“Less is more” people have clearly never heard of multiple orgasms.
The phenomenon “occur(s) when a person climaxes more than once during a period of sexual activity,” says the International Society for Sexual Medicine (ISSM).
And as they say, “They are more common in women, but not all women have them.“
Dr. Karan Raj recently posted a TikTok which stated the same thing – women are much more likely to experience more than one orgasm than men.
Here he is explaining the discrepancy:
So, what’s going on here?
It’s all in the mind (kind of)
Raj shared that after looking at the brain scans of men and women during climax (yes, really), scientists found that certain parts of the brain “fail to respond to further genital stimulation in men.”
For women, however, he says that “these same brain regions continue to be activated” after orgasm, which he said could explain why women can have multiple orgasms.
In other words, women are still up for a bit of action after the grand finale – whereas men are more ready to call it a night after climaxing.
As the ISSM says, though, “Most women have the capacity to have multiple orgasms, but past research suggests only about 15% actually do.”
They add that the women-only suggestion might not be completely true.
“Some men say they can indeed have multiple orgasms”, they say.
“Much of the information in the medical literature is based on men’s subjective experiences. A 2016 review article explains that for men, multiple orgasms occur within a span of 20 minutes, but the ability to have them declines after age 30.”
So, uh – theoretically, how can I get there?
For women, sex therapists suggest everything from switching up your stimulation after the first big O to getting your Kegels in and even edging.
And the ISSM says that “The article noted that multiple orgasms in men are more likely to occur when men avoid ejaculation for a while, use psychostimulant drugs, change partners in a group sex setting, or use sex toys.“
In both cases, however, the mental aspect is crucial – not in a scan way this time, though.
Sarah Martin, executive director of the World Association of Sex Coaches, told The Guardian that “It’s very hard to think about pleasure if you are worrying instead of focusing on your body.“
The Guardian also says that “A recent documentary on the “super-orgasm” – actually multiple orgasms – found that women who had multiple orgasms had slower alpha waves than the average woman. Their brains were quieter, making more room for pleasure.“
Anyway, for completely unrelated reasons, I’m off to take a mindfulness class.