Vibrators have always been sold as personal-care devices, since their invention in the late 1800's, as a medical aid to help relax and calm women. You can pick up any number of large wand vibrators -- made by companies like Dr. Scholl's and Hitachi -- at your neighborhood drugstore or supermarket. Of course, nothing on the packaging suggests that they be used as a sexual devise. But last month, Trojan penetrated the mainstream market with a disposable vibrating cock ring, available in condom aisles across the country, from Wal-Mart to Walgreens. The ring comes with a condom and is part of Trojan's Elexa product line, which also includes "freshening wipes" and lube, all targeted toward the female market. The Elexa is not the only disposable vibrating cock ring on the market. The "Pleasuring" disposable has been available for a while now, and vibrating cock rings are old news to sex toy enthusiasts. But Trojan is to condoms as Kleenex is to facial tissue, and it's the "Elexa" that has brought these devices to mainstream attention. If "O", The Oprah Magazine can recommend it, it's got to be good, right?
So I bought four, and I recruited some volunteers to help me take the rings for a test drive. The ring that goes around the penis is no thicker than a woman's wedding band. It's soft and stretchy, not so small as to constrict, nor so big as to slip off. The vibrating part goes on the top of the shaft, at the base of the penis, just in front of the rim of the condom if you're using one. Not to worry, it comes with full illustrated instructions. One male friend, who wondered how the Elexa would compare with "similar devices that you can't get in supermarkets," praised the discreet form factor and the convenience of the one-time-use design. "It's not as powerful as (non-disposable vibrating cock rings), but it's certainly less intrusive," he reported. "For people who haven't used something like this before, it's a good place to start. If you don't like it, you can just throw it away, instead of having this dirty little secret in a drawer somewhere."
A girlfriend echoed his sentiments, pointing out that the gentler vibrations work well for post-orgasm stimulation, should her lover climax before she does -- or if she simply wants more. "At some point I noticed it was losing some juice, although it was still pretty vibratey," she said. Then she laughed self-consciously. "But I can't remember when exactly that was."
I approached the experiment with some trepidation. I kept imagining the little battery cylinder banging into me during sex, and I wondered if the vibrations would be overpowering or numbing for either of us. I am happy to say that "Trojan chose its materials well. The vibrator yields, even if you grind yourselves together, and the ring did not get in the way of deep thrusting. It also turns the entire penis into an intimate massager. I could feel him vibrating slightly deep inside, not just on my clit or labia". We tried several positions, We liked it best in cowgirl, which allows the woman to control the pressure and duration of direct contact with the vibrator. All of my volunteers laughed at the discovery that the Elexa ring has an off switch. The advertising stresses that the vibrations last for about 20 minutes and that the device is for one-time use only, so none of us expected to be able to turn it off once it got started.
At about $9 a pop, disposable vibrating rings are comparable to one dose of Viagra. Women with low libidos might want to check out a device like the Elexa as a temporary measure. These devices won't increase your libido -- but if you can make yourself get started, you might find that you're more into the sex than you expect.
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