Full map of nerves in the clitoris mapped for the first time in history and it could have groundbreaking impact
A full map of the nerve system found in the clitoris has been mapped out for the first time ever in a history-making scientific breakthrough.
This has the potential to have a groundbreaking impact for research on women’s health.
The report comes a whopping 30 years after the nerves of the penis were mapped out in a comprehensive study.
Speaking to the Guardian, urologist Helen O’Connell from Melbourne commented on how the clitoris has long been ignored in research.
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She published the first thorough anatomical study of the organ back in 1998 which detailed how understanding how the clitoris works to trigger an orgasm is vital.
She said: “Orgasm is a brain function that leads to improved health and wellbeing as well as having positive implications for human relationships and possibly fertility.”
Explaining the lack of research into women’s health, she added: “It has been deleted intellectually by the medical and scientific community, presumably aligning attitude to a societal ignorance.”
But it looks like this could all be changing after Ju Young Lee, who is a research associate at Amsterdam University Medical Center, along with her team, mapped out the organ in order to gain more insight into how it works.
To do this, the group of medical experts used high-energy x-rays to form 3D scans of donated female pelvises.
Many people have taken to social media to react to the news, with one user writing on Reddit: “About f***ing time. lol. maybe the next thing is believing women when they say IUDs hurt and not numbing the cervix is just unnecessarily cruel?”
Another said: “‘For the first time’ women's health truly is centuries behind men's health yeesh.”
A third person commented: “Not just the clitoris, but also female anatomy in general. It's a sad reflection of the sexism and misogyny still prevalent in medical science that one of the most distinctly female organs is only now in the 21st century being properly studied.”
And a fourth added: “Well now guys, you have a native guide AND a map. No more excuses.”
According to the Guardian, Lee said: “This is the first ever 3D map of the nerves within the glans of the clitoris.”
Georga Longhurst, who is the head of anatomical sciences at St George’s, University of London, added: “I was especially fascinated by the high-resolution images within the glans, the most sensitive part of the clitoris, as these terminal nerve branches are impossible to see during dissection.”
The 3D scans of the clitoris show the nerves branching out through the organ in extreme detail.