What happens when a female is sexually excited?
When you get sexually aroused, turned on or excited, many emotional and physical arousal signals are triggered in your body. Your nerves, blood vessels, brain and hormones all change in some way, but that’s not all. Your thoughts and emotions also come into play when you get ‘turned on’.
Signs of female arousal
• Sexual excitement signals include:
• your breasts getting fuller
• your nipples hardening (getting erect)
• your heart rate and breathing getting faster
• swelling of your clitoris and your vagina’s inner lips (labia minora)
• having an orgasm (climaxing)
The 4 stages of female arousal
Stage 1: Excitement (Motivation)
This first stage is where you start feeling sexually excited because of thoughts, words, sights, smells or touch. You may feel a desire to have sex in this first stage, but this desire may only build up once you’re in the second stage of arousal.
You might feel the muscles in your body start to tense and your heart rate and breathing get faster. Your breasts may become fuller and your nipples may harden (get erect).
You may start thinking about masturbating, which is giving yourself sexual pleasure by stimulating your genitals through touching or rubbing.
Stage 2: Arousal (Plateau)
Sexual arousal is when sexual excitement is both thought about and felt in the body. Blood will start to flow to your vagina, making your clitoris and vaginal walls swell. This increased blood flow causes your vagina to produce more lubricating fluid – this is often called ‘getting wet’ – a main telltale physical sign of female arousal.
Your muscles will continue tightening and your clitoris will feel very sensitive. Your breathing and heart rate will also continue to increase.
Stage 3: Orgasm
When you reach the climax or peak of sexual excitement, it’s called having an orgasm. Just before orgasm, the muscles throughout your body tense up even more. As your orgasm begins, the muscles in your vagina tighten and release (contract) in a rhythmical way.
An orgasm generally lasts for only a few seconds. During this time you’ll have involuntary muscle contractions and spasms, and your blood pressure, heart rate and breathing will be at their highest. You’ll also feel a sudden, strong release of sexual tension.
You may have 1 orgasm, or more than 1 (multiple orgasms), but it&39;s important to know that you don’t need to have an orgasm to enjoy sex.
Stage 4: Resolution
This final stage is where you feel a sense of overall wellbeing and are completely relaxed. Most often, this stage will come after orgasm, but it can also happen after sexual activity without an orgasm.
At this stage, your body will begin to return to its original levels of functioning with your heart rate and breathing returning to normal. Swollen areas will also go back to their original state. You may even feel sleepy.
