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Feeling blue?
“Blue balls” are believed to only plague men, but a doctor is claiming women can suffer from the same physical sensation, dubbed “blue vulva.”
On her YouTube channel, urologist and pelvic surgeon Dr. Rena Malik detailed the phenomenon, saying it occurs when women are “aroused but don’t achieve climax.”
The term “blue balls” has been embedded in pop culture for “several decades,” the Maryland physician says in her video, which has scored nearly 150,000 views.
“Despite this, there’s very little medical literature on the topic,” she adds.
Considered by many women a myth, the idea of “blue balls” has often been dismissed as a sexual tactic to convince partners to get down and dirty, which has fueled an age-old debate.
A 2019 Cosmopolitan article sniffed at the writhing cry of men with seemingly debilitating “blue balls,” brushing it off as “mild discomfort” rather than searing agony.
The bothersome sensation, the author wrote, is a card men have played “since the dawn of time as a way to convince women that we have to ‘follow through.'”
However, the uncomfortable, and at times rather painful, feeling down under isn’t actually a ploy at all, Dr. Malik said — it’s real and it can even happen to women.
In the case of testicles, the sensation involves an increased blood flow to the nether region, which, if unaccompanied by the big “O,” can leave the sexually stimulated feeling a little, well, blue.
“The blood flow to the penis and testicles increases, causing the testicles to get a little bit larger and more firm,” Malik said in her YouTube explainer.
“If you’re having prolonged arousal, and it’s not getting released through orgasm or ejaculation, the blood does leave the area, but it can leave this uncomfortable heaviness feeling in the genitalia.”
The name isn’t just referring to how sad the sexually frustrated person is — in fact, the temporary and non-life-threatening condition can even make the scrotum a “bluish color.”
Even Dr. Sam Hay, a physician from Australia, admitted he was shocked to discover the reality of “blue balls.”
“I thought it was a complete excuse for guys to get off — but it’s actually true,” he said in a radio interview last year.
Consider the myth busted.
If there’s no possible way to achieve climax, Malik recommends lying down on one’s back, using a chilled compress or even indulging in a shiver-inducing spray.
“A cold shower will constrict the blood vessels and take the blood away from the area,” she advised.
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