Since the dawn of time — er, at least since the dawn of Big Pharma — countless conditions have been medicalized in order for companies to turn a profit. One such example is female sexual dysfunction — think low sexual desire, difficulty in achieving orgasm, pain during sex — which has, in recent years, driven “solutions” like “female Viagra” and even MDMA-assisted psychotherapy. These kinds of offerings — the former in particular — aren’t particularly effective, most notably because orgasmic difficulties and low sexual desire are issues too nuanced to be solved with a magic pill alone.
Nevertheless, hopeful companies continue to spring up, looking to achieve their own runaway success in the burgeoning market of sexual dysfunction treatments for women. These brands often position themselves as really, really interested in starting a female pleasure revolution, but, even if that’s true, they’re often not based in much science.
Cliovana — a 2020-launched venture that purports to offer women a “non-invasive, pain-free treatment designed to help with painful sex, lubrication and improved orgasm frequency and intensity” — arguably falls into this category. The procedure involves using soundwave technology to encourage the creation of new blood vessels, improving blood flow to the clitoris and, in turn, increasing sensitivity and “long-term sexual responsiveness.”
Although sound-wave treatment for sexual dysfunction isn’t new — therapies like GAINSwave have become increasingly popular for erectile dysfunction in the last decade — Cliovana claims to be the first company to develop this technology for women’s sexual health. More specifically, the treatment was invented by Robert Gordon, a Toronto-based surgeon and the former president of the International Society for Medical Shockwave, who, according to Cliovana’s CEO Greg MacDonald, “developed it from scratch.”
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