Feel at home with the O.

Women are complicated - there's no denying that. Even we can't figure ourselves out sometimes. And physically, we're more complicated too. We have all that extra indoor plumbing and our bodies are much more sensitive and full of surprises.

And orgasms are no exception to this bundle of complexity. Not only can we have orgasms on the inside and orgasms on the outside, but we can also have a combination orgasm - or "blended" as some people like to call it. Not to mention those orgasms some of us can have without even getting close to our genitals!

So what are the different types of orgasms women have? Well, first let's start with the most well known orgasm - the clitoral orgasm. This type of orgasm is a result of repeated stimulation of the clitoris, which is located at the top of the labia, just below the level of the pubic bone. The clitoris is special because it has the most amount of nerve endings per surface area than anywhere else on a woman's body (or anywhere on a man's body for that matter). The nerve responsible for the sensation in this area is the Pudendal nerve, which experiences all range of sensation - light touch, pressure, pain and temperature, vibration, etc. This opens up the multitude of ways that a woman can get pleasure in this area - oral sex, masturbation with fingers, vibrators, rubbing against the arm of the couch, stream of water from a pool jet or a shower-massager, just to name a few.

Next we have the orgasm that's produced when the anterior (front) part of the vagina is stimulated. This is also known as the G spot and has been found to have the highest concentration of sensory nerve endings in the vagina. This type of orgasm is transmitted via the Hypogastric and pelvic nerves and gives a sensation of orgasm that spreads over the entire body. Many times referred to as a "blended" orgasm because of its overlap in sensation with the Pudendal nerve (that innervates the lower 1/3 of the vagina also), it's technically an "internal" orgasm and can be one of the ways that a woman comes through penetration. And many vibrators and dildoes have been designed specifically with a curvature to stimulate this area for powerful vaginal orgasms.

There is yet, another type of "internal" orgasm that comes with stimulation of the cervix during penetration. This produces pleasurable contractions of the uterus and is transmitted via the Vagus nerve, sometimes in combination with the Hypogastric nerve. Of course, since there is some overlap of nerves (as I'm sure some of you have already experienced) there is often a combination of pathways involved in an orgasm so that more than one pathway is activated at the same time. Women can also have a combination of stimulation on the inside and on the outside simultaneously from certain positions with their partners or manual stimulation of the clitoris while being penetrated. This can give "blended" orgasms as well that you feel on the inside and the outside at the same time. There are also other areas of the body that can be stimulated to bring a woman to orgasm that doesn't involve her genitals, but let's leave that for another post.

So our complexity is also our key to pleasure! Women have different ways to mix and match for a healthy variety of activity. This gives us more choices to keep things interesting. So boys, do your homework, and girls, get your hands-on training. This way, we can all feel at home with the O.