An orgasm is an intense feeling of sexual pleasure that happens during sexual activity. It’s sometimes called coming or climaxing, and both men and women have orgasms.
What happens during an orgasm?
When you have an orgasm, your heart beats faster and your breathing gets quicker and heavier.
In women, an intense, pleasurable release of sexual tension is accompanied by contractions of the genital muscles. A woman may have more than one orgasm if she continues to be stimulated.
In men, muscle contractions cause semen containing sperm to spurt out of the penis (ejaculation). After this, there’s a period of time when a man cannot have another orgasm. This recovery phase, in which the penis and testicles shrink back to their normal size, can last from a few minutes to a few hours.
For more information, see What can cause orgasm problems in women? and What can cause ejaculation problems?
Read the answers to more questions about sexual health.
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