Women Can Get Blue Balls Too, According To Science

Everyone over the age of like.. 14 is familiar with the concept of blue balls.  It’s that painful sensation men get when they don’t orgasm after hooking up.  But as it turns out, dudes aren’t the only ones who suffer from it.  Indeed, women, too, can experience blue balls -- or rather, .  Read all about it below.

Blue balls. For a lot of men, experiencing blue balls is merely a euphemism for sexual frustration. But as it turns out, blue balls is a very real condition. Although it doesn’t happen to all guys, the ache below the belt results from a prolonged state of sexual arousal that doesn’t end in an orgasm. At times, it can even result in testicles turning a darker, bluish shade — hence the blue in blue balls.

Scientific explanation. That said, there isn’t a ton of science behind the phenomenon. In fact, scientists over the years have admitted that they’re not quite sure what’s responsible for causing blue balls. The common hypothesis? That the flow of blood to the nether regions when a guy’s aroused builds up and, if not released, puts pressure on his testicles that leads to dull pain, according to Men’s Health.

Women. While everyone’s heard of blue balls in men, can the painful condition occur in women as well? In other words, can ladies suffer from the dull ache below the belt as well? A new survey says yes, they most definitely can. Interesting.

The blues. Women’s nether regions can most certainly get the blues when they suffer from sexual frustration, Teresa Hoffman, M.D., an OB/GYN and medical director of Hoffman & Associates, an OB/GYN group affiliated with Baltimore’s Mercy Medical Center, explained to Women’s Health. Obviously, since women don’t have, well, balls, the condition works slightly different. Still, the concept is essentially the same.

How it works. So, how does blue balls work in women? Basically, when a gal gets turned on more blood flows into her uterus — similar to how a guy’s package gets a surge of blood when gets a stiffy. If the woman doesn’t reach climax, however, that extra blood stays there. And sits.

How it works. What happens when the blood stays in the uterus and sits? It waits. Namely, it waits to be released via contractions in your uterus, which, as you may know, is what happens you reach orgasm. Seemingly, without that big O your vagina can feel, erm, congested, if you know what we mean.

Blue clit. While the phenomenon often occurs in women, it’s actually not a *legit* condition. “It’s not a declared medical condition, but just like men can have that backup of blood due to the non-release of orgasm, that can happen to women, too,” Sid Azmi, sexpert and owner of Please New York sex shop in Brooklyn, NY, told Elite Daily.

Pain. Does the ailment hurt women as much as men? Apparently not. Why? Because vaginas are constantly getting filled in and out with blood — not just during sex or foreplay— so women are used to the whole “ballooning up with blood” feeling down below, according to Elite Daily.

Pain. “I think [blue balls] are more prevalent in males because the blood flow goes up and it takes a longer time for it to come down,” Azmi told Elite Daily. "For females, [blood flow] is a lot more natural…because we’re meant to have babies.” Ugh, figures.

Scientific explanation. Similar to that of the male phenomenon, the details surrounding female blue balls are a little fuzzy, to say the least. Hoffman explained to Women’s Health that there’s actually no scientific research on it. Why? Mostly because it isn’t an easy thing to track down… Obviously.

Men vs. women. But if the blue clit phenomenon has been around just as long as blue balls, why don’t we talk about it as often? According to Azmi, this is because society is “more accommodating” to the male orgasm. Seemingly, ladies often aren’t given the same cultural permission, to speak, to experience sexual pleasure.

Men vs. women. Azmi told Elite Daily: “A lot of women fake their orgasms because they think it takes too long, [or] because guys don’t do it right, and they don’t know how to tell their partners they’re not doing it the what they want to… So [if the] tension doesn’t get released anatomically, we feel it psychologically.” In laymen’s terms, when women are hooking up with a guy and feel like they’re just not going to orgasm, they start to freak out about the fact that they’re not going to orgasm. In turn, they fake their big O — and thus, experience that discomfort down below.

What next. So, should a gal be worried if she succumbs to the plight of the congested vag? Not at all. According to Hoffman, women shouldn’t worry if they experience blue balls in the bedroom. Like, at all.

What next. In fact, the minor pain typically lasts for a few minutes, disappearing 15 to 20 minutes after you didn’t orgasm. (Womp.) “It’s just like a guy,” Hoffman told Women’s Health. “If he has sex but doesn’t orgasm, it goes away and he’s fine. It’s a self-resolving thing.”