EJACULATION AND ORGASM
March 12th, 2009 | Posted by admin | Category: Men's Health-Erectile DysfunctionNo Comments
When a male ejaculates, the muscles round the prostate gland, as well as the muscles in the penis and surrounding area, contract. These muscle contractions, or spasms, force most of the sperm out of the ampulla. The sperm and semen mix together and are pushed into the urethra. They’re propelled along the urethra and come spurting out through the opening in the glans, or tip, of the penis. The semen usually comes out in three or four spurts. In all, a tea spoonful or two of white, creamy, milky semen comes out of the penis during ejaculation.
The feeling that you get when all these muscles are contracting and semen is spurting out of your penis is called orgasm. It is possible to ejaculate without having an orgasm, but most of the time a male does have one when he ejaculates. Slang terms for having an orgasm include ‘coming’ and ‘climaxing’.
It’s a bit difficult to describe exactly what an orgasm feels like. For one thing, it feels different to different people. Also, the feeling of an orgasm may differ from one time to the next. Sometimes the orgasm may be really strong and involve not just the penis and other sex organs but the whole body. At other times the orgasm may be less intense and the feeling seems to centre round the penis and the genital area.
When a male is about to have an orgasm, his penis is stiff and erect. The skin on his scrotum gets tighter and thicker as the scrotum draws up close to his body. His heart starts beating harder and his breathing gets deeper and heavier. The skin on his face or chest or other parts of his body may get flushed and reddish. This is called the ’sex flush’. His nipples may become deeper in colour and stiffer and may stand out more. The muscles around his anus may tighten up. A drop or two of clear or milky white fluid may appear at the tip of the penis. The opening in the glans, or head, of the penis, may become more slit-like, and the glans may become a deeper, more purplish or red colour.
As the orgasm is about to begin, the man may be aware of all these changes (the increase in heartbeat, the heavier breathing, the changes in the glans), but often the feeling is so intense that he is totally involved only in the feeling. The changes may happen without his being consciously aware of them.
During the orgasm the muscles contract and the semen comes out in three or four spurts that usually happen within less than a second of one another. These spurts may be followed by a series of six to fifteen other muscle spasms. The whole orgasm normally lasts about ten seconds. The feeling is so intense, though, that it often seems longer.
After the orgasm, the heartbeat and breathing gradually return to normal. The testicles and scrotum loosen up. The penis gets soft again. All of this may take just a few seconds or it may take a half-hour or so. Afterwards, men often feel really relaxed and they may be sleepy. Some men are ready to have another orgasm straight away. Usually, though, there’s a period of time that must pass – anywhere from a few minutes to a half-hour, several hours or a day or so-before a man is ready to have another orgasm. Generally, the older a man gets, the more time it takes before he’s ready to have another orgasm.
As we say, it’s a little difficult to explain how an orgasm feels, but most people agree that it’s a very good feeling. We asked the men we interviewed to describe it, and many said things like ‘great’, ‘terrific’, ‘beautiful’ or other simple, one-word answers. Most had trouble putting it into words, saying things like, “There’re just no words to describe it’ or ‘It’s not something you can explain.’ Some men, however, were able to give a description. One man gave a description that other men seemed to think was rather good. Here’s what he said:
Well, it feels like there’s a sort of good sensation in my genitals and body that builds up and then goes off, a sort of wave of good sensual feeling throughout the whole body. The spurting part, when the semen is actually coming out, is a jerky kind of thing. It’s not really all that great a feeling, but the waves of the sensual feeling are timed with pulses of the spurt, which does feel great. Afterwards, I feel tingling and then relaxed all over.
Will, age 46
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