Sound waves can be used as alternative to medicines like Viagra, which are prescribed to treat erectile dysfunction (ED), reports the Daily Mail. Extra-corporeal shock wave therapy, or ESWT, shocks the penis with low intensity waves of sound, according to Science Alert. The treatment seems to work by encouraging the growth of new blood vessels which increases blood flow that helps with achieving an erection.
A study of the technique utilized 12 men suffering from erectile dysfunction. Half of the men received the sound treatment and the other half were given placebos.
Nine percent of the men who were give the placebos were able to have penetrative sex at the end of the study, but a whopping 57 percent of the men given the ESWT treatment were able to achieve an erection to have penetrative sex.
Although the treatment seems like a safer alternative to the usual medications and their side effects, treatment protocols need to be standardized before widespread treatment can begin.
The study was published in the Scandinavian Journal of Urology.
