Male Orgasm: What It Feels Like and How to Intensify It
We Looked at the Science Behind Your Climax
We Looked at the Science Behind Your Climax
Before the scientific advances that led to the development of in vivo fertilization, the male orgasm was directly responsible for the existence of every human being in history.
Of course, without eggs, wombs, birth canals, midwives and everything else that goes into growing a sperm into a living human, none of those orgasms would have amounted to anything. But it’s still an interesting thing to consider, and helps explain, perhaps, the intense importance that many men place on their orgasms.
Of course, modern-day sex is very rarely about procreation. Even so, we’re not exactly looking at a shortage of humans being born, so the importance of a guy ejaculating is quite likely as low as it’s ever been. But it’s still worth asking the question — what is the male orgasm? Why is it such a big deal? How, if at all, is it different from the female orgasm?
We spoke with two doctors who specialize in such things — a urologist and a sex therapist — to help get to the bottom of all this.
What Is a Male Orgasm?
In most mainstream pornography, the male orgasm is the literal and figurative climax of the story, acting as the goal towards which all the participants are working. In real-life sex, that’s often the case, too, but it doesn’t need to be. It is something that requires work, however, since you can’t just orgasm accidentally, First, you need to enter into a state of physical arousal, i.e. achieve an erection.
Then, what happens next relies on your brain in a big way.
“The male orgasm is a sensation that is basically driven by the sympathetic nervous system, activated by your five senses,” says Dr. Koushik Shaw, MD of the Austin Urology Institute. “It is a complex interplay between your brain, your brain stem and your spinal cord. It can be heightened through your sense of touch, smell, and visuals. All your senses can activate the sympathetic nervous system, which in turn helps trigger the sensation of orgasm.”
And how long does this sensation last?
“That is going to be varied between different people and across various excitement states,” says Shaw. “Usually between a few seconds to 30 seconds.”
What Does the Male Orgasm Feel Like?
“Most people describe it as a pulsing, wave-like release of pelvic tension, associated with high levels of sexual arousal and pleasure,” says Dr. Jason Winters, founder and director of the West Coast Centre for Sex Therapy. “It’s the release.”
That being said, when you experience an orgasm, you’re not “most people” — you’re you. So your specific experience of orgasm can differ from other people’s.
“This is different for each person,” says Shaw. “It could be a feeling of euphoria, or just a general ‘feeling great.’ Your blood pressure can go up, your heart rate goes up. There could be a tingling sensation in your spine or your brain. It can really be a multitude of sensations and is different for each person.”
He also notes the “release of endorphins and enkephalins — the same hormones that give you a runner’s high or are released when you win a prize” that you feel during an orgasm.
“They are the ‘feel good hormones’ that will be released during an orgasm,” he adds. “So, in short — you’ll know because you’ll feel good.”
You’ll also likely know because you ejaculate — that is, shoot a quantity of semen, a white-ish sticky liquid out of your urethra — though sometimes younger boys can achieve orgasm before they begin producing semen to go with it.
Are There Different Types of Male Orgasms?
Are there kinds of orgasms you’ve yet to experience, new and unexplored forms of orgasm?
“In terms of what’s going on in the brain, no,” says Winters. In short, an orgasm is an orgasm. But, he notes that “from a sensory point of view, however, any add-on sensory stimuli can make the experience feel different. This can be from stimulating other parts of the body (i.e., other than the penis) during orgasm, for example, or different ways of stimulating the penis.”
Basically, an orgasm you get from masturbation might feel different from one you get from a blowjob, which might feel different from one you get from penetrative sex, which might feel different from one you get from a handjob with additional prostate stimulation.
Apart from that, Shaw notes that your orgasms are likely to change slightly as you age.
“Orgasms are generally better when you’re younger, and not as strong as you get older,” he says. “Also, heart disease, diabetes, a high-fat diet, lack of exercise and anything that can affect your neurovascular system and sensation pathways negatively can diminish your sense of orgasm.”
Can Men Orgasm Without Ejaculating?
While most people associate orgasming and ejaculating together, they’re actually different things. Though this might be relatively rare cases, it is possible to ejaculate without orgasming, and also to orgasm without ejaculating.
“Orgasm without ejaculation is called ‘dry orgasm’,” says Winters. “It’s achieved by flexing the PC [pubococygeus muscle] during orgasm. This pinches the urethra shut, preventing ejaculation.”
Not sure what that means? Essentially, you’re performing the same move you’d do in order to stop peeing. If you know how to do that, you already know how to flex your PC muscle — now it’s just a question of trying to do it during your orgasm. Easier said than done, perhaps, but still possible if you’re willing to put in the effort.
However, in some cases an ejaculation-free orgasm might be an accident rather than an intentional outcome.
“Alternatively, it can be the result of a problem called retrograde ejaculation (ejaculate goes up the urethra into the bladder, rather than out the urethra),” says Winter. “It’s also possible to ejaculate without orgasm.”
Shaw notes that ejaculating without having an orgasm could occur post-pelvic surgery.
“Prostate surgery can have this effect,” he says. “In other words, some medical procedures can have you lose your orgasm, but still ejaculate.”
And on top of physical procedures having an impact, chemical ones can affect your orgasm, too.
“People on certain antidepressants may keep their erection for minutes or hours and potentially delay their ejaculation for quite some time,” explains Shaw. “Sometimes, we use low-dose antidepressant medication to help treat people for premature ejaculation.”
What’s the Difference Between Male and Female Orgasms?
When it comes to sex, particularly between a man and a woman, people often focus on the differences between the male experience and the female experience.
But when it comes to the difference between the male orgasm and the female orgasm, apparently, there’s not much to focus on.
“There isn’t really much [difference] at all,” says Winters. “The few brain-imaging studies that are available show wide-spread activation of a whole bunch of regions of the brain in both males and females. There isn’t really much to differentiate the patterns of activation when you compare the sexes.”
That being said, what’s going on in the brain and what’s going on in the rest of the body are different things.
“If you compare female orgasm with male orgasm and ejaculation (which is a separate, but related, process), then differences emerge,” says Winters.
Which isn’t to say that women can’t also ejaculate — but female ejaculation is a wholly different phenomenon.
Can Men Have Multiple Orgasms?
Perhaps the main difference between men’s orgasms and women’s orgasms is how many they’re able to give themselves.
While men might have a hard time giving women orgasms, women are quite good at giving themselves orgasms, courtesy of an elevated capacity to be multi-orgasmic.
“Some people have the capacity to be multiorgasmic,” says Shaw. “Women tend to be more so than men, however, men can definitely have multiple orgasms.”
If you don’t have a ton of orgasm experience (or even if you do), that may be news to you. After orgasming, most guys experience “a refractory period, which is ‘how long before you can go at it again’” notes Shaw. “That can be anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours when you’re younger to a few days as you get older.”
During the refractory period, Winters says “the body enters a state of sexual inhibition.”
“Arousal can’t continue or happen,” he states. “This is why guys typically lose their erections after ejaculation and no amount of stimulation will get them hard again.”
So are multiple orgasms on the table at all? Well, it seems to all come down to your ejaculation.
“The refractory period can be circumvented by preventing ejaculation during orgasm,” says Winters. “This can be achieved by pinching the urethra shut with fingers, or by learning (i.e., training) to flex the PC hard enough to prevent ejaculation.”
Can Men Intensify Their Orgasm?
Regardless of whether you ever achieve multi-orgasmic status, if you’ve had enough individual orgasms, you’re likely to realize that some of them feel more intense than others. Which raises the question — why? And the follow-up question: Can I make my orgasms more intense?
For starters, orgasm intensity is, according to Shaw, “complex, and also affected by testosterone.”
“Higher testosterone levels at a younger age can lead to a more intense orgasm,” he says, while “age-related lower testosterone, stress, lack of sleep, etc. can affect it negatively.”
As a result, “it is important to take good care of your penis and your sexual life, along with your health, to maximize the quality of your orgasms,” he adds.
That being said, it’s definitely possible to amp up certain factors in order to make your orgasms more intense. For one, using an erection-enhancing sex toy like a cock ring could potentially help. But more broadly, a lot of orgasm intensity is tied to build-up. Meaning if you just came a few minutes ago, having another orgasm not long after is likely to produce a relatively weak one. If you’re orgasming several times a day, you’re likely to have weaker ones in general.
Staving off orgasm over a long period, whether by avoiding masturbation and sex or by using a technique called “edging,” can help produce an extra-powerful one when you do.
At the end of the day, everyone’s orgasm will be a unique experience brought on by a combination of factors — their sexual triggers, their surroundings, how much stimulation they’ve experienced since the last orgasm, and so forth.
But no matter the exact feeling, weak or strong, having the opportunity to bask in one of the best sensations known to humankind isn’t so bad, is it?
What Is a Blended Orgasm — And How Do You Give Her One?
The Science Behind How an Erection Works, Explained
Ejaculation Etiquette, De-Mystified: Where to Cum, and Why
Source: AskMen
