The G-spot is named after Ernst Gräfenberg, a German gynaecologist who in 1950 proposed that stimulating a sensitive point on the front vaginal wall could provoke particularly intense orgasms in some women, with waves of pleasure spreading out across the whole body. Gräfenberg reported that these orgasms differed from normal orgasms caused by clitoral stimulation. And, in more recent times, finding the G-spot has since become a staple of many sex guides.

Scientists have debated the G-spots existence, and so far there has been scant evidence of its existence as doctors have been unable to pin down its exact location. Many women have even found it impossible to find; leading them to doubt either their own sexual skills, their partners sexual skills, or to wonder whether the whole idea of a vaginal pleasure point is just an urban legend. The main problem here seems to be that no-one has found any solid physiological evidence to support its existence, whereas the clitoris, for example, is fairly easy to locate, at least for most people.

Now, new research carried out by Dr Emmanuele Jannini at the University of L’Aquila, Italy, and published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine, claims to have found the first anatomical evidence for the existence of the G-spot. His research could also explain why so many women have searched for their pleasure spot in vain, since Dr Jannini suggests that not all women have one. What’s more, the Doctor claims that it may be possible to develop a simple test which could tell you if it’s time to give up the hunt, or if your partner just needs to try harder.

In 2002, Dr Jannini’s team found biochemical markers related to heightened sexual function in tissue between the vagina and urethra (the patch where the G-spot is said to be located). They included PDES, an enzyme that processes nitric oxide, which is a chemical that boosts blood flow and triggers male erections.

However, the team was unable to link the presence of these markers to the ability to experience orgasms triggered by stimulation of the front vaginal wall, without any simultaneous stimulation of the clitoris.

So Jannini’s team took a different approach, and used vaginal ultrasound to scan the entire urethrovaginal space (the area of tissue in the space between the vagina and urethra (thought to house the G-spot)). The team scanned nine women who reported that they experienced vaginal orgasms and eleven who said they didn’t.

The results were that tissue in the urethrovaginal space was thicker in the first group of women. This means, says Jannini, that “women without any visible evidence of a G-spot cannot have a vaginal orgasm“. But, if women do not have one “they can still have a normal orgasm through stimulation of the clitoris,” he continued, “One clear finding is that each woman is different. This is one reason why women are so interesting.”

New Scientist magazine pointed out that other researchers welcomed the findings, but said it was unclear whether Dr Jannini’s team had identified a distinct G-spot structure or an internal part of the clitoris.

The urethrovaginal space is rich in blood vessels, glands, muscle fibres, nerves and (in a few women) a remnant of the embryological prostate called the Skene’s glands. Some researchers have suggested that the Skene’s glands are involved in triggering vaginal orgasms and thus enable a small number of women to ejaculate.

Tim Spector of St Thomas’ Hospital in London said:

The authors found a thicker vaginal wall near the urethra and hypothesise this may be related to the presence of the controversial G-spot. However, many other explanations are possible - such as the actual size of the clitoris, which, although not measured in this study - appears highly variable.

Other scientists challenge the notion that the G-spot is missing in women who don’t experience vaginal orgasms:

Beverly Whipple of Rutger’s University School of Nursing in Newark, New Jersey, whose team named the G-spot, back in 1981 said:

It is an intriguing study, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that women who don’t experience orgasm don’t have any tissue there, [...] the next step is to ask women to stimulate themselves and then repeat the ultrasounds, as the area is believed to swell in response to physical pressure. This might reveal that all women have G-spots.

Another possibility is that the women who experienced vaginal orgasms had learned to do so through practice, which has altered their anatomy, much like exercising a muscle makes it grow, says Leonore Tiefer, a psychiatrist at New York University School of Medicine. “The research would be much stronger if women without vaginal orgasm were taught how to have this experience and then repeated measurements were taken of the urethral-vaginal area,” she said. “Of course this would involve teaching their partners a great deal.” She would also have liked to see more extensive questioning of the women to fully understand their sexual practices.

Jannini accepts that there are limitations to his study. In particular, the small number of women he studied didn’t allow him to say what proportion of all women have a G-spot - although it would seem that a large number do not.

This tentative conclusion is supported by previous questionnaire-based studies such as The Hite Report, which found that 70 percent of women do not have orgasms through intercourse, but are able to experience orgasm easily by direct clitoral stimulation.

Jannini is now planning larger studies to confirm his findings, and measure how many women have a G-spot - if that is indeed what he has been measuring.

Share & Bookmark this article:

Posted by Jonathan in Biochemistry, Biology