Put a Ring On It: One Toy That Changes Sex for Men

By Elliot Justin, MD, and Judson Brandeis, MD.

Beyond “rock hard,” there is “cock ring hard.” Nothing can get a man harder than an effective cock ring. The most skilled fingers, mouths, vaginas, and anuses can’t trap blood in the penis like a good ring can. The maximum amount of blood, the harder and more sensitive the erection. But only 10% of straight men who have sex regularly use them. Gay men are smarter about this, for them it’s 90%. But they complain about their discomfort and that they can’t be used for long sex sessions.

It’s time to destigmatize cock rings and to get all men to put a ring on it to maximize their performance and pleasure and prevent erections fading from distraction, anxiety, fatigue, alcohol, side effects of medications — even screaming children or mother-in-laws in the same house. What goes up should not have to come down too quickly!

The big problem with cock rings is that they have been made without imagination to function like a gasket on a pipe or a noose on a neck. For 150 years, cock rings have been O rings made from durable silicon. Because the O rings choke off the flow of blood into the penis, you must be hard first for them to work. So, you can’t put them on before sex when you are soft. You must interrupt sex play and stretch out the taut silicone and pull it down your shaft, where it is as comfortable as a tight rubber band. Because the O Ring cuts off the arterial blood flow, you can only wear it for 20 or 30 minutes, lest you hurt your favorite body part. Finally, after you ejaculate, you must disrupt intimacy because it is so uncomfortable that you need to have it off right away.

Let’s imagine the ideal cock ring:

1. Instead of a solid ring, a ring that opens and closes, ideally over the base of the balls as well as the shaft of the penis. The balls need attention, too, and get more sensitive when blood is retained during sex.
2. Soft elastomer material rather than harder silicone.
3. Doctor designed to only constrain the venous returns and not block arterial flow into the penis. No more chokehold! Finally, a ring that can be worn for long sex sessions.
4. A ring that puts just the right amount of pressure over the urethra to draw out ejaculation and produce a more intense, longer lasting orgasm!
5. A ring that keeps men comfortably hard for minutes after climax, for a longer after glow, longer intimacy with partners, maybe a second round.

Let’s get cock rings out of the closet and into the mainstream. Too many straight men are unfamiliar with cock rings. Straight guys commonly say, “I don’t need it.” We must educate all men that cock rings can give them better performance and orgasms. It’s not a question of need or pride, but rather one of want.

Research by sextech company FirmTech demonstrates that rings can keep all men, not just men with ED, harder than pills like Viagra and Cialis, alone. The hardest, longest erections result from both in combination. Pills put blood in, rings keep it there.

For the best sex and happiest relationships in the early 21st century, put a ring on it! No more fading erections, men. And you can also add a PDE5 medication, if prescribed by your doctor, to your ring experience.