You’ve got Heard of Pre-Cum Earlier than. However How A lot Do You Actually Know About It?
If it has been some time since your final sexual health class, let’s catch you up on what everybody ought to find out about pre-cum.
For those who’re not acquainted with the time period, it’s the clear substance that leaks out of the tip of a penis throughout male sexual arousal.
So why is pre-cum necessary to find out about, you may ask?
Effectively, for one, the extra educated all of us are on how pre-cum impacts sexual arousal, the expertise of intercourse itself, potential being pregnant and even STI transmission, the higher.
Data is energy, and realizing how your physique works will help enhance intercourse for you and your associate (to not point out preserve you each wholesome and STI-free).
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For 2, pre-cum has some issues in widespread with semen — and a few variations from it — that might show necessary to your intercourse life.
So this is every part it is best to find out about pre-cum — what it’s, what to look out for and what to remember for safer sex — as advised by medical doctors.
What Is Pre-Cum?
So, what precisely is the stuff that comes out earlier than you ejaculate?
“Pre-cum, or pre-ejaculate, is a transparent, mucus-like fluid that’s launched from the penis throughout sexual arousal,” explains Amy Pearlman, M.D., a board-certified urologist training in Florida.
Enjoyable truth about pre-cum: even if it comes out of the identical gap (the urethra), it is not made the identical approach as semen.
“Pre-cum comes from accent intercourse glands just like the Cowper’s gland, that are completely different from the prostate and testes that produce semen,” Pearlman explains.
Cowper’s glands are small, pea-shaped glands linked to the urethra by way of two ducts. When pre-cum is launched, it passes via the urethra and out of the penis.
One other enjoyable truth: pre-cum has a goal.
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“Many younger males I see in my apply do not understand that precum is a pure a part of arousal and serves necessary organic features, like neutralizing the acidic setting within the urethra to guard sperm,” Pearlman says.
Pre-cum additionally serves as a pure lubricant throughout intercourse, and is just like the fluid made by the vagina through the arousal course of, aka when individuals with vaginas “get moist.”
The Distinction Between Pre-Cum & Semen
Whereas semen tends to be thick and white or very barely off-white, usually with a definite odor to it, pre-cum differs a bit in composition.
“Pre-cum is commonly odorless, tasteless, and has a transparent, generally sticky consistency,” explains Paul Gittens, M.D., a board-certified urologist and founding father of Rockwell Centers for Sexual Medicine and Wellness in Pennsylvania and New York Metropolis.
Curiously, most males cannot detect when pre-cum is being launched the way in which they will with semen.
Whereas semen’s arrival is often arduous to overlook, because it shoots out of the urethra at high-speed, pre-cum’s is much more delicate—it should come out slowly, in smaller portions, generally forming a easy drop on the tip of the penis or wetting the top as extra emerges.
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And, because it’s normally a lot thinner than the considerably extra gooey consistency of semen, you may not even discover it’s there.
These variations make sense, for the reason that goal of pre-cum differs from semen’s as nicely.
“Pre-cum is primarily a lubricating and protecting fluid, whereas semen accommodates sperm that may fertilize an egg,” Pearlman says.
Pre-cum doesn’t naturally comprise sperm, however sperm can generally be current in pre-cum (extra on that later).
And whereas pre-cum is made within the accent glands, nonetheless, semen is made within the testes and mixed with seminal fluid (a nutritious fluid that helps the sperm transfer, aka sperm motility).
Is It Protected to Swallow Pre-Cum?
For those who’re questioning whether or not or not pre-cum is protected to devour orally, whether or not throughout a blowjob or not, the reply is sure — so long as each companions are freed from sexually transmitted infections.
“Precum can carry infections like HIV, although the focus is decrease than in semen,” Pearlman explains. “Once I speak to sufferers about oral intercourse, I emphasize the significance of STI testing and protected practices, as many don’t notice that precum can nonetheless pose a danger.”
Getting tested regularly for STIs is vital for protected intercourse, and that features oral intercourse. Since most males cannot management pre-cum or really feel when it is occurring, it’s particularly necessary in instances the place one associate could also be consuming pre-cum orally.
Can Pre-Cum Trigger Being pregnant?
Whereas pre-cum itself doesn’t comprise sperm, pre-cum can nonetheless cause pregnancy.
“It may take milliseconds for an ejaculate (sperm-containing fluid) to happen after the primary website of pre-cum, which is why pulling out isn’t a great way to stop a being pregnant,” Gittens explains.
Pre-cum can even comprise sperm from a earlier ejaculation.
“Research present that as much as 40% of males could have sperm of their precum, even after urinating,” says Pearlman.
In her apply, Pearlman has discovered that many younger males depend on the withdrawal (pull out) methodology as their solely form of contraception — typically with out realizing their associate’s contraceptive standing.
“I counsel them that withdrawal alone is unreliable and advocate combining it with strategies like condoms or guaranteeing their associate is on an efficient contraceptive,” she says.
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So, in summation, sure, pre-cum and ejaculate are completely different from each other, even all the way down to the truth that they’re produced by completely different glands.
Nonetheless, pre-cum nonetheless poses danger for transmitted infections, just like semen, and it will probably nonetheless trigger being pregnant, although it would not naturally comprise sperm, so it is necessary to make use of contraception in case you and your associate need to forestall it.
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Open, trustworthy communication is the muse of each good sexual expertise, so ensure you and your associate are on the identical web page about pre-cum, the dangers it poses and the most effective contraception strategies to maintain you each protected and wholesome.
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