Vagina Measurement and Sexual Pleasure: Does Measurement Matter?

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

Not a variety of analysis has been performed on this space. As a result of so many issues have an effect on girls’s sexuality, it is exhausting for researchers to know if vagina dimension and sexual pleasure are linked.

“Our capacity to grasp dimension because it pertains to sexual perform is poorly understood,” says Christopher Tarnay, MD, director of the division of feminine pelvic medication and reconstructive surgical procedure on the UCLA Medical Heart.

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

It is sufficiently small to carry a tampon in place, however can increase sufficient to move a child by. It is because 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 increase when mandatory.

“It doesn’t keep one specific dimension,” O’Connor says. “It modifications to accommodate no matter is occurring at the moment.”

Probably the most generally used measurements concerning the dimensions of vaginas come from Masters and Johnson’s work from the Nineteen Sixties. They checked out 100 girls 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. No matter how lengthy the vagina is, the world that’s considered vital for most girls’s sexual response is the outer one-third.

So how does size relate to sexual satisfaction? Nobody appears to know for positive.

Tarnay says the primary points girls report is discomfort throughout intercourse. This usually 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, usually after childbirth.

However generally, vaginal size “most likely doesn’t matter,” Tarnay says. “There’s such a variety of regular. One may be utterly assured that within the absence of prolapse, size has no influence on sexual satisfaction.”

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

The vaginal opening doubtless modifications solely barely after beginning, Tarnay says. In 1996, docs started utilizing a measurement referred to as the pelvic organ prolapse quantification system as a approach of serving to them see how properly they had been doing repairing that space after childbirth.

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

“Ladies who’re capable of contract the pelvic flooring muscle groups can improve or lower the dimensions of the hiatus,” he says. “Growing pelvic flooring muscle tone can scale back looseness.”

Kegel workouts may be very efficient at strengthening these muscle groups, Tamay says could typically enhance intercourse.

Worrying about vagina dimension and whether or not or not it modifications over time is the mistaken concern, O’Connor says. She notes that different issues — like lubrication, arousal, and having and having a great relationship along with your companion — have a a lot better influence on sexual enjoyment for girls.

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

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

“It isn’t a precise bodily match you might be in search of when it comes to sexual perform,” O’Connor says. “It’s extra in regards to the communication between the 2 companions and ensuring each are getting what they want out of the expertise and are snug.”