Maybe those essential oils can actually improve female sexual arousal — if only via the placebo effect. Researchers “found that opening a new line of communication about sex can have a positive effect in many women with low libidos.” Whoa!
This is all defining the placebo effect broadly — women in the clinical trial analyzed by Texas researchers weren’t just taking a placebo. They were also given “tasks,” which included “talking to doctors about sex, being encouraged to have more sex and spend more time in the bedroom, and also writing down their feelings about sex.” They were fifty women, about ages 35-55, in a 12-week study, all of whom had reported some degree of “low sexual desire, low sexual arousal and problems with orgasm.”
The women also “reported they received more stimulation during sexual activity while they participated in the trial, even though their partners were not given any special instructions.” Presumably their partners knew they were participating in the study and decided to step up their game while the subject was being broached. And possibly the women had drawn confidence from the conversations they were having and the prospect of a medical solution to their woes, empowering them to be more direct about what they wanted.
“In the quest to find a medical solution or a magic bullet for women’s sexual problems, we may have overlooked some of the basics,” one of the study’s authors told ABC News. Indeed. And while it’s not the cure to everything, how embarrassing that the message that you should communicate openly with your partner about sex is still breaking news.
Placebo Effect Significantly Improves Women’s Sexual Satisfaction, Study Shows [UTexas News]
Sex Pill Surprise: Women On Placebo Improved [ABC News]
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