An over-the-counter gel that increases blood flow is being touted as a new alternative to Viagra and other erectile dysfunction pills.
Eroxon MED3000 gel is claimed to work in less than ten minutes by creating a cooling and warming sensation while relaxing the smooth muscle tissue inside the penis.
Up to 60 percent of men who tried it found it successful in clinical trials.
However, others say the trials were inconclusive and that men who suffer from erectile dysfunction should always consult a doctor as it can be a sign of heart disease.
Erectile dysfunction is a common condition and some men cannot take medications like Viagra.
Eroxon gel is claimed to work within ten minutes of application.
Many men cannot use erectile dysfunction drugs like Viagra for health reasons or because it does not work for them.
Up to half of patients are thought to stop using pills within a year, and many other men are too embarrassed to seek medical treatment.
Dr. Wayne Hellstrom of Tulane Medical School in New Orleans, a former adviser to the makers of MED3000, said he expects the product to become “a potential first-line therapy” for men.
The product is now available in UK pharmacies and costs around £25 for a pack of four single-use tubes.
It was also approved by the US Food and Drug Administration in June 2023 and is expected to go on sale there next year.
Its manufacturer, Futura, said the gel contains a combination of solvents that, when applied to the head of the penis, evaporate rapidly, stimulating nerve endings through an initial cooling effect followed by a warming sensation.
This reaction, they claim, releases nitric oxide, relaxing the smooth muscle tissue inside the penis and increasing the blood flow needed to achieve an erection.
A report published in the Journal of Urology analyzed two studies of 250 men with erectile dysfunction.
In one, men used MED3000 and in the other they used 5 mg gel or tablets of tadalafil, an erectile dysfunction drug sold as Cialis.
Erections were achieved in less than 10 minutes in 60 percent of men in the MED3000 group and approximately 45 percent of those in the tadalafil group.
Overall, less than two percent of men using MED3000 and four percent of those taking the pills reported side effects.
These included headaches, mainly among the tadalafil group, and a burning sensation in the penis in some who used the gel.
However, Dr. Kevin McVary, a professor of urology at the Stritch School of Medicine near Chicago, criticized the study, saying he did not believe MED3000 had been shown to be beneficial.
He said, “Do you expect Cialis to kick in within 10 minutes? Because it doesn’t.”
“It is not absorbed into the bloodstream until about two and a half hours.”
He added that men with erectile dysfunction will likely do anything to avoid seeing a doctor for their condition, which could make MED3000 highly marketable.
But he cautioned that erectile dysfunction can be a sign of undetected heart problems, particularly in younger men.
“It can function as the classic canary in a coal mine that tells you who is at risk of unexpected premature death,” he said.
Futura previously created a different treatment for erectile dysfunction called MED2005, which contained nitroglycerin, a drug that works by dilating small blood vessels.
The company conducted clinical trials in which half of the patients were given the real drug and the other half a dummy treatment or placebo.
Almost half of the men who used the real MED2005 achieved an erection within 10 minutes.
But this was only marginally better than the 38 percent who reported that the placebo treatment (which contained no nitroglycerin or any compound expected to have a pharmacological effect) worked.
MED2005 also caused side effects, including headaches and visual disturbances.
After this, Futura decided to launch the placebo cream, labeling it as MED3000.
Critics have suggested that this is the first time a company has deliberately marketed a placebo and that the benefits are largely psychological.