Microsoft word - viacreme 9-5-01.htm

Come closer, girlfriend, I've got a bit of gossip that could change your life. Your sex life, that is. Here's what I learned at a gathering of women in a College St. restaurant recently. If you aren't orgasmic, you could be. If you are, well, your orgasms could be lovelier and more luscious. At least that's what Toronto distributors of a new orgasm ointment called Viacreme told the 30 or so women (and a few men) who showed up at Giovanna Trattoria. The product, which has been available in the United States since last January, has been trickling into Canada over the past few weeks. "I've been giving it to every woman I know to try and they've all said, `Ohmigod! It really works,'" said Beejay Farfanick, one of the ointment's local distributors. The ointment costs $20 and comes in a tiny tube with about four applications per tube. Not everyone is as enamoured of the product as its distributors claim, though. Sex therapist Mickey Burns and boyfriend Scott Robbins Dot Whitehouse, who went so far as to try the product, said in an interview she couldn't get to the shower fast enough to wash it off. "It wasn't a pleasant sensation," she said, explaining that it caused swelling in her genital area the first time she tried it. Following the instructions on the product, which advise trying it a few times before expecting a result, Whitehouse applied it again, and found that it didn't have a positive effect on her ability to become aroused or have an orgasm. She's heard from two clients who have tried it, she adds. One reported that it had no effect, the other said it caused her to have an orgasm more quickly. She wouldn't advise clients not to try it, she says, because she thinks there's a chance some women may find it helps them, but she doubts that it can live up to its claims. "It's promising an awful lot, and I don't understand how it can help a woman who isn't able to have orgasms. If she feels she's ugly, or she feels she smells, or she feels she's no good in bed, how is this going to help her?" The women touting Viacreme at the restaurant gathering say it might not be the answer for everyone but it will help a lot of women have a better time in bed. "It's kind of the same science as Viagra," said Farfanick, but because the active ingredients in the clear gel — menthol and an amino acid called L-arginine — are not controlled substances, the cream is available without a prescription. (Also, Viagra is ingested, while Viacreme is applied externally.) An information packet that comes with the product explains that when a pea-sized amount of the gel is applied to the clitoral area, tissue surfaces are stimulated, resulting in increased blood flow and dilation of the blood vessels. That apparently translates into a firmer clitoral erection. "It's a more intense experience for most women," said Mickey Burns, another of the product's local distributors. Burns has been using it for about two months. "I had no complaints before, trust me," Burns told the gathering, which ranged in age from early 20s to late 50s. "The first time I tried (Viacreme), nothing. The second time, not bad. But the third time —and I'm not usually a screamer — I screamed . It was involuntary." Burns explained that between two and six applications of the cream are required before a woman begins to feel its full effect. And the application must be exact. `The first time I tried (Viacreme), nothing.
The second time, not bad. But the third
time . . . I screamed'
"I had to get my boyfriend to put on his glasses," she said, explaining that the cream should be applied to the underside of the clitoris so that the active ingredients can pass through a mucus membrane located there. (Don't worry guys. It comes with a diagram.) Of course, stimulation is still required, and the cream affects every woman differently. "If you're healthy and orgasmic, this product really can create a more intense orgasm. But if you are menopausal, post-menopausal or have health problems, you might not get as much effect as quickly," said Burns, adding that some drugs, including the birth control pill, can also decrease a woman's libido. Viacreme was invented by American doctor Ron Thompson and is manufactured in the U.S. by Lexxus International and marketed through independent distributors such as Farfanick and Burns. As well as the mainland U.S. and Canada, the cream is available in Puerto Rico, New Zealand and Australia. According to distributors at the Toronto event, Lexxus expects to launch the cream in 22 more countries in the next year and have a million distributors in place. "I'm sitting on a gold mine," Farfanick said after his presentation. "Women are what, 54 per cent of the population? And they've been totally ignored." In fact, in the several years since the prescription drug for men, Viagra, came on the market, women have been clamouring for attention. When the U.S.-based pharmaceutical company Pfizer launched Viagra in the spring of 1998, some women tried popping the pill to see if had the same effect on them as it did on their men — essentially, unstoppable arousal. But early studies on women who have taken Viagra suggest that they may be even more prone to the drug's potentially dangerous side effects than men. In the last few years, several companies have been marketing products containing L-arginine, a sexual enhancer, in both topical and oral applications, They're available by mail order and go by names such as Libido Blast, Dream Cream, Lady-Vi, Via Max, Argin-Max, Vivace and Natural Sensations. All make similar claims. L-arginine's efficacy as a sexual enhancer is supported by a clinical study, which was published in the Journal Of The American Medical Association. In the double-blind study, women with sexual dysfunction were placed on a four-week course of the oral L-arginine supplement Argin-Max or on a placebo. At the end of the study, 76 per cent of the participants who took Argin-Max reported increased sexual desire, compared to 38 per cent in the placebo group. Fifty-two per cent in the active group said they had more frequent orgasms, compared to 25 per cent in the placebo group. There were no reported side effects. And menthol has its fans as a sexual stimulant for women. On the Internet, aficionados of sadomasochistic sex mention it more than once, and it's suggested as something to try during oral sex (sucking on a menthol candy, for example), for an icy-hot sensation. Viacreme's detractors include sex therapist Judith Golden, who says she won't recommend the product to her clients. Though she admits that some women might find that the lotion enhances the sexual experience, she feels it is too expensive. And she says she's been put off by the aggressive marketing techniques used by its distributors. Golden says she's been contacted by at least 12 agents who want her sell it to her clients or sign her up as a distributor. Golden says she'll stick with the more traditional methods of helping women who have orgasm anxiety — dealing with the psychological issue of not being able to "let go" and teaching masturbation techniques. Neither will sex therapist Joan Marsman suggest Viacreme to her clients. "I don't think there's any quick fix for the problem," she says. "I wouldn't want women to think this was a quick fix. Your connection to your sexuality is emotional and mental as well as physical." `The . . . reason women don't have
orgasms is because men don't put the time
in'
Like Golden, Marsman says she takes a more holistic approach to helping women achieve orgasm. (She runs a twice-yearly workshop on the subject called Awakening Your Sexual Self. For information, call 416-766-8982.) Other sceptics of Viacreme include men, at least judging by the reaction of the few who showed up for the presentation at Giovanna Trattoria. One left the room before the end, and the other had a few challenging questions for Burns and Farfanick. "You're saying that once a woman tries it, she won't wanna go back?" asked a 37-year-old man, who later identified himself as Ali. "Doesn't a woman give up part of her sexuality by saying: `Without it, I'm nothing?' Once you give it up, then what?" "Well, it's kind of like toast dry, or toast with butter," replied Burns. Sometimes, she said, she and her partner have sex without Viacreme and the orgasms are fine, just not as spectacular as they are with it. "For me, when I use the cream, (the orgasm) isn't as centralized. It goes all the way down to my ankles (and into my arms). The build is very intense, and that point where you're on the precipice of having an orgasm lasts longer." Burns' says the cream doesn't threaten her partner. In fact, she says, he's also a distributor. But she often finds that men resist, even after they hear that the cream has no taste and doesn't directly affect their sexual experience. There was certainly no convincing Ali, who shared conversation and chocolate martinis with a group of women after the presentation. "Personally, I'd feel weird that a woman may need a tool," he said. "Isn't what I do enough? I would feel like I was doing something wrong if she needed it." Viagra is different, he insisted, because men take it with the intention of pleasing a woman. (Yeah, right.) The reaction among women at the gathering was mixed. "I'm open to trying it," said Lina, a 29-year-old who's just about to get married. "I'm very excited to be taking it on my honeymoon," she said. And Adrienne, a 40-year-old travel consultant, was also excited about giving the cream a try, but pointed out that it doesn't mean a man can stop doing his part. "The biggest reason women don't have orgasms is because men don't put the time in," she said, speculating that some men might see Viacreme as an excuse to not bother with foreplay. "I don't know if I'd be willing to try it," said Connie, a 37-year-old hairstylist. "Right now I guess I don't need it. And what kind of effect does it have over the long term?" Farfanick and Burns assured the women that the cream, which does not require approval by Health Canada because it makes no medical or health claims in its packaging or literature, was tested for two years in the U.S. with the help of obstetric and emergency room nurses. There were no reported side effects, although the cream can cause an uncomfortable burning sensation in women who are unaware they have chlamydia or a yeast infection. Women with a history of herpes should also avoid L-arginine products. Health Canada is investigating Lexxus. Farfanick and Burns say it has to do with whether the company is making therapeutic claims, which would mean that it would require approval by Health Canada. For more information about Viacreme, call Farfanick's toll-free phone message at 877-434-2201, click on . Legal Notice:- Copyright 1996-2001. Toronto Star Newspapers Limited. All rights reserved. Distribution, transmission or
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