This Device Hopes to Treat ED Without Any Little Blue Pills

I’m a big advocate for sexual health. Everyone deserves a healthy, happy sex life if they choose to. But for some men, this might be a difficult area. According to the National Institutes of Health, it’s estimated that “at least 30 to 50 million men in the US and at least 150 million men globally have ED.” And while this tends to happen to men in the age range of 40-70, there are increasing cases of men younger than 40. A blog post on Psychology Today cites a 2013 study in The Journal of Sexual Medicine, which states that 26% of men in the younger age range are experiencing ED. Another study from the Translational Andrology and Urology journal digs even deeper, with “8 percent of men between the ages of 20 and 29, and 11 percent of males ages 30 to 39, hav[ing] some form of ED.”

Typically, the world would shrug and say, go take one of those “little blue pills” and go about their way. But about men who want a drug-free solution for whatever reason? For them, the solution might be the Vertica. Created by Ohh-Med Medical Ltd., a company specializing in men’s health solutions, the Vertica is an at-home device designed to stimulate the tissue dealing with maintaining an erection called the tunica albuginea. The Vertica works to strengthen and tone up the collagen-rich tunica, which helps keep the blood in an erection. Think of it as one of those red light face collagen masks but for your nether regions.

And just like those face masks, the Vertica doesn’t come cheap. By itself, preordering the device costs $1,333 (£1,020) or $1,667 (£1,275) after. But if you get the Vertica Plus preorder, which has app compatibility, it costs $1,667 (£1,275). Sans preorder, you’ll pay $1,961.

To use the Vertica, you’ll need to place your penis through the hole while resting the device on your crotch. There’s an additional piece that wraps around to connect with the perineum. Once you’re comfortably in the device, hit the button, and gentle waves of heat via RF energy will be generated, which the company says will help firm up that collagen. The Vertica treats both the visible portion of the penis as well as the interior portion, hence the need for the perineum attachment.

Ohh-Med says that, in addition to helping shore up collagen, the device also helps with blood vessel regrowth and vasodilation, which is essentially widening blood vessels. That means more blood and oxygen will go into the organ, which is the desired effect. Ohh-Med told Gizmodo that some men have reported correction in abnormal curvature when using the product. To date, Ohh-Med reports an 80% success rate with ED.

To start, Ohh-Med recommends using the Vertica three times a week for 15 minutes during the first month. From there, you can use it twice a week to maintain results. While Vertica has obtained the European CE MDR (Medical Device Regulation) certification, it’s yet to receive FDA clearance. However, it’s currently going through trials in the U.S. and hopes to get the green light from the FDA sometime in 2025.