A brief history of the vibrator: the myth and the real story

Probably not. The idea comes from a 1999 book, The Technology of Orgasm, by the historian Rachel Maines. She argued that doctors massaged women to orgasm as a treatment for hysteria, and invented the vibrator to do the job faster.

In 2018, two historians, Hallie Lieberman and Eric Schatzberg, went back to the sources Maines cited. They found no evidence that doctors ever used vibrators to bring women to orgasm as a medical treatment, and most of her sources on hysteria didn’t mention vibrators at all.

It’s a memorable story, but the evidence doesn’t support it.

The word hysteria comes from the Greek for womb. Ancient Greek doctors believed some illnesses in women were caused by the womb, and some ancient writers, including Hippocrates and Plato, blamed a lack of sex.

For centuries, hysteria was a catch-all label for symptoms doctors couldn’t explain, mostly in women. Treatments ranged from herbs to marriage. Hysterical neurosis was finally dropped as a diagnosis from the main US psychiatric manual in 1980.

Hysteria was a label for unexplained symptoms, not a single illness.

An English doctor, Joseph Mortimer Granville, developed a vibrating hammer he called a “percuteur” in the late 1870s and early 1880s. The first version was clockwork, and a London firm, Weiss and Son, then made an electric one. He used it to treat nerve pain, such as neuralgia.

Far from treating hysteria, Granville wrote in 1883 that he had never used it on a female patient, and that he would continue to avoid doing so. You may read that he patented the vibrator in 1800, but he was born in 1833, and we couldn’t find any record of a patent.

The first electric vibrator was a medical tool for nerve pain.

By the early 1900s, electric vibrators were being sold for use at home. The Smithsonian museum has a Hamilton Beach “New Life” vibrator from about 1903, with a patent date of 1902, which it describes as a personal care device.

By 1909, adverts said another model was suitable for family use, and one cheap model that came out in 1919 was said to have sold more than a million by 1922. You may also read that the vibrator was only the fifth household appliance to be electrified, but we couldn’t find a reliable source for that claim.

Within a few decades, the vibrator went from medical tool to household gadget.

We couldn’t find reliable UK figures on how many people use vibrators. The best data come from national surveys in the US, published in 2009, which found that:

• about half of women aged 18 to 60 (52.5%) had used a vibrator
• 45% of men aged 18 to 60 had used one, on their own or with a partner

Most women in the study had never had any genital symptoms linked to using a vibrator.

Vibrators are common, so it’s worth knowing how to use them safely.

Yes, if you share it. Infections can pass on through vaginal fluid or semen left on a toy. The NHS says sharing sex toys can spread:

• Chlamydia
• Trichomonas
• Herpes
• genital warts and HPV
• HIV, if the person has a detectable viral load

A small US study found HPV on some vibrators even after they’d been cleaned, although none was found on a silicone toy 24 hours after cleaning.

The risk comes from sharing, so a toy that only you use doesn’t pass on STIs. Read more in “Can you get an STI from a sex toy?”

To lower the risk of passing on an infection:

• don’t share sex toys, or if you do, wash them and put a new condom on them before anyone else uses them
• use a new condom when you move a toy between the anus and the vagina
• clean toys after every use, following the instructions on the packaging
• use the type of lube the packaging recommends
• check toys regularly for scratches or tears, which can harbour germs

A new condom for each person and each part of the body keeps things simple. Read more in “How long can an STI stay on a sex toy?”

If you’ve shared toys or had sex with a new partner, Better2Know offers:

• Platinum Screen: tests for 12 infections, including Chlamydia, Trichomonas, Herpes 1, Herpes 2, HIV and Syphilis, from 28 days after sex, with results in 3 days. You can also order a home test kit.
• Comfort Screen: if you have itching, discharge or discomfort, it tests a urine sample for 8 infections, including Chlamydia and Trichomonas, from 14 days after sex, with results in 2 days.
• Blemish Screen: if you’ve noticed a lump, blister or sore in your genital area, it tests a swab from it for Herpes 1, Herpes 2, HPV and Syphilis, with results in 5 days.

You can book any of these at one of our clinics. If you test before 45 days, a negative HIV result needs a repeat test. A Syphilis test in the first 3 months after sex can miss the infection, so you may need a repeat test. Not sure which test you need? Our Patient Care Team is available 24/7 on 020 7099 0955.

Were vibrators really invented to treat hysteria?

There’s no good evidence for it. The first electric vibrator was designed in the 1880s to treat nerve pain, and its inventor said he avoided using it on women.

Can I get an STI from my own vibrator?

Not if you’re the only one who uses it. The risk comes from sharing toys, so wash shared toys and put a new condom on them each time.

How should I clean a vibrator?

Follow the instructions on the packaging, and clean it after every use. Check it now and then for scratches or tears, which can harbour germs.

The vibrator has a stranger history than most gadgets, but not the one you might have heard. It started as a doctor’s tool for nerve pain and became a household product in the early 1900s. Today, the main health risk comes from sharing toys, and a new condom for each person keeps that risk low.

Book a Platinum Screen at a clinic near you or order a home test kit. Our Patient Care Team is available 24/7 on 020 7099 0955.

Not in the UK? Choose your country from the selector at the top of the page for local tests and prices.

This article originally appeared on 23 September 2013 and was last updated on 1 October 2026.

This article is general information and not a substitute for personal medical advice.

Sources

1. Lieberman H, Schatzberg E, A failure of academic quality control: The Technology of Orgasm, Journal of Positive Sexuality, August 2018. https://journalofpositivesexuality.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/10.51681.1.421_Failure-of-Academic-Quality-Control-Technology-of-Orgasm-Lieberman-Schatzberg.pdf
2. Tasca C et al., Women and hysteria in the history of mental health, Clinical Practice and Epidemiology in Mental Health, 19 October 2012. https://doi.org/10.2174/1745017901208010110
3. Granville JM, Nerve-vibration and excitation as agents in the treatment of functional disorder and organic disease, J. and A. Churchill, 1883. https://archive.org/details/nervevibrationex00gran
4. Smithsonian National Museum of American History, Vibrator (Dr Mortimer Granville’s percuteur), early 1880s. https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/object/nmah_729921
5. Smithsonian National Museum of American History, Hamilton Beach type C New Life electric vibrator, about 1903. https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/object/nmah_702397
6. Smithsonian National Museum of American History, Vibrator (White Cross), 1905 to 1921. https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/object/nmah_736547
7. Smithsonian National Museum of American History, Star-Rite Vibrator. https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/object/nmah_736546
8. Herbenick D et al., Prevalence and characteristics of vibrator use by women in the United States: results from a nationally representative study, Journal of Sexual Medicine, July 2009. https://academic.oup.com/jsm/article-abstract/6/7/1857/6834558
9. Reece M et al., Prevalence and characteristics of vibrator use by men in the United States, Journal of Sexual Medicine, July 2009. https://academic.oup.com/jsm/article-abstract/6/7/1867/6834403
10. Anderson TA et al., A study of human papillomavirus on vaginally inserted sex toys, before and after cleaning, among women who have sex with women and men, Sexually Transmitted Infections, 2014. https://sti.bmj.com/content/90/7/529
11. NHS, Chlamydia, reviewed 24 October 2024. https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/chlamydia/
12. NHS, Trichomoniasis, reviewed 16 July 2025. https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/trichomoniasis/
13. NHS, Genital herpes, reviewed 27 June 2023. https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/genital-herpes/
14. NHS, Genital warts, reviewed 10 July 2023. https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/genital-warts/
15. NHS, HIV and AIDS, reviewed 9 July 2025. https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/hiv-and-aids/
16. Brook, Sex toys and aids, 14 March 2024. https://www.brook.org.uk/your-life/sex-toys-and-aids/