Are Female ejaculation and squirting the same phenomenon?

Female sexual fluids have been widely represented both in the art world and in the literature for centuries.

In medicine, female ejaculation remains today one of the most fascinating and mysterious phenomena of female sexuality, but also one of the most discussed, so that urologists, gynaecologists and sexologists often disagree on this topic.

Before the 80s, the emission of female sexual fluids  during intercourse was regarded as “coital incontinence”, a phenomenon that some women can experience during sex that refers to the involuntary loss of pure urine, not necessarily associated with orgasms.

In 1981, Beverly Whipple, a known sexologist at the Rutgers University of Newark, started studying the G spot and female ejaculation. She believed that the fluid discharged during ejaculation wasn’t simple urine, like other colleagues sustained, but a fluid similar to the one secreted by the male prostate. According to Whipple, female ejaculation was clear, alkaline and contained PSA (prostatic specific antigen), a prostate marker. Today we believe that female ejaculation is probably produced by the Skene glands –also known as the Female Prostate– and consists of a small quantity of milky fluid, secreted by some women during orgasms.

Research

Further studies cleared the distinction between female ejaculation and squirting.

A few years ago, Dr. Salama, gynaecologist, urologist, obstetrician, sexologist and author of the book “Femmes fontaines & éjaculation féminine. Mythes, controverses et réalités”, presented the data of his study on squirting at the Congress of the European Society of Sexual Medicine, in 2017, in Nice.

In order to investigate the nature of squirting, Dr. Salama studied seven women who declared to be able to squirt through sexual stimulation. Before beginning the study and starting to masturbate, women were first asked to empty their bladder and provide a sample of their urine. A pelvic ultrasound confirmed that the bladder was empty. Women were then instructed to begin touching themselves until they reached the pre-orgasmic phase (between 25 and 60 minutes of stimulations) and then another ultrasound was carried out. During orgasm, the secreted liquid was collected and a last scan was done. Even though women emptied their bladders before starting masturbation, the second scan revealed that the bladder was full, whereas during the post-orgasmic scan was empty again. This means that the liquid secreted during the orgasm came from the bladder. Furthermore, the biochemical analysis of the three liquid samples – the urine collected before the testing began, the urine from immediately after the orgasm and the liquid produced during the orgasm (squirting)– showed comparable concentration levels  of urea, creatinine and uric acid. When it comes to PSA, it was found in only in one out of the 7 women in the urine sample pre-stimulation and in 5 women in the post orgasmic sample (squirting). According to this study, squirting is basically an involuntary loss of urine (diluted), with the addiction of prostatic secretions.

To conclude, during sexual stimulations, some women can produce different types of liquids: pure urine (a phenomenon called coital incontinence), female ejaculation (a limited production –usually a few drops– of milky fluid, containing PSA), and squirting (an abundant production –100-150 ml– of  “diluted” urine, often containing PSA).

It should be noted that even though, according to this study, squirting is substantially diluted urine, women that regularly squirt report their liquid to be clear and odourless.

Psychological aspects

Some women that are able to squirt, especially the first few times that it happens, can experience deep shame and embarrassment, they can feel different, abnormal, dirty or guilty. Luckily though, the majority of women that squirt feel positive about it. Data from an online research carried out by the Rudolfstiftung Hospital of Vienna in 2013, showed that 78,8% of women that regularly squirt and 90% of their partners consider this phenomenon as enriching.

Last but not least. Even though many experts, including Dr. Salama, believe that all women, with the right prolonged stimulation, could potentially be capable of squirting, it is important to not obsess over it. I want to remind you that data coming from the literature tell us that only a small percentage of women can squirt, and an even a smaller percentage can do it regularly. Furthermore, contrary to the common belief, there is no association between squirting and orgasm intensity, which means that it is not true that women that can squirt have more intense orgasms.

I wrote this article for Uroblog.

Bibliography

  • “Nature and Origin of “Squirting in Female Sexuality” (2014). Salama S. et al., 2014. J Sex Med 2015;12:661–666. The Journal of Sexual Medicine, DOI: 10.1111/jsm.12799
  • “International online survey: female ejaculation has a positive impact on women’s and their partners’ sexual lives”. Wimpissinger et al., BJUI International, Volume 112, Issue 2, July 2013.
  • “Femmes fontaines & éjaculation féminine. Mythes, controverses et réalités” Salama S., Desvaux P., Nordheim S., 2015.
  • “The Boudoir Bible”: The Uninhibited Sex Guide for Today, Vernon B., 2013.