#AskASexologist: "How Many Types Of Orgasms Do Women Have & How Do They Differ From Men?"
Dr Rachael Winston is a sexologist and sex therapist, and she's answering your questions!
By Laila Zain — 05 Oct 2022, 02:25 PM
Dr Rachael Winston, affectionately known as Dr Ray, is a sexual health practitioner and Centre Medical Director at MUC Healthcare, and she's answering your questions!
We sat down with Dr Ray to talk through some of the burning questions we received from readers via Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
Look out for more articles in our Ask A Sexologist series on SAYS.
How many types of orgasms do women have and how do they differ from men?
According to Dr Ray, there are not many types of orgasms per se, but rather a "peak time." So, for example, you may experience a short orgasm, premature orgasm, or long-term orgasm.
When it comes to differences between men and women, Dr Ray states they don't differ much. However, she went on to say that "the time difference to have another orgasm differs. For women, of course, it's much faster. For men, it takes a longer time. So that's one of the main differences between men and women."
For women, reaching "peak climax" is considered a partial orgasm, rather than a full orgasm. Whereas men climax when they ejaculate.
Dr Ray continues to say that ejaculation takes a lot of time and effort that involves metabolism, therefore completing climax is more tiring for men. As a result of this, the recovery phase of getting a new erection, followed by another ejaculation, takes time. The average male usually needs at least one to two hours to recover after climax, before being able to fully climax again.
On the other hand, when it comes to female orgasms, Dr Ray shares that the majority of women reach peak climax through clitoral stimulation. It's a sense of touch at the clitoris that allows women to feel orgasms.
However, because women don't necessarily have to ejaculate in order to reach that peak climax, the recovery time is much shorter. This allows women to climax more frequently.
There is no danger to women if they orgasm multiple times
Speaking on the topic of multiple orgasms for women, Dr Ray says that masturbation is how to reach climax multiple times.
"Masturbation is healthy. There's nothing wrong with it because it promotes a lot of relief for women in terms of menstrual pain. It is a stress relief," says Dr Ray.
"The negative part of it is more related to the stigma behind masturbation, as to why you want to masturbate. [There's] more of a religious attachment to it. But in terms of health, masturbation is healthy. There is no limit to the number of times you can actually perform climax."
But orgasms are more than just physical, they also affect us psychologically too
Dr Ray goes on to say that not being able to ejaculate can severely impact men in a psychological way as they feel that they are unable to perform.
Performance anxiety issues can then grow from there as they feel that they may be prematurely ejaculating, unable to obtain an erection, or unable to climax.
According to Dr Ray, there are more psychological barriers for men when it comes to orgasms than for women. Talking about how women sometimes fake orgasms, Dr Ray pointed out that not being able to reach climax for women does not affect them as badly psychologically as it does for men.
Dr Ray is a sexologist and sex therapist. Follow her on Instagram to learn more about sexual health, and check out MUC Healthcare and Vibes Healthcare for more information.
Look out for more #sexualhealth stories and tips this month!
From contraceptives to vibrators, and intimacy to abstinence, no topic is off limits. Join us in normalising conversations surrounding sexual health.
