difficulty achieving an orgasm. As women age, sexual sensitivity can fade leaving one feeling sexually uninspired and less intimate. Many of the same women who have difficulty achieving orgasm also have problems with urinary stress incontinence (when you accidentally leak a little bit of urine when laughing, coughing, exercising, etc.) since weak pelvic floor muscles can be responsible for both issues. For those women who have given birth, sexual dysfunction and incontinence may be even more pronounced.

Approximately 5% of men over 40 years old and 15-25% of men over 65 years old experience long term erectile dysfunction. This is often caused by poor stress management as well as nutrition and lifestyle choices such as inactivity and smoking. These choices can lead to obesity, diabetes, and/or cardiovascular issues, which can cause erectile dysfunction. An enlarged prostate, prostate cancer, the after-effects of surgery, or even drug side effects may also lead to male erectile dysfunction.

Maintaining sexual intimacy and pleasure can be increasingly challenging for a host of reasons – with lack of time, stress, poor communication, and sex organ dysfunction at the top the list. Some find the use of daily medications (hormones or erectile dysfunction medications) useful, but what if there were a solution that provided longer lasting, rejuvenating benefits with no adverse side effects?

The Aah Shot uses one’s own Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) to help naturally promote healing in this area. PRP is a regenerative injection therapy that uses the healing components of our own blood to stimulate growth and healing. It has gained notoriety among professional athletes in recent years for its use in facilitating healing in joints and ligaments. It has also been shown to have significant benefits in resolving both male and female sexual dysfunction by generating healthier and more functional tissue in the areas of sexual response in the vagina and penis.

The PRP, which contain glycoproteins known as growth factors, is injected with an extremely thin needle directly into the penis or clitoris. This sounds cringe-worthy; however, the entire area is numbed beforehand with a topical cream so the patient feels little to no pain during the injection.

The glycoproteins, also called chemokines and cytokines, stimulate nearby uni-potent stem cells (stem cells that only produce new cells in adjacent tissue), collagen, and blood vessels, which then initiates the production of new tissue in and around the injection sites generating healthier and more functional tissue in the areas of sexual response.

The Aah Shot may be part of a more comprehensive approach to addressing sexual dysfunction that also includes pelvic floor exercises (for both males and females), nutrition modification, hormone evaluation, exercise, and other strategies to help manage stress. It is certainly worth considering to help jump start a lost connection between the sheets.

Dr. Brian Myers is a naturopathic primary care doctor with a focus on family medicine and sexual dysfunction at Live Well Clinic in La Quinta. For more information, go to www.livewellclinic.org or call (760) 771.5970.

References available upon request.