Two days ago, I received this question from our Have A Question page:
Hi Jay Dee, my question is how to tell if my hubby has had an orgasm is it the same as him ejaculating and if not what is the difference? Thank you for your support in our marriage.
Good question, and one that I don’t think we’ve tackled yet. Yes, orgasm and ejaculation are separate things, though in men they tend to occur simultaneously, which causes some confusion.
Here’s how it sort of breaks down:
Orgasm is a physiological response, which includes a great many things such as increase heart rate, repeated muscle contractions and release, and the release of various hormones.
Ejaculation is simply the expulsion of seminal fluid.
So, what typically happens is that the man has an orgasm, and the repeated muscle contractions and release cause ejaculation. However, it is possible to separate these events. Some claim it’s possible for all men to learn, others don’t believe so. I don’t know what to believe. I myself have not learned to separate the two events, but then, I haven’t tried either.
But, for example, a young man (or boy) can have an orgasm, but not be developed enough to have seminal fluid to expel, and so it would be a “dry orgasm” as it’s termed.
By contrast, you can have nocturnal emissions which is an ejaculation event, and can be without the orgasm. As well, there are techniques, which I have no personal experience with, where you can milk the prostate of a man to get him to ejaculate, again, potentially without orgasm.
So, how do you tell? If seminal fluid is coming out, he’s ejaculating. If his muscles contract and there’s a big release, he’s probably having an orgasm. Chances are, these two events are happening at the same time.
I hope that helps!