During sexual intercourse and until orgasm, women expel more or less abundant fluids of various compositions. The phenomenon of “female ejaculation” is still sometimes controversial today, the term “ejaculation” being rather reserved for a very specific substance. A new study today provides some clarification: it turns out that women expel fluids in two different ways and that one of these fluids comes from the bladder.
It was long believed that the fluids secreted by women during vaginal sexual stimulation were akin to a form of female ejaculation. But in recent years, urology specialists have distinguished ejaculation from “squirt” (or “gushing”). A study conducted in 2011 has indeed highlighted the fact that the two phenomena were characterized by two different fluids: the fluid expelled during female ejaculation is milky in appearance and biochemically comparable to certain components of male sperm; the liquid expelled during the spurting/spurting has the characteristics of dilute urine and is produced in larger quantities (the women concerned are sometimes characterized as “squirting women”).
From then on, it was established that the real female ejaculation is the release of a thick and whitish liquid produced by the female prostate (of the order of a few milliliters), while the squirt is the expulsion of a diluted liquid from the bladder (regarding ten milliliters or more). Squirting is therefore defined as the involuntary expulsion of liquid through the female urethra following stimulation of the anterior vaginal wall before or during orgasm. But the mechanism underlying this squirt has not been established. Japanese researchers have therefore conducted a new study to better understand the phenomenon.
A fluid that comes from the bladder
It is estimated that 5% of women are affected by squirting; the volumes expelled at the time of orgasm can reach several hundred milliliters. The phenomenon is however to be differentiated from urinary incontinence: this squirting, like ejaculation, only occurs during sexual intercourse.
French researchers have examined the nature and origin of this female squirt. The results of their work have been the subject ofan article published in 2015 in The Journal of Sexual Medicine. We learn that the samples of liquid secreted by the participants (seven women who reported a recurrent and massive emission of liquid during sexual stimulation) had comparable concentrations of urea, creatinine and uric acid – the same as those measured in urine samples taken before sexual stimulation and following ejaculation.
An ultrasound performed before and following ejaculation showed that the bladder was empty just following the act. In addition, prostate-specific antigen (PSA) was detected in five out of seven participants, suggesting a “marginal contribution of prostatic secretions to fluid emitted” during intercourse.
Five women (two in their thirties, two in their forties and one in their fifties) were recruited for this new study; all were capable of squirting during sex. For the experiment, the bladder was emptied before sexual stimulation and the researchers introduced a dye into the bladder (a mixture of 10 mL of indigo carmine and 40 mL of saline solution) using a catheter urethral. Sexual stimulation was performed to facilitate the expulsion of secretions; these were collected in sterile cups.
A still taboo subject, which remains to be explored
The five women in the study all ended up secreting a liquid (three during manual sexual stimulation and two during penetrative stimulation). In all cases, the liquid in question was blue, which confirms that the bladder was indeed the source. All had good bladder control, so it was not urinary incontinence. PSA and glucose level were measured in each sample. The fluid was positive for PSA in four of the participants.
These results thus confirm that the main component of the substance emitted during squirting is indeed urine (which is nevertheless colorless and odorless). But it can also contain fluid from Skene’s glands — or paraurethral glands, which are located along the urethra in women and are the equivalent of the prostate in men.
In the case of the four women who expelled PSA-positive fluid, however, it was unclear whether this material was excreted at the same time or released before the urinary fluid, as the two fluids mix in the urethra. Some questions remain unanswered, such as knowing why some women are prone to this phenomenon and others are not.
Further research is needed to further explain this female “double ejaculation”. They will also make it possible to lift the taboo that surrounds the subject. A study examining the feelings of women in relation to squirting, emphasizes that some see the phenomenon as a feeling of ultimate pleasure and are very proud of it, but others experience feelings of discomfort, embarrassment and shame – feelings essentially linked to ignorance of the phenomenon and the uncertainties of the composition of the liquid.