The Fundamentals of Sex

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Listen carefully. That faint buzzing you hear just might be the woman—or couple—next door enjoying one or more vibrators. Today, more than half of adult American women own at least one. Only a fraction of couples include them in partner lovemaking, but that fraction is growing.

Vibrators do more than help women have orgasms. A recent study shows that it also improves users’ sexual and mental health. Los Angeles researchers recruited 53 cisgender women aged 19 to 80, with an average age of 55, who consulted at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. The researchers used standard questionnaires to assess the women’s sexual health and function. Then the researchers gave participants small “bullet” multi-speed vibrators and instructed them to apply them to their vulvas for five to 10 minutes, two to three times a week for three months, at which point the researchers re-assessed them.

Their sexual function, that is, their responsiveness to genital play, improved (p = 0.002). Their sexual pain scores decreased (p = 0.0008). In older women, vaginal atrophy, painful thinning of the vaginal lining, also decreased (p = 0.018). And those who were depressed at the start of the study experienced relief (p = 0.011). The researchers concluded: “Vibrator use was associated with improved sexual, genitourinary, and mental health.”

Increasingly Popular Among Women

Indiana University researchers surveyed a representative sample of 3,800 adult American women. More than half (53 percent) owned at least one vibrator (lifetime use). Three-quarters agreed that vibrators:

Are a healthy part of women’s........

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