EJACULATION AND ORGASM

Ejaculation and orgasm occur as pelvic muscles contract to propel seminal fluid through and out the urethra. At the culmination of sexual excitement, carefully timed neurologic impulses act to close the internal bladder valve (sphincter). This allows all the ejaculated seminal fluid to be pushed forward through the urethra (antegrade ejaculation).

If the bladder sphincter does not close, ejaculated semen is forced backward into the bladder. This abnormal ejaculation, called retrograde ejaculation, occurs in some paraplegics, in men treated with some antihyper

tensive medications (such as guanethidine), and often after prostate or bladder surgery or radiation treatment to the pelvis. Men who lose the capacity to have antegrade ejaculation can retain erectile function and experience orgasm, but they often become alarmed when they do not sense fluid passing through the urethra. Some become depressed over their inability to complete this phase of the male sexual response cycle. Impotence may follow.

Orgasm is distinct from ejaculation. Orgasm is the pleasurable phenomenon experienced at a conscious level that is associated with the rhythmic contraction of certain pelvic muscles (the bulbocavernosus and ischiocavernosus muscles); a sense of relaxation follows.

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