Vagina Size and Sexual Pleasure: Does Size Matter?

The age-old query of whether or not or not measurement issues is often directed at males. But though they won’t speak about it, some ladies might fear in regards to the measurement of their vagina and the way it impacts sexual pleasure, significantly after having a child.

Not plenty of analysis has been finished on this space. Because so many issues have an effect on ladies’s sexuality, it is exhausting for researchers to know if vagina measurement and sexual pleasure are linked.

“Our ability to understand size as it relates to sexual function is poorly understood,” says Christopher Tarnay, MD, director of the division of feminine pelvic medication and reconstructive surgical procedure on the UCLA Medical Center.

It Changes

The vagina is a really “elastic” organ, says Christine O’Connor, MD, director of adolescent gynecology and nicely ladies care at Mercy Medical Center in Baltimore.

It’s sufficiently small to carry a tampon in place, however can broaden sufficient to cross a child by means of. This is as a result of the partitions of the vagina are much like these of the abdomen in that they’ve rugae, which means they fold collectively to break down when unused, then broaden when mandatory.

“It doesn’t stay one particular size,” O’Connor says. “It changes to accommodate whatever is going on at that time.”

The mostly used measurements relating to the scale of vaginas come from Masters and Johnson’s work from the Nineteen Sixties. They checked out 100 ladies who had by no means been pregnant and located that vagina lengths, unstimulated, vary from 2.75 inches to about 3¼ inches. When a lady is aroused, it elevated to 4.25 inches to 4.75 inches. Regardless of how lengthy the vagina is, the realm that’s regarded as vital for most ladies’s sexual response is the outer one-third.

So how does size relate to sexual satisfaction? No one appears to know for positive.

Tarnay says the primary points ladies report is discomfort throughout intercourse. This sometimes occurs if the vagina is just too brief or tight or if they’ve a prolapse. In prolapse, the uterus, bladder, or different organs fall misplaced, sometimes after childbirth.

But basically, vaginal size “in all probability doesn’t matter,” Tarnay says. “There is such a wide range of normal. One can be completely assured that in the absence of prolapse, length has no impact on sexual satisfaction.”

Muscle Tone

What might make a distinction, Tarnay says, is what he calls the genital hiatus — the vaginal opening. If there’s an issue, it sometimes occurs after childbirth.

The vaginal opening possible adjustments solely barely after start, Tarnay says. In 1996, medical doctors started utilizing a measurement referred to as the pelvic organ prolapse quantification system as a method of serving to them see how nicely they have been doing repairing that space after childbirth.

This was the primary time there was a real before-and-after measurement, Tarnay says. Doctors have used the system to have a look at populations of ladies and located that there’s a slight improve within the measurement of the opening after vaginal deliveries. The concern could also be extra associated to muscular weak spot or damage in that space, Tarnay says.

“Women who are able to contract the pelvic floor muscles can increase or decrease the size of the hiatus,” he says. “Increasing pelvic floor muscle tone can reduce looseness.”

Kegel workout routines may be very efficient at strengthening these muscle tissues, Tamay says might usually enhance intercourse.

A examine revealed within the Australian & New Zealand Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology in 2008 discovered that girls who repeatedly did Kegel workout routines reported higher sexual satisfaction than ladies who didn’t do Kegels.

To discover the muscle tissues you utilize to do Kegels, you possibly can both insert a finger into the vagina and squeeze the encompassing muscle tissues or cease the movement when urinating. After you’ve discovered the muscle tissues, apply contracting them for 5 to 10 seconds, after which chill out. If you possibly can’t maintain for that lengthy, work your method up. Repeat the method 10 to twenty occasions, thrice a day. While doing these workout routines, breathe usually and take a look at to not use the muscle tissues in your legs, abdomen, or backside.

Some ladies maintain nerve damage throughout start and might’t really feel these muscle tissues. Tarnay says there arephysical therapists who specialise in serving to ladies learn to do Kegels.

What Really Matters

Worrying about vagina measurement and whether or not or not it adjustments over time is the unsuitable concern, O’Connor says. She notes that different issues — like lubrication, arousal, and having and an excellent relationship together with your companion — have a a lot higher affect on sexual enjoyment for ladies.

A 2010 examine revealed within the International Urogynecology Journal bears out her opinion. Researchers used medical data, an examination, and questionnaire of 500 gynecological sufferers aged 40 and older to see if there was a correlation between vaginal size and opening measurement and sexual satisfaction.

The researchers discovered that want, arousal, orgasm, ache, and sexual satisfaction weren’t linked to vagina measurement. 

“It is not an exact physical fit you are looking for in terms of sexual function,” O’Connor says. “It is more about the communication between the two partners and making sure both are getting what they need out of the experience and are comfortable.”