Does ‘Getting Off’ Feel the Same for Men and Women? — Ask Dr. Harry Fisch

“Do orgasms feel the same for men and women?” — Amanda, 21, New York

It’s impossible to know with 100% certainty, but the likely answer is “yes.”

When asked to describe their orgasms, men and women tend to use the same, or similar words, such as “waves of pleasure in my body.” Several studies, also, suggest that orgasms feel the same between the sexes. In one study, 70 judges could not reliably tell the difference between descriptions of orgasms written by men and women.

One reason is probably that the pleasure of an orgasm comes not from the sex organs themselves, but from the release of certain chemicals, such as dopamine, in the brain.

Dr. Harry Fisch is a board certified urologist at New York Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Medical College of Cornell University. Each week, he’ll answer reader questions in an effort to get guys to “man up about health.”