For years, orgasm has been one of the more elusive areas for scientists to research. Nonetheless, there have been tantalising revelations recently about just what goes on in the body and brain during orgasm.
Scientists are also discovering its health benefits: the resulting rush of blood to the head is better for the brain than doing a crossword, one US researcher recently claimed.
It’s also thought to act as a stressbuster, reduce pain and ease depression, while one study even suggested the greater the frequency of orgasms, the longer you’ll live.
Yet only a third of women say they regularly experience one, and one in ten reports never having had one at all.
But why do so many women apparently struggle to experience orgasm? Here, experts reveal the latest thinking...
THE PILL
Ironically, the contraceptive pill has been found to have a dampening effect. A study published last year by Indiana University involving 1 101 women, found that women using the Pill or a contraceptive patch had fewer orgasms and also reported lower levels of arousal and frequency of sex than those who used non-hormonal contraception such as condoms.
But Dr Cynthia Graham, a senior lecturer in health psychology at the University of Southampton and a leading sex researcher, says this is more likely to be down to the Pill’s effect on libido rather than on arousal - so the link might be simply because women are having less sex generally, rather than fewer orgasms.
