Source : dreamstime
The clitoris aids women in experiencing sexual pleasure and is crucial in the formation of orgasm since it contains a significant number of nerve fibres.
A recent study from Oregon Health & Science University reveals that the human clitoris use more than 10,000 nerve fibres to produce pleasure feelings, which is good news for persons with vulvas. On the other hand, up until recently, it was believed that the clitoris had about 8,000 nerve fibres.
The results were presented at a combined scientific meeting of the International Society for Sexual Medicine and the Sexual Medicine Society of North America.
Blair Peters, M.D., an assistant professor of surgery at the OHSU School of Medicine and a plastic surgeon with experience in gender-affirming care as part of the OHSU Transgender Health Program, served as the study’s lead investigator and presenter.
Peters obtained clitoral nerve tissue from 7 adult transgender volunteers who had gender-affirming genital surgery, as it was reported in the press release. In order to count individual nerve fibres using image analysis software, tissues were coloured and magnified 1,000 times under a microscope.
On average, the samples included 5,140 dorsal clitoral nerve fibres. Given that the dorsal nerve is symmetrical, multiplying the average by two yielded an estimate of 10,281 nerve fibres for the human clitoral dorsal nerve. Peters emphasised that the human clitoris has more nerve fibres than the dorsal nerve because it has other, smaller nerves in addition to the dorsal nerve.
More than 10,000 nerve fibers
More than 10,000 nerve fibres are concentrated in something as little as the clitoris, which is “startling to think about,” according to Peters.
“It’s especially astonishing when compared to other, larger structures of the human body.” The median nerve, which runs through the wrist and hand and is involved in carpal tunnel syndrome, is recognised for having a high nerve fiber density. Despite the fact that the hand is several times larger than the clitoris, the median nerve only has about 18,000 nerve fibres, or less than twice the number of nerve fibres that packed into much smaller clitoris.”
Clitoris has not been studying enough
Peters emphasises that while studies on the clitoris are currently insufficient, researchers are hard at work on the penis.
In order to prevent inadvertent nerve damage, the findings may also help patients who have labiaplasty, a cosmetic procedure that involves shrinking the inner flaps of skin on either side of the vaginal entrance.
Regardless of gender identity, everyone can benefit from a better understanding of the clitoris, It’s crucial to note, however, that this research would not be possible without transgender individuals and gender-affirming medical procedures, peters said.
The fact that gender-affirming care is becoming more widespread and helping other areas of healthcare is profound. All boats rise with the tide. Everyone would suffer if transgender health care is suppressed or limited.”
