Is Sound Wave Therapy the Orgasm Treatment of the Future?

Unlike FDA-approved medications or the O-Shot, Cliovana is performed externally, and it’s solely designed to enhance female sexual satisfaction. (While the sound wave device Cliovana uses is FDA-approved, the procedure itself is what’s known as off-label.) “We don’t treat a condition,” said Keri Hall, Cliovana’s executive vice president of business development. “It’s for any woman who wants improved sexual satisfaction, orgasm intensity, frequency, and increased arousal levels and lubrication. It’s for any woman who feels as though she’s not completely satisfied.”

The sound wave technology behind Cliovana is relatively well-supported by science for a variety of other uses. It’s been used by urologists to break up kidney stones since the 1970s, and more recently the energy has been directed toward the penis as a potential aid for men dealing with erectile dysfunction. (So far, the clinical trials are promising.) But Cliovana's technique is the first time this sound wave technology has been applied to women’s sexual organs. That may explain why I felt a bit like a lab rat as Oster placed a bell-shaped plastic cup over my clitoral hood—the part we all know about; for about three minutes, a gentle tapping ensued, meant to bring blood flow to the surface and prep the area for treatment. It was an odd sensation, but not painful or uncomfortable.

When she held up a gray rod for the next part of the treatment, I laughed. This penis-shaped, vibrator-looking thing was supposed to be the magic wand: It sounded like a jackhammer—those would be the sound waves—and I felt tiny pricks as Oster moved the wand around the top of my vulva, then along either side, hitting all parts of the clitoris. (For anyone who’s experienced laser hair removal, this was way mellower.)

Finally, she handed me a small device and told me to run it along the areas she’d worked on, and left the room. It vibrated alongside the sound waves, calming the entire vaginal area after all that stimulation. There’s a reason why you do this part of the treatment solo: The short process can induce orgasm. (It did.)

Having an orgasm in a clinical setting is definitely not something I’m used to, but all in all, the quick appointment was less awkward than my annual Pap smear. And let’s be honest, far more pleasurable. I went through the rest of my workday feeling mildly aroused—there are worse ways to spend an afternoon.

So Did It Work?

Of the three sexual health experts I spoke to across the country, none had heard of Cliovana. The procedure has only recently expanded to more locations, including New York City, Atlanta, Houston, San Francisco, and Beverly Hills. All my experts immediately asked to see the data behind it.

The problem: That data doesn’t exist—at least not publicly. Cliovana has completed a clinical trial, according to Hall, but it has yet to be published, so she couldn’t share any of the data. “We know that it works based on this research,” she said. “This [sound wave technology] works in the male genitalia by increasing blood flow. The female genitalia has thousands more nerve endings than the male.”