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Monday
Nov122012

Do “Nipple Orgasms” Really Exist?

Sexual scientists have long known that it is possible for women to have different types of orgasm. Nearly a century ago, even Freud argued that women can either have clitoral or vaginal orgasms. Although some of those early scientists got a lot wrong (e.g., Freud's argument that clitoral orgasms were "immature"), they were definitely on to something in arguing that there is variability in how women reach and experience orgasm. Indeed, modern research has found that women report orgasms originating at different sites in their bodies and that women’s subjective experience of orgasm is not consistent across time.1 However, perhaps the most surprising thing to emerge from all of this research is that some women appear able to reach orgasm without any genital stimulation at all.

A small percentage of women report that they can reach orgasm simply by having their breasts and nipples stimulated.2 You might be wondering how this could be possible, but a recent brain imaging (fMRI) study published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine sheds some light on the underlying reason.3 In this study, scientists looked at which areas of the female brain “light up” when different parts of the body are stimulated. Their results indicated that nipple stimulation activated the same areas of the brain as stimulation of the clitoris and vagina! In light of this, it is perhaps not surprising that some women find nipple stimulation to be highly pleasurable and can potentially climax from it. For more details on this study, check out this article.

As you can see, there do indeed appear to be many different types to female orgasm, and we can now officially add “nipplegasms” to the list.

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1Sholty, M. J., Ephross, P. H., Plaut, S. M., Fischman, S. H., Charnas, J. F., & Cody, C. A. (1984). Female orgasmic experience: A subjective study. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 13, 155-164.

2Levin, R. J. (2006). The breast/nipple/areola complex and human sexuality. Sexual & Relationship Therapy, 21, 237-249.

3Komisaruk, B. R., Wise, N., Frangos, E., Liu, W. C., Allen, K., & Brody, S. (2011). Women’s clitoris, vagina, and cervix mapped on the sensory cortex: fMRI evidence. Journal of Sexual Medicine, 8, 2822-2830.

Image Source: 123rf.com

To read more about female orgasm, check out:

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Reader Comments (1)

They absolutely do exist.
I have been with 3 different women that could do this.

November 22, 2012 | Unregistered Commenterjimmymac

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