These days (and even from time past) we see them hawking it in bottles, different types, various constituents, diverse diluents especially at spots where we have predominantly male folk as well as areas of ‘activity’.
They carry cars with megaphone attached speaking different languages showing various pictures all to entice and convince their unsuspecting potential customers.
Technological advancement has also affected the market positively as they now come in ‘tush’ forms,well bottled and sometimes as capsules.
A friend once asked me what I feel about Afrodisiacs and my answer was very simple ‘it can be helpful but it can be dangerous’. The question then is ‘Do you need help?’ If yes, how much help? The next question is ‘at what level is it dangerous?’
All these questions put together make me feel one is perhaps safer without them.
You may not quite agree with me,but wait till you read about this our 32 year old young man and I bet you’ll stone the next ‘jedi’ seller in your hood.
He came into the Emergency room clad in ‘agbada’, I was going to ask if he thought he was going for a social function in the hospital. He didn’t even wait for me to ask, he simply pulled up the agbada for me to see the erect ‘rod’ underneath. In a low tone, he said ‘Doctor,it has been like this for 16 days’!
As a physician, the responsibility is on me to hold back(or at least pretend to be holding it back) my emotion-in this case utter surprise!
As a man, I asked him to cover it up quickly (if only to preserve the dignity of manhood) then I adjusted my chair properly to listen to his history.
Our Superman is a young traditional healer (Babalawo) a profession he inherited from his father. He recently took up a new wife who he said was always complaining about his sub optimal performance in bed. As a custodian of authentic herbs and shrubs,he felt insulted and then came up with a very powerful afrodisiac concoction.
Even his father,who doubles as his teacher and mentor attested to the fact that the son used thrice the normal dose of the Afrodisiac.
“Physician,heal thyself” so the saying goes. He battled with a persistently erect straight ‘rod’ for 16 days but when things didn’t get any better,he had to seek for intervention the ‘oyinbo’ way.
This condition is medically known as Priapism and the teaching is that it is caused by failure of blood to return properly in penile circulation. This may be due to obstruction within the penile blood vessels usually with blood clots.
The solution is therefore simple, get the circulation back to normal and everything will be fine. This procedure is called Shunting.
Simple as this procedure is,it is not without its attendant risks and likely complication,commonest of which is Impotence.
Isn’t it then amazing that the solution to ‘extra super potency’ could lead to impotence? Rebound effect right? That is it!
We took this our Superman for the procedure, however, 24 hours later, things have not yet come to normal. We had no choice than to further take him in for another round of the procedure which further heightens the risk of impotence in this young man just in his early thirties.
The bewildered new wife (who I suspect to be in her mid twenties) once worked to me and whispered ‘Doctor, is it going to be like that forever?’ I smiled back and simply replied ‘Madam, we will try our best’. As much as I would have loved to say more than that, the ethics of my profession would not permit me.
She wanted a Superman,she got a Superman but I’m afraid he might have now become a sub-man(if there’s a word as such) or even a woman- feminisation sort of.
I actually don’t blame the poor woman, she just wanted to be satisfied. I only expect the man to have been more reasonable in his attempt to satisfy her at all cost.
Needless to say this woman would simply find her way once the man becomes a mere woman, afterall its all man for himself,God for us all,that’s what they say.
A lot of young people (and some old ones) now feel the need to go extra mile to satisfy their women, by hook or by crook. Afrodisiacs come readily to rescue especially the ones from roots and herbs- Afrodisiac Africana. They are cheap and readily available but the price to pay when it backfires may be ultimate and sometimes eternal.
The message is simple; think twice before you buy! A few minute pleasure may truncate eternal pleasure.
Hamid Adediran is Medical Doctor+Broadcaster=Medicaster, follow @hamid_doctalk on twitter
