Did I just pee during sex? Or is this fluid something else?

For this blog I want to talk about a topic many women are curious about but very few talk about, female ejaculation. In our urban culture we don’t refer to female ejaculation by this name. 

If you have heard of it, usually its in the context of “squirting.”  I don’t really like this urban term because I don’t think it encompasses the variety of presentations female ejaculation can have.

Perhaps I also dislike this term because of the context in which it is used. It is often not used in a way that is a sacred experience for women and is almost made to sound dirty or something to laugh about. My goal with this blog is to introduce women back to the beauty of orgasms and female ejaculation as sacred and a wonderful experience.

I will start with a quick history lesson.

In Ancient spiritual sexual traditions the fluid from female ejaculation was considered a sacred medicine (1). In Ayurveda and tantra traditions the fluid was called “Amrita” which means the nectar of life (1). In Traditional Chinese healing, the fluid was known as the white moon flower medicine (1). What a beautiful way to describe it. Trying saying the word “Amrita” out loud.

It has a soft, sensual and romantic tone to it, way better than squirting or even the medicalized term, female ejaculation. Those do not sound romantic at all.

I do want to talk about the anatomy briefly just so women have a bit more background to what this fluid is. In some cases when a female is about to orgasm and release “Amrita” it can feel like she needs to pee and might mistake the fluid for urine and feel all embarrassed. Or stop the experience from going further because she thinks she will pee.

There are 2 sets of glands in the female genitalia.

The first is called vestibular glands or “Bartholins” glands. These glands are located at the bottom of the vaginal opening at approximately 5 and 7 o’clock. These glands secrete a very small amount of fluid during arousal (1). It is believed that this fluid is to help maintain the vaginal ecology and pH (1).

The second set of glands are called paraurethral glands or “Skene’s” glands. These glands are made up of a network of tiny tubules and are enmeshed in the erectile tissues that surrounds the urethra. This network of tubules has about 30 ducts or openings along the urethra and 2 main ducts that open inside or outside the urethral opening (1). It is from these glands that a clear watery fluid is produced.

This fluid can have a faint musky odour. The fluid can trickle, can have a small gush or as put in the book, be a “great geyser of liquid” (1).

It is believed that this fluid plays an immune function to prevent infection and maintain the vaginal environment but more medical research is needed.

Okay so…does every woman orgasm with “Amrita”?

Not all women orgasm with ejaculation. In fact it is a small minority of women that do and they don’t experience it every time they orgasm. There seems to be a small amount of women that are natural ejaculators (1). Now that doesn’t mean just because you don’t orgasm with “Amrita” that you never can.

Women have the equipment and therefore there is always potential.

So then you might be wondering…well how do I do that? Well I am no expert on this subject so what I do recommend is getting a copy of “Women’s Anatomy of Arousal” by Sheri Winston or researching into tantra for answers.

Happy Exploring,

The Pelvic Health Lady

Reference:

1. Winston, Sheri. 2010. Women’s Anatomy of Arousal. Secret maps to buried pleasure. New York: Mango Garden Press.

How many ladies out there have had a LEEP?

A LEEP procedure stands for Loop Electrosurgical Excision Procedure and is used to remove abnormal tissue from the cervix.

I am curious about how many experience painful intercourse after the LEEP. I tried searching for scientific research on the matter and I couldn’t find any information. All I could find was information on the effectiveness of the LEEP in removing abnormal tissue.

I wonder why there is no research on this matter? Likely because women are not reporting it. I know I didn’t report it to my doctor, because I didn’t know there was a connection and it didn’t start till a few months after the surgery.

My surgery was in 2008 and it wasn’t like I had painful intercourse all the time. It would show up here and there and then slowly became more frequent. It wasn’t until 2011 when I was on placement for school that I was introduced to pelvic floor physiotherapy and made the connection.

Trauma, like a surgery causes scar tissue. Scar tissue is typically tenser than regular tissue and when the penis touches that tense spot it causes pain. When the sharp pain started happening more often, that caused me to tense in preparation that it was going to be painful. Not only was it painful but it was more painful.

I tried changing positions. Then I tried just “dealing” with it. Slowly over time this made sex less enjoyable (obviously). 

So in 2011 when I started learning about pelvic floor physio, I would talk with my instructor in vague terms (cause I didn’t want her to know) on she deals with these kinds of situations and she stated explaining the concept of a tight pelvic floor and how that could lead to pelvic pain.

I knew right away that I needed to know more and I needed to find a way to overcome my pain. I started reading on my own and figured out how to relax my pelvic floor and over time my symptoms improved. What a change! That made me think of the women and men that are impacted by pelvic floor problems and how I could make an impact on the world.

So 2014 I officially started my courses in pelvic health for this reason. If you read my first blog post, I talked about this, if not feel free to have a read J

So I wanted to bring up the conversation about LEEP’s because I sat wondering today, how many others are struggling with this? How many others are going in for this procedure and have no idea this might be a side effect? How many will experience painful intercourse and not know there is treatment?

I felt compelled to write about this, just in case someone reads this and is experiencing this, they will know that they can seek a pelvic health physiotherapist for help. They will know they are not alone.

The Pelvic Health Lady