For some men, the answer to their sexual health woes is already within them. It just needs to be drawn out, filtered and then injected into the head and shaft of their penis once a year.
This practice is the basis of the Priapus Shot or P-Shot, a procedure being performed in medspas and plastic surgery offices nationwide said to enhance not only sexual ability and pleasure, but penis length and girth, too. According to Tobi Baker-Daigle, RN and Christine McMackin, MSN, co-owners of New England Skin Center and certified practitioners of the P-Shot, it’s not as wild as it seems. In fact, it’s just an extension of stem-cell and plasma therapies that have long been in place.
“Stem-cell therapy, working with growth factors, working with stem cells has been around for a long time,” Baker-Daigle tells me. “Every different modality of medicine, from orthopedic to rheumatologists, all use stem cells for that regenerative property that they have, that ability to regrow new, healthy tissue.”
The technique of using stem cells for sexual health is also the premise of the O-Shot, a procedure that’s been discussed in women’s media for years. “Just like the O-Shot uses your own plasma and your own growth factors and stem cells, the P-Shot does as well. So if you’re a man and you have decreased sensation or pleasure during sex, if you have an inability to become as hard as you used to, if you can’t maintain firmness and your erection, or you have a noticeable decrease in size, these are all part of the normal aging process. The P-Shot works for any of these,” McMackin explains.
According to McMackin, the procedure is relatively quick to perform, taking only around 20 minutes. The genital region is numbed, and blood is drawn from the patient’s arm. The blood is then filtered, with the plasma separated. Next, this plasma is injected into the shaft and head of the penis. While you might not see full results for two to three months, you’re able to go home and have sex right away. Typically, McMackin and Baker-Daigle recommend receiving two shots, about a month apart, and having the procedure done annually. It costs around $1,200 per treatment.
“How it works is, your stem cells and your growth factors, they help to stimulate blood flow to the area and help to stimulate new healthy tissue, new collagen, and help to stimulate the fibroblasts [a type of cell found in connective tissue to aid in healing] to increase the cellular matrix,” says Baker-Daigle. “So it improves the collagen, the elastin of the general area and makes the tissue healthier and stronger, or more resilient, more vibrant, more youthful.”
This new tissue allegedly translates to a thicker, potentially longer penis, but also a better ability to maintain erections and a heightened sensitivity. Baker-Daigle and McMackin say that they commonly perform the procedure on men in their 40s and 50s who are experiencing new sexual symptoms that come with aging, as well as side effects of heart problems or blood pressure medications.
But since problems with sexual function can impact anyone, the P-Shot could be a viable option for men of all ages. Side effects from antidepressants are one common cause for wanting the P-Shot that can particularly impact younger men, says Baker-Daigle. Because you’re using your own blood plasma, there are few safety risks to the procedure, so long as you see someone certified to perform it.
“A lot of men learn about our procedures from their wives or significant others. We have a lot of women who come in for various different aesthetic and beauty services, as well as the O-Shot,” says McMackin. “They’ll start referring their husbands for simple things like a facial and then once we see the husband, we start talking to them about the other things that we offer — it’s sort of a natural dialogue.”
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While some of their clients do indeed just Google the procedure and come across their practice, McMackin and Baker-Daigle believe that referrals from their partners help men overcome some of the reservations and anxieties they have about treating their sexual health. “The idea of a man’s masculinity is completely tied up in his penis and in his sexual virility,” says Baker-Daigle. “I don’t think you’re going to find many men who are going to say, ‘Yes, I have erectile dysfunction.’ Hopefully, we can get to a place where masculinity has a much broader definition than just how great your penis is.”
In the meantime, though, the P-Shot might be a decent solution to problems with sexual dysfunction. And as Baker-Daigle and McMackin assert, both the O- and P-Shots could provide a boost to those without problems, too.
Regardless, you’ll want to overcome any squeamishness about blood and needles — especially when your genitals are involved.
Magdalene Taylor
Magdalene Taylor is a staff writer at MEL. She covers internet culture, sex and the online adult industry. She lives in Brooklyn but is from God's Country, Western Massachusetts.
