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Your pelvic floor muscles will wake up when you have an orgasm
Health Digest reached out to me to hear what I had to say about what happens to your body when you have an orgasm. It's a long read and it's worth it - in addition to my insights there is lots of info on neurochemical changes, hormonal levels, and pain threshold during the "Big O". Here is a brief synopsis of the article, along with a link to the full article below.

Heather Jeffcoat, DPT

Having an orgasm can be one of the most satisfying and gratifying experiences for the human body. Plus, there's really no "wrong" way to achieve the Big O — as long as everyone involved has given their enthusiastic consent, of course. You do you!

Where things really start to get interesting is when you get all hot and nerdy about anatomy, as some pretty fascinating things happen within when you have an orgasm. Whether you're well-versed in the language of la petite mort or are here because you want to learn more about this pleasurable experience, you're bound to learn something new. Yes, the human body really is capable of some amazing things — including this unique physical sensation.

Your pelvic floor muscles will wake up when you have an orgasm

You may not have given much thought to your pelvic floor — especially if you're a male or if you're young and relatively fit. But if you're a bit older, or you've given birth to a baby, chances are the health of your pelvic floor is definitely on your radar, as noted by the BBC.

A healthy pelvic floor can actually play a huge role in your orgasms, according to Heather Jeffcoat, a physical therapist and pelvic health expert.

Your pelvic floor muscles contract when you have an orgasm," she explained to Health Digest. "Stronger pelvic floor muscles are correlated with forceful expulsion of vaginal fluid during orgasm." She added that those muscles also impact the length and intensity of your orgasm.

That's not just good news for women, as Jeffcoat says there's another benefit your pelvic floor provides when you have an orgasm.

The pelvic floor is involved in enhancing sexual pleasure for both partners through muscle activation and vaginal ballooning," she continued. Yes, it can also feel pretty nice for the male partner in a heterosexual relationship.

When you have an orgasm, your toes may curl

Clearly your brain does a lot of heavy lifting when you have an orgasm, as it's in charge of distributing all of the hormones and chemicals that flood your system. But in addition to that, the way your brain is structured can trigger other reactions in your body, physical therapist and pelvic health expert Dr. Heather Jeffcoat revealed to Health Digest. "

Our brain is not organized from the top down, nor is their a clear line where one body region begins and one ends in the brain," she explained. "Your toes curl because the genital area is next to the toes in the brain." Isn't that wild?

So, what exactly is going on in your noggin to bring about this strange particular movement?

There is overlap of the nerves, which in turn creates an overflow of muscle function, thus toes curling during the pelvic floor muscle contractions that occur during an orgasm," Jeffcoat continued.

Sometimes, the human body can be endlessly fascinating! If you are still curious about what happens to your body when you have an orgasm, continue reading the full article here.

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My last appointment with Heather was over 6 years ago but I still think of her every day. I don’t take for granted that I can easily get out of bed, care for my two active and busy young boys, run, play tennis, clean my house, or sit at a desk for several hours at a time. None of these tasks were easy for me before meeting Heather. Eight years ago my car was struck from behind by a tractor trailer that was estimated to have been speeding. I spent 3 years working with different PTs and Drs trying to heal and move on with my life. When I became pregnant and the hormone relaxin that “relaxes” all the joints of the body and the additional weight gain erased all my progress and I was suddenly in a lot of pain again. My OB sent me to Heather for one last try.

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I started seeing Heather in October 2014. For more than two years, I had been suffering from painful urinary tract infection type symptoms after my bartholins gland surgery which included constant burning and urinary frequency sensation that led to more and more painful intercourse. I had made multiple visits to internist, obgyn and urologist's offices, went through a range of treatment with UTI and bladder frequency medication that included antibiotics, vesicare, estrogen cream, but nothing worked.

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I went to Heather after the birth of my third child. It was lucky, really, that I was referred to her, because my doctor had referred me to a surgeon for a possible hysterectomy or pelvic wall rebuild. Thankfully, I went to Heather before undergoing either surgery, she was able to fix the problem. She has studied extensively in women's health--even written a book about it--and was able to diagnose my problem, suggest a course of treatment (6 weeks), and then follow through with said treatment. By the end, as she said, I was as good as gold. Boy, was it worth it! Though uncomfortable to talk about, much less write about, it is worth getting the word out there. If you have painful intercourse, especially after birth or other trauma, the treatment may be as simple as Physical Therapy (with Heather, of course). I highly recommend her.

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My husband and I were married for 5 years before we were able to have intercourse due to my vaginismus. There was nothing traumatic in my past but for some reason, even though I wanted sex, I mentally avoided "that area" of my body and didn't even admit to myself that there was a problem for a long time, even though I was never able to put tampons in. Once I finally opened my eyes up to the fact that I had a problem, I had a surgery that was supposed to fix the issue.

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