What Happens After Sex: Females & Males

Sex is a great feeling. Wouldn’t we all agree? However, it is also a biological process. After achieving orgasm post sex, various bodily processes are at play, to bring back your body to its normal state. These processes are different for both males and females. Let’s discover how.

Stages Of An Orgasm

Excitement stage

The heart rate of an individual increases while your muscles become tense. This characterises a healthy blood flow to your genitals.

Plateau stage

While your muscles continue to tighten, the testicles begin experiencing a pull, while the vagina contracts under the clitoral hood.

Orgasm stage

The muscles of both the penis and the vagina contract and retract. Your body becomes flushed and red. If you have a penis, you end up ejaculating and if you have a vagina, you reach a vaginal orgasm.

Resolution stage

The tense muscles in your body begin returning to their original state, your blood pressure drops and heart rate gradually slows down.

These stages are similar for both men and women.

What Happens After Sex Among Males?

Once males reach climax, their body goes through a phase known as the refractory period. What is this? It is the time between an orgasm you have just had, till your body is ready to be sexually aroused once more.

Experts suggest that the refractory period is shorter among young males and longer among older ones. Among young males, the refractory period may vary between a few minutes, to a few hours, to a day. As men get older, they may experience a refractory period of about 12 hours to 24 hours.

Experts also suggest that refractory periods may be longer once men have indulged in sexual intercourse with a partner, rather than masturbation activities.

Tips To Shorten The Refractory Period

Make sure you indulge in extended foreplay with your partner while concentrating more on them. You can attempt to fantasise or indulge in roleplay as well.
Trying a new sex position is a great idea to extend your refractory period.
Try to control your ejaculation pattern while masturbating to feel more in control of your body. Then apply this practice when you indulge in sexual intercourse.

What Happens After Sex Among Females?

After sex, most women prefer to share an intimate moment with their respective partners. Experts suggest that post-sex affection is closely interrelated to relationship satisfaction when it comes to female behaviours. This is a question of socialisation. Women are often socialised into believe that sex and intimacy are the same.

Women experience a release in oxytocin after an orgasm that makes them wish to elongate cuddling, kissing or indulge in loving moments with their partner.

Men, on the other hand, are more likely to feel drowsy, wake up, get something to eat as they want to keep the presence of dopamine in their body rolling as their body is not producing much of it after orgasm.

The peripheral nervous system is highly involved in both male and female bodily responses after sex.

How To Bridge The Gap?

Even if men experience tiredness after sex, roll towards your partner while falling asleep and not away. Throw in a quick, ‘that was great, thank you’ or an ‘I love you’ if you’re in that stage of your relationship.

Both the male and female bodies are at their most vulnerable after sex. Hence, one must take advantage of these personal moments even though both bodies react differently in a biological sense.