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Dr. Yvonne K. Fulbright

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Anatomical Evidence: Will It Settle The G-Spot Debate?

Posted: 04/25/2012 10:00 am

Where's the evidence? Despite a host of women having loudly, unapologetically and consistently claimed that "yes, Virginia, there is a G-spot," many skeptics have asked for proof. Ever since the 1982 publication of The G -Spot detailed an erogenous zone present in some women, lovers have been trying to find this hidden treasure. Researchers like Ernst Grafenberg, for whom it's named, have been attempting to explain or prove its existence since at least 1944.

Thus, you can imagine the frenzy that's about to ensue given that Adam Ostrzenski, MD, PhD may have uncovered proof that this Holy Grail of hot spots is an actual part of the female body. According to an upcoming issue of The Journal of Sexual Medicine, the G spot does, indeed, have an anatomic existence.

In dissecting the layers of the anterior vaginal wall of an 83-year-old cadaver, Ostrzenski uncovered a well-defined sac structure, with three distinct regions, on the dorsal (back) perineal membrane. It was located 16.5 mm up from the urethral meatus, the opening of the urethra, above the vaginal opening.

Amazing. Promising. But should we be rejoicing that this lauded trove of female sexual pleasuring has finally been confirmed?? After all, why would one dead body suddenly provide ample, let alone representative, evidence of one of the most controversial aspects of female anatomy?

It would be wise for academics, researchers, journalists and lay people everywhere to take this finding with a grain of salt, especially given that this effort comes on the heels of another study published in The Journal of Sexual Medicine. It concluded that, "objective measures have failed to provide strong and consistent evidence for the existence of an anatomical site that could be related to the famed G-spot."

This review of the literature of peer-reviewed journal articles published between 1950 and 2011, using the key words "G-spot," "Grafenberg spot," "vaginal innervation," "female orgasm," "female erogenous zone" and "female ejaculation" involved looking at dozens of trials that sought to confirm the existence of the G-spot. Investigators examined over 60 years of research utilizing surveys, pathologic specimens, imaging modalities and biochemical markers, and no structure of the elusive area had been identified to date.

So why would Ostrzenski be able to produce evidence that the G-spot is anatomically distinct? This is not to say that women -- as well as a number of sexologists -- everywhere don't hope that he's not right. Between having her sexuality controlled, being labeled sexually "pure" and frigid and being made to feel that her G-spot reactions are mythological, women have a lot riding on the confirmed physical existence of this entity.

As recently as 2010, a team of researchers at King's College London published a study, also in the Journal of Sexual Medicine, claiming that the G-spot was possibly a figment of women's imaginations, one encouraged by the popular press and sexuality professionals.

In drawing upon a sample of over 1,800 women, their proof was that no pattern emerged between identical versus non-identical twins when participants were asked if they had a G-spot. Hence, there could not be a gene at play (which would be shared by identical twins) in proving its existence.

Ultimately, it shouldn't matter if the G-spot can be proven or unproven if a number of women experience its wonderful sensations and lovely orgasms sans a scientific blessing. Having long been referred to as the "Sacred Gate" by Tantric sex practitioners, this area of the female body may simply be one of life's great mysteries, one that we're never meant to fully know.

Or perhaps knowing it and understanding it goes beyond anything you can dissect or measure. It's an untouchable pathway to bliss and the cosmos, making it something so much more.

RELATED ON HUFFPOST WOMEN: The Health Benefits Of An Orgasm

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  • Keeps Your Blood Flowing

    According to Dr. Jennifer Berman, co-founder of the Female Sexual Medicine Center at UCLA, orgasms increase your circulation, keeping the blood flowing to your genital area. This in turn keeps your tissue healthy!

  • It's A Form Of Cardio

    Although it can't be considered an alternative to daily exercise, having an orgasm is a cardiovascular activity. "Your heart rate increases, blood pressure increases [and your] respiratory rate increases," says Berman. And because it's akin to running in many physiological respects, your body also releases endorphins. Sounds like a pretty fun way to work your heart out.

  • Lifts Your Mood

    Feeling down in the dumps? An orgasm might be just what you need to pick yourself up. In addition to endorphins, dopamine and oxytocin are also released during orgasm. All three of these hormones have what Berman terms "mood-enhancing effects." In fact, dopamine is the same hormone that's released when individuals use drugs such as cocaine -- or eat something really delicious.

  • Helps You Sleep

    A little pleasure may go a long way towards a good night's rest. A recent survey of 1,800 women found that over 30 percent of them used sexual release as a natural sedative.

  • Keeps Your Brain Healthy

    Having an orgasm not only works out your heart, but also your head. Barry Komisaruk, Ph.D. <a href="http://www.cosmopolitan.com/sex-love/tips-moves/orgasm-news" target="_hplink">told <em>Cosmopolitan</em></a> that orgasms actually nourish the brain with oxygen. "Functional MRI images show that women's brains utilize much more oxygen during orgasm than usual," Komisaruk says.

  • It's A Natural Painkiller

    One thing that Victorian practitioners may have been onto is that orgasms can work to soothe certain aches and pains -- namely migraines and menstrual cramps. (So now you know what to do next time you have a headache if you don't feel like popping an Excedrin.) According to Berman, the contractions that make up an orgasm can actually work to evacuate blood clots during your period, providing some temporary relief.

  • It Relieves Stress

    Most of our lives are so hectic that it's hard to even imagine being relaxed. However, it turns out that <em>sexual</em> release can double as <em>stress</em> relief. Not only do the hormones help with this task, Berman says that being sexual also gives our minds a break: "When we're stressed out and overextending ourselves, [we're] not being in the moment. Being sexual requires us to focus on one thing only."

  • Gives You A Healthy Glow

    There actually might be something to the idea that we "glow" after sex. The hormone DHEA (dehydroepiandrosterone), which shows <a href="http://www.ivillage.com/secret-health-benefits-sex/4-a-283856" target="_hplink">increased levels during sexual excitement</a>, can actually make your skin healthier.

  • Aids Your Emotional Health

    Last but not least, when you know what it takes to make yourself orgasm, you may increase your emotional confidence and intelligence. "When you understand how your body works and ... [that it] is capable of pleasure on its own, regardless of your partner status, you make much better decisions in relationships," says Logan Levkoff, Ph.D., a sexologist and certified sexuality educator. "You don't look to someone else to legitimize that you're a sexual being."

 

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Where's the evidence? Despite a host of women having loudly, unapologetically and consistently claimed that "yes, Virginia, there is a G-spot," many skeptics have asked for proof. Ever since the 1982 ...
Where's the evidence? Despite a host of women having loudly, unapologetically and consistently claimed that "yes, Virginia, there is a G-spot," many skeptics have asked for proof. Ever since the 1982 ...
 
 
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Holymolly
Emotionally intellingent
07:25 PM on 04/26/2012
I'd like to make a comment, but is this where the cool people post?
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Chris7781
09:59 PM on 04/25/2012
seriously?! sigh. get a book on making a woman squirt. that one finger stuff you see in straight porn? it's not going to work. missionary position? nope. sorry. I know it's disappointing to hear but your dyk can't reach it. you need communication, lube, and some decent fore play. It's not a mystery and it certainly doesn't need to be researched.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
RationalCaliGirl
Vasectomies prevent abortions...
02:59 AM on 04/26/2012
If you need lube, you definitely aren't doing it right.
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Chris7781
09:34 AM on 04/27/2012
Umm, speaking as a woman with a girlfriend - I think I've got this.
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09:11 PM on 04/25/2012
oh there is one. atleast this woman knows about hers :P
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
RationalCaliGirl
Vasectomies prevent abortions...
08:45 PM on 04/25/2012
It's very easy to doubt that it exists if you have never experienced it. I could care less whether or not researches confirm or deny it's existence. I know where mine is located and that is all that matters. Though, I do feel kind of sorry for those sisters who are still clueless about their own bodies.
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07:00 PM on 04/25/2012
A womans G spot is AMERICAN EXSPRESS GOLD CARD with unlimited funds.
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Otherday
Chief Imperial Sage, Earth, Milky Way Quadrant
04:02 PM on 04/25/2012
From the male perspective, this is baffling. What do women want? Tell us, and we'll do it. Where's the button? Is there an "X" on the pirate's map? We're told there is a "G-spot" and then we're told there isnt' one. Our lovers show orgasm and then they say they were faking it. And all the time we're firing salvos of sperm all over the place. A man's orgasm leaves no doubt - but is she getting all she wants? We are willing to please - just give us a clue how this is done. Blame us for missing the mark - yet you don't know where, or what, the "mark" is? And if we get it wrong, attack us? Is that fair? Oh well, ... at least we got that salvo off. How was that for you?
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Chris7781
09:56 PM on 04/25/2012
You can't reach the x by vessel!! the only way to get there is by all hands on deck ... if you know what I mean.
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jf12
When I saw her I marveled greatly.
02:45 PM on 04/25/2012
There are nerves and tissues there, obviously, just not *special* nerves and special tissues specially there. In other words, there are a number of other places just as special.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
rlj13
Torn between liberal and libertarian
02:42 PM on 04/25/2012
If you like sex and you're having good sex, what's the difference? Why is money being spent on this research? Oh, yeah, because of the sex toy industry.
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ethiopia1a
The COMMA Sutra,,,,making grammar sexy since 1875
02:21 PM on 04/25/2012
That's easy to find, it's attached to your wallet!
02:19 PM on 04/25/2012
"...women have a lot riding on the confirmed physical existence of this entity..."

Entirely not true. The discovery of the g-spot isn't going make women with low sex drives into raging sex pots, nor slow down those with higher sex drives.

In fact, if you're basing your life on stuff like this, it sounds like you're not really living it.
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Kellybelle22
Medicine. Marriage. Motherhood.
03:25 PM on 04/25/2012
I got the feeling that terminology was referring not so much as to women pinning their lives on things like this as to the many women who already know that's one of their key areas of pleasure and have had explosive reactions to its stimulation only to read, repeatedly, that it doesn't exist.

It has fascinated me all along that researchers/scholars, often those with opposite anatomy, can write such firm pronouncements, forgetting that anatomical differences and nerve responses vary so much from person to person.
oil patch
if you voted obama, you are to blame
01:53 PM on 04/25/2012
the g-spot like the female orgasm is a total myth
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ginadeoliveira2008
Seen a shooting star tonight and I thought of you
01:38 PM on 04/25/2012
As long as I have vaginal orgasms I don't care a bit if the G spot exists or not! Thank you for an excellent article.
01:15 PM on 04/25/2012
If Romney gets his way, it will be removed from all females by age 12.
12:19 PM on 04/25/2012
Oh, it exists. Only takes one time to make you a believer.
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signgrrl
design & production
01:19 PM on 04/25/2012
oh yeah. ABSOLUTELY.
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11:43 AM on 04/25/2012
Somewhere around 50 million women suffer with either pain with sex or difficulty with orgasm or arousal--this can seriously hamper relationships (Emerson called sex and beauty the "scaffolding of love").

Studying these issues (like the G-Spot), of course is not just about allowing women to have amazing sex, it's helping those who can't enjoy sex at all find a way.

We've also done some research that will be out soon with a new way of thinking about the sexuality of women and sexual dysfunction with a new definition we call the "O-Spot."

There will be an episode this May the 10th on the Doctor's show where we interview a patient treated with this new thought/anatomy in mind with our O-Shot (R).

More at OShot.info

These are serious problems for some women and deserve serious attention. Thank you for your forum/article.

Peace & health,

Charles Runels, MD
inventor of the O-Shot (R) and the Vampire Facelift (R)