You probably think you already know everything there is to know about sex and sexual satisfaction.

But did you know that orgasms can have the same effect on one’s brain as heroin, that a woman can have one while giving birth, or even that men climax three times more often than women?

Sex expert Tracey Cox reveals 13 astonishing facts about orgasms that you probably never knew, based on a large-scale study of American adults:

1.  Women have one orgasm for every three of his — a staggering 80% of    women can’t orgasm through intercourse alone, but most women (sorry, guys!) can via masturbation, particularly if using a vibrator, and lesbians have almost as many orgasms as men do

2.  Men can orgasm without ejaculating — and ejaculate without feeling an orgasm — the two are separate processes; an orgasm is felt in the brain, while ejaculating is the physical process of semen being released from the body in a series of contractions

3.  A small percentage of women orgasm during childbirth — a rare occurrence that has been observed in .3% of births, also known as ‘orgasmic’ or ‘ecstatic’ births.  It is believed that the intense stimulation of the birth canal during childbirth may be the body’s way of masking the pain

4.  The distance between the clitoris and vaginal opening determine your likelihood of orgasm — if the distance is less than that of a thumb, the clitoris is more likely to be stimulated, thanks to a pulling sensation achieved by thrusting

5.  Orgasms make you “high” — brains scans of men having orgasms reveal that the same part of the brain lights up during an orgasm that lights up when heroin users shoot up, thanks to neurotransmitters associated with reward

6.  A woman can get pregnant even if her partner doesn’t climax or ejaculate — due to a pre-ejaculate fluid that helps lubrication, but also enables semen to travel through it; up to 41% of men produce pre-ejaculate that contains sperm

7.  Regular orgasms are a natural anti-depressant — they work wonders on the heart and the immune system, staving off colds and infections

8.  Women’s pain threshold can allegedly increase up to 107% during an orgasm — and even last up to 10 minutes after intercourse

9.  Orgasms get better with age — because we know our bodies better as well as the techniques that work best for us to achieve satisfaction; only 61% of young women experienced orgasm the last time they had sex, compared to 70% among middle-aged women

10. The world record for orgasms in one hour is 134 – achieved during an experiment by the Center for Marital and Sexual Studies in California, and the longest orgasm ever recorded was back in 1966, when a woman had a 45-second climax with 25 contractions

11. One out of every ten women reaches orgasm through exercise

12. Men can’t urinate and ejaculate at the same time (though women can) – thanks to the opening to his bladder which closes just before orgasm so as to prevent urine from mixing with semen

13. Orgasms help you sleep – Oxytocin hormone levels rise by about 500%  when you climax, making you feel relaxed and sleepy

Not satisfied?  For more information on a topic that no one can ever seem to get enough of, visit traceycox.com.

Source: Daily Mail