Q. At my 40th high school reunion, we indulged in some “girl talk.” My dear friend told us about arginine cream. She got a prescription for this to improve her sexual response and swears it is working well. The instructions are to apply it to the clitoris about 20 minutes before sexual activity.
Is this too good to be true? I’d like to get good information on this compound and I hope you can help.
A. L-arginine is an amino acid found in many foods. It is a building block for nitric oxide, a powerful natural vasodilator.
When L-arginine cream is applied to the feet of people with diabetes, it appears to improve blood flow and temperature (Diabetes Care, Jan. 2004). We could find no published research on the effectiveness of L-arginine cream for female sexual dissatisfaction, but a clinical trial is pending.
