Sex doesn’t need to be exotic or dangerous to be interesting, and it can certainly spice up your love life—so how far are you willing to go to get off?
The Ainscow Hotel spa in Manchester, England is offering a new service called “love mist” that’s taking off in the United Kingdom. It involves a relaxation therapist spraying a mist of liquid nitrogen onto your private parts. The vapor is rated to be as cold as -256 °F (-160 °C).
Cryotherapy UK, the company that concocted the procedure, offers a snake oil sales pitch that claims the procedure boosts endorphin levels and sex drive. With no scientific backing, it’s kind of like drinking soup made of tiger genitals and expecting results. The 30-minute procedure is touted to work on both men and women, and costs as little as £50 ($62).
They claim: “when the sub-zero temperature covers the skin, the sudden drop in heat stimulates the temperature receptors” and improve your sex drive, per The Sun.
“While the skin continues to feel the ‘freeze’ the body sends signals back and forth to the brain,” the spa claims. “These messengers tell the brain if there is damage to the tissues, to repair them.”
“It’s this that along with the instant endorphin level energy boost and natural high, generates a tighter, youthful, clear and vibrant genital skin appearance through boosting collagen.”
The procedure causes blood vessels to undergo “vasoconstriction.” It’s what happens when your blood vessels are constricted and your blood pressure increases, and is usually caused by exposure to extreme cold. Consumption of a variety of narcotic substances, including caffeine, cocaine and amphetamines can cause the body to have the same reaction.
Contrary to the spa’s claims that it can increase your sex drive, you may get the exact opposite result: vasoconstriction is a contributing factor to erectile dysfunction. The process may temporarily generate a natural high, but it doesn’t carry any sexual benefits.
Additionally, OB/GYN Dr. Jen Gunter states that freezing your genitals with liquid nitrogen will induce cryonecrosis. It’s as bad as it sounds—it’s frostbite. The process damages skin tissue, deadens nerve cells, and induces pain. Don’t do this.
Ian Miles Cheong is a journalist and outspoken media critic. You can reach him through social media at @stillgray on Twitter and on Facebook.
