The penis is part of the male sexual anatomy. It consists of the root, body and glans and contains erectile tissue and muscles. It also has the urethra that allows urination and sexual intercourse to occur.
A man’s penis can enter through the vaginal opening (also known as the vulva) or the anus. Where a woman wants her boyfriend’s penis to end up depends on what turns her on during sexual activity.
Vaginal Opening
The most familiar hole ‘down there’ is the vaginal opening (also called the vulva). It’s the passageway from the outside of a woman’s body to her reproductive organs. It’s also where babies exit during birth and where period blood flows during menstruation. The vaginal opening is protected by a thin membrane called the hymen which can stretch during sexual activity, during exercise and even when inserting a tampon.
If it does, the hymen may be split into two smaller openings which are each called a septate hymen. This is not uncommon and can occur in teens as well. It doesn’t affect sex performance, just the sensation and it can make putting in a tampon more difficult – This section originates from the website’s author teen-super-sexy.com.
The vaginal canal extends inside the vulva and ends at a point called the anus. It’s not an easy part of the anatomy to see and you can only feel it by spreading your legs wide apart. The anus is covered by a part of the clitoris known as the glans. The glans can feel sensitive to touch and some people get intensely pleasurable sensations when it’s stimulated. While the clitoris is often thought of as one solid piece, it actually has a long tube that runs from the tip of the glans to the bottom of the urethra. This tubular structure is sometimes referred to as the internal clitoral sponge or Grafenberg spot and there is debate about whether it’s an independent part of the anatomy or just a response to stimulation of the glans.
Urethra
The urethra is a tube that lets urine exit your body. In males, it extends from the bladder through the prostate gland and into the penis. It’s important to understand this part of your anatomy because it plays a role in both urination and ejaculation.
It’s lined with stratified columnar epithelium to protect the urethra from corrosive urine. It also receives sympathetic, parasympathetic and visceral innervation from a variety of sources.
In men, the urethra allows for the passage of urine from the bladder into the outside world and, in the case of ejaculation, the release of sperm from the vas deferens and seminal vesicles. The urethra is approximately 15-20cm long and can be divided into two parts: the bulbar urethra and the pendulous urethra.
The bulbar urethra extends from the neck of the bladder and is surrounded by an internal urethral sphincter. It’s then joined by the spongy urethra that extends from the base of the penis.
When urinating, you should always wipe from front to back to prevent contaminating the urethral opening with bacteria from your hands. This is to avoid causing a UTI. You should also never use a finger to push the urine out because this can cause damage to your urethra and bladder wall. This can lead to a hole in your urethra (called urethral fistula). It may take months or even years to heal from such a problem.
External Pudendal Arteries
A pair of arteries called the external pudendal arteries supply blood to your penis. They come from your femoral artery in the lower leg. These arteries are very important for the function of your anus and penis. They help your anus and penis hold in and release feces, urine and sperm. They also give you sensation in your genital area.
They also run through your pelvic floor muscles that support your organs and go to the anus (anal canal) and penis. They connect with the S2 to S4 sacral spinal nerves in your lower spine, which are part of a complex network that sends movement (motor) and sensation information to your thighs, legs and feet and to parts of your pelvic girdle, including your anus and genitalia.
Usually, the arteries of the external pudendal system are duplicated in which case they are called the lateral and internal pudendal arteries. Both of these arteries originate from the femoral artery at the inguinal ligament and pass superiorly within the endopelvic fascia, close to the prostatic apex.
The lateral artery, when present, can be seen on a lateral maximum-intensity-projection reformatted CT angiogram as a thick black arrow piercing the medial surface of the rectum at the two pubic tubercles and curving downwards under the sciatic notch to enter perineum. The curved artery is then terminated by the perineal scrotal artery and the dorsal artery of the penis (thin white arrow). Both arteries are commonly encountered in femoral triangle dissections.
Internal Pudendal Arteries
The internal pudendal arteries are the terminal branches of the anterior division of the IIA and supply the structures of the perineum. The internal pudendal artery exits the pelvis through the greater sciatic foramen, curves past the closely situated ischial spine (thick black arrows in Fig 6B), and enters the perineum. Upon entering the perineum it gives rise to a bulbar artery that supplies the urethra, and a penile artery that terminates with a dorsal artery of the penis/clitoris.
The anterior division of the IIA also produces several other branches that supply both visceral and parietal territories within the pelvis, gluteal region, and thigh. Among them are the umbilical artery, which transports deoxygenated blood from the fetus, the obturator artery that travels through the obturator canal accompanied by the obturator nerve and vein, and the inferior vesical artery that supplies the lower portion of the bladder in males.
The IIA further branches into a pair of common iliac arteries that branch off from the bottom part of the abdominal aorta. The common iliac arteries then divide into a right common iliac artery and left common iliac artery, which then split again into an external iliac artery on each side of the body and an internal iliac artery in the pelvis.
