When you think of sex toys the first thing that comes to mind is pleasure.

And that’s a great thing!

However, there’s more to intimacy products than just getting your rocks off… the best ones out there work twofold to make your toes curl while also offering health benefits. These little wonders if designed correctly can pack a punch in more ways than one.

This week I talk with Forrest Andrews, the Product and Business Development Manager of Aneros, a company that’s been around for more than 30 years and gets a gold star for doing just that. The architect of some of the best prostate massagers out there (as well as unisex anal toys) Aneros creates truly innovative products that offer concrete physical health benefits in addition to stimulation.

Read on to learn more from Forrest about how Aneros takes “sexual health and wellness” to the next level.

Aneros got its start in the 90s and is still going strong today, what do you credit the company’s longevity to?

Aneros products originated as health devices patented by our parent company High Island Health. HIH massagers were well-established in this area before they were revealed to be powerful prostate stimulators.

As a startup, this connection gave Aneros a certain prestige it wouldn’t have otherwise had. Aneros was able to build on that single-handedly creating the hands-free prostate pleasure market that we know today. Keeping that early momentum going was a function of continued innovation and to a large part the creation of a thriving online community.

We also owe an enormous debt of gratitude to tens of thousands of our customers for contributing content to our Aneros forum and helping to spread the word about our products.

Aneros Helix Syn V

Tell us the health benefits Aneros offers in addition to sexual stimulation.

While HIH was originally dedicated to prostate health, Aneros devices have always been marketed as health and pleasure devices. HIH products were originally developed as alternative care for chronic prostatitis and the symptoms of BPH (enlargement of the prostate).

There was strong response to these products in the 90’s from men who’d run the gamut of traditional medicine but ultimately found relief using our products. This was confirmed by a 2009 study at Columbia University medical study that examined the use of our massagers for the treatment of these conditions. In both instances, greater than 80 percent of the men who participated experienced some degree of improvement of their symptoms. Of those with chronic prostatitis 79% reported moderate improvement to complete alleviation of symptoms. Of those with BPH, 60% reported moderate improvement to complete alleviation of symptoms.

In retrospect it’s kind of amusing…a pleasure product the subject of a medical study? As far as we are aware, Aneros holds the record on this one.

Beyond that we have large amount of anecdotal evidence from user feedback and forum posts that describe benefits for folks with urinary incontinence, premature ejaculation and erectile dysfunction. While the connection of using prostate massagers for these issues might seem unclear, studies have linked these problems to poor circulation and muscle tone in the pelvic floor region. Fortunately, Aneros products are also excellent aids for Kegel exercises / pelvic floor muscles toning.

Aneros Prelude Enema Bulb Kit

What goes into developing an Aneros product?

Most adult toys on the market today are conceived on a computer using 3-D modeling software. While they are prototyped and inspected for manufacturing defects surprisingly very few go through human testing before mass production.

At Aneros we’re a little bit more old school.

While we also use 3-D modeling software like most adult toys on the market, more often than not our designs start as a series of sketches… good old pencil and paper. From there the idea is either transferred to the computer or sculpted by hand using a modeling compound. Surprisingly, there are a substantial number of the products we sell today that were actually conceived in someone’s hands. If there is a first-generation prototype like this, it’s scanned so it can be further refined, or it is printed directly. Once we have prototypes they’re sent off to our testers for evaluation.

While we’ve had as many as 12 testers in our group it’s currently comprised of eight members…and of course yours truly! The testers evaluate prototypes using a set of criteria I developed when I began testing products years ago. A new model may require six or more different prototypes before it’s ready for mass production. Generally, it’s three or four. While we don’t look for total unanimity from our testers, eight of nine approving the product usually renders a design ready for production.

What are the most challenging aspects of running a sexual wellness company?

As a company that originally only marketed our products as health devices, we incurred a fair amount of resistance from the traditional health care community in the beginning. This was ironic given the fact that prostate massage was once considered the gold standard of treatment for prostatitis and symptoms of BPH by most physicians.

Over the last decade or so this has changed somewhat and we’re actually seeing not only holistic and alternative practitioners embracing it once again… but an increasing number of physicians! This has created an opening for us and a path to acceptance of our products both on the HIH and Aneros’ sides.

At Aneros our primary goal is to create products that feel good and are good for you as well. While that might seem like a slogan, it’s not.…it’s a mission statement, a guiding principle for everything we make. In recent years, the term “sexual health and wellness” has been co-opted by the adult toy industry becoming synonymous with pleasure. While we understand that pleasure can lead to sexual health and wellness, we maintain that it’s only one element of it. Making products that serve both functions equally is and will continue to be a challenge going forward, but that’s what we do… and that’s one of the things that sets up apart.

Aneros Vice 2 Remote

What is Aneros most proud of as a company?

That’s difficult to answer because there are so many things we’re proud of. Aneros products have been transformative for so many. Whether it’s revealing a new realm of pleasure with the whole-body orgasm or freeing people from the scourge of chronic prostatitis, these products have made a real difference in people’s lives.

I was one of those guys myself. As a man in my forties, I’d suffered with prostatitis for twenty years. I was drawn to this product for health reasons, but the first time I used it I was walloped by an immense whole-body orgasm. Transformative? You bet! Two months later the prostatitis was gone, and I’d discovered a level of fulfillment I’d never dreamed existed. Ironically, it set me on different life path too.

In terms of more recent events, we’re certainly most proud of our association with ZERO – The End of Prostate Cancer, a very fine charity that’s devoted to research, testing, education and outreach to those facing prostate cancer and their families. Since 2021 we’ve been able to raise $26,000 for ZERO. With September’s campaign now under our belts we’re looking to make a substantial donation this year as well.

Find Aneros on their website at aneros.com, X @aneros, Instagram @aneros_official, and Facebook @aneros.