Digital Therapy and Sex Supplements Trend Up in Sexual Wellness

More brands also taking on menopause, for better and for worse.

As part of our ongoing Future of Sex Expert series, Dominnique Karetsos, CEO of The Healthy Pleasure Group gives her insights on the sexual wellness trends we'll see in 2022.

Menopause

Menopause is fast becoming an accessible and acceptable topic of discussion, as a glut of brands have begun creating products that attempt to address menopausal symptoms.

However, there’s a lack of education around why someone would need to use any of these products. Brands can’t simply slap on a menopause label; they have to solve unmet needs with honest solutions.

If a brand offers you 20+ products to consume in one day to target the symptoms of menopause, it’s not necessary nor is it sustainable. While trying to normalise conversations around menopause, what brands are actually doing is scaremongering women into thinking they will need hundreds of products when entering this stage of their lives.

Thankfully, on the flip side, there are some great brands whose offerings are specifically tailored to this time in our lives. 2022 will see the rise of brands like Gennev, Tabu, and Womaness that put education at the forefront of their approach.

Supplements

Whether it is MYHIXEL Max treating premature ejaculation, mainstream retailers like Hollard & Barratt adding supplements to its Sexual Health shelves, to YourSuper.com Moon balance that aims to balance our hormone during our varied life cycles; we have seen a huge increase in supplements that are scientifically proven to help us through various sexual health symptoms and issues that we can face during our lives.

There’s a growing acceptance and acknowledgment that what we put into our mouth can affect our sexual health.

However, we have to be mindful that no supplement is a complete solution. We have to consider our sexual health and wellness from the inside out and no single product is a solution for your entire sexual health. Supplements can be just one tool in your armory towards your holistic sexual wellness.

Male grooming moving into sexual health

In 2021 we saw the popularity of a lot of intimate male grooming devices like SmoothNuts and Manscaped. Just as we predicted with the beauty industry welcoming sexual wellness into its offering, as we move into 2022 we will see this extend into new conversations around sexual wellness beyond grooming.

The success of male sexual wellness brands like Champ, Hims, and Numan has given male grooming brands the confidence to play in the space from beard to boner!

Sex education goes mainstream

From SexLove and Goop on Netflix, Emily Morse teaching Sex and Communication on Masterclass to Davina McCall Sex Myths & Menopause on Channel 4, mainstream channels have extended the invitation for exploration around alternative sexual therapies.

For too long the focus of conversations about sex in mainstream media have been around how to be more attractive, how not to lose a man (even saying this makes my blood boil!). Thankfully now and into 2022, sex is going mainstream as the media is finally having honest, raw conversations about why we should make our sexual wellness a priority.

Sex on the high street

How we shop is radically changing, but the way we shop for sexual wellness is lagging behind. Everything is still online, it’s the equivalent of putting our top-shelf magazines in brown paper bags! Retailers don’t know how to shape the in-store experience or are scared to do so.

The tampon aisle is still segregated from lubricants, menopause products are only tackled in the beauty shelves, you still have to ask for thrush creams at the counter, and condoms are jammed in a corner with few options other than the obvious players that have monopolised our emergency stash. Things are changing, slowly.

We’re seeing sexual health offerings expand beyond pharmacies like Boots into high street and fashion, from Urban Outfitters to Bloomingdales. However, as I said, much of their products are available online only. As a customer, you want to be able to see, touch, and understand the products you’re buying. I want retailers in 2022 to go beyond taking the temperature of sexual wellness – the demand is there; we need 100% of their commitment!

Making the medical, accessible

In 2022 we will see new innovations in sexual health that had previously been hard to get your hands on without a trip to the doctor became available to pick up off the shelf. Sexual wellness solutions like Milli, a vaginal dilator to help treat relieve the symptoms of vaginismus, are taking products traditionally only offered by doctors and giving people the power to choose their treatments

Digital therapies

We can’t ignore that COVID has encouraged more brands to invest in telehealth (or digital healthcare) over and above their standard products. The likes of Numan for Erectile Dysfunction and Premature Ejaculation or hims & hers are offering online healthcare around typically taboo medical topics.

Though this is a fantastic step forwards, we’re not seeing the same scale and speed in telehealth for our sexual wellness that we’re seeing in other areas of our health and wellbeing.

Over 2022, I hope and believe that we will see the evolution of sexual digital healthcare via subscriptions that talk to us at every stage of our lives, whether it’s speaking to pre-teens about their menstrual cycle or to menopausal women about how to deal with their symptoms.