Orgasms can help with sleep, pain relief, and may even prevent death, consequently promoting a good reason to snuggle up on a cold winters’ day.
Cumming, shootin’ skeet, gettin’ wet, climaxing, la petite mort, getting off, and blowing one’s load are some terms used to describe the feel-good act of orgasm.
What some don’t realize is the orgasmic expression is loaded with hidden benefits in addition to the pleasurable feelings it provides.
Barry Komisaruk, a Rutgers University psychology professor and neuroscientist, studies orgasms and discovered that they can naturally block pain by up to 50 per cent.
In the book he co-authored, The Orgasm Answer Guide, it said that an orgasm is good for one’s health, can offer pain relief, and may serve as a sleep aid.
Oxytocin, sometimes referred to as the ‘trust’ hormone, is released from the brain into the bloodstream when a man or woman experiences an orgasm, and it has many benefits including reducing stress, relieving pain, and encouraging bonding between people.
It is also the culprit responsible for some people’s need to cuddle or pass out post-sex.
The book The Science of Orgasm, also co-authored by Komisaruk, suggested that oxytocin released during orgasm also played a preventative role in the development of breast cancer in women and men.
Calgary Sexual Health Centre Community Development Manager Diana Wark said that orgasms start with the brain’s thoughts, feelings and ideas, and these, in turn, are communicated to the body via hormones.
Dopamine and serotonin, which are associated with pleasure and mood, are other hormones that are released during orgasm.
Eating chocolate also releases dopamine and serotonin, but some may argue that having an orgasm is more fun.
Besides, it could also save a man’s life.
A U.K. study discovered that the mortality risk among men who had frequent orgasms (two or more a week) was 50 per cent lower than men who had fewer orgasms (less than one a month).
The authors of the study found that the higher the frequency of orgasm, the lower the risk of death, concluding that orgasms have a ‘protective effect’ on men’s health.
Despite all the good that an orgasm can do, there are some instances when having an orgasm can produce a negative outcome.
Wark said that one in four women and one in six men experience sexual trauma, and having an orgasm could trigger mixed messages relating to these past traumas.
When it comes to sexual pleasure, she said it is important to know your own body.
“Listen to your body and what it is telling you,” she said.
Wark, who has been with the Calgary Sexual Health Centre for six years, manages an education team that provides sexual health education to junior high and high school students.
She is no stranger to discussing the sometimes-awkward subject of sex and sexuality and said that an orgasm can be a good way to release stress.
Second-year sheet metal apprentice, Derek Thompson, said he likes the relaxed feeling, and sleep-aid qualities that an orgasm brings about.
The 25-year-old SAIT student also said he likes it when a woman communicates what she likes sexually and what will bring her to orgasm.
He feels that it is important to communicate with your partner what works in the bedroom and what doesn’t.
“You don’t want to come across as insulting, but if they’re not doing it right [pleasing your partner] then what is the point?”
Wark said that if sexual partners are shy about discussing what they like, non-verbal communication such as hand signals can be used to communicate that a good time is being had by all.
Every ‘body’ is different and she said that people enjoy different types of stimulation, so what works for one person may not work for the next.
For example, some men and women are able to experience a G spot orgasm, but Wark said that not everybody enjoys that type of orgasm.
She also said that women who experience an ejaculation of clear odourless fluid during sex, also known as ‘squirting,’ are not necessarily having a better time than women who do not ‘squirt.’
Thompson, who is in a relationship, said that he pays attention to his girlfriend’s facial expressions, breathing, and body movements to guide him along during their romantic encounters.
“If she’s out of breath, then I’m doing something right,” he said.