This may sound like a very dumb question but does it really matter how much ejaculate is released? I have never released a lot, no matter what the situation. Are women aroused by the amount of ejaculate? My wife never commented about my small amount. However, when we were going thru infertility testing many years ago, the urologist asked me if the specimen I produced at his office was a typical amount. We found out that I was sterile and that conception would not happen. Oh well, that was 35 years ago. Since that time, I have not placed any emphasis on ejaculation in any amount. In fact, it really doesn’t matter if I ejaculated at all. Is there a way to not ejaculate? Orgasm could be easier that way for me if we didn’t have a clean up of that useless stuff.
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Now that you mention it, I can’t remember the last time anyone raised these issues, so I’m inferring that the amount of ejaculate is not a concern to the vast majority of women.
Of course, in sex, anything is possible, so there are probably women who care, but I’ve answered more than 10,000 sex questions, and I don’t think any woman as ever raised the issue. Its taste, yes, many times, but not its amount. Urology texts say men ejaculate about a tablespoon, more or less, hence the name of that old rock band The Loving Spoonful.
Medical folklore has it that if you want to ejaculate more, abstain for a few days. This makes sense. Most seminal fluid is produced by the prostate. Abstaining a while probably allows it to fill fuller. But I know of no research to substantiate this.
To dispense with ejaculation, lose your prostate (prostatectomy) or have a TURP (trans-urethral resection of the prostate). Prostatectomy is a treatment for prostate cancer. TURP treats severe noncancerous prostate enlargement. But absent those conditions, it’s highly unlikely you could find a urologist to perform either procedure, and even less likely that insurance would pay for it.
Sperm are made in the testicles. To reach the penis, they travel along the narrow tube of the epididymis (which lies just outside the testicles) and then along larger tubes (one from each testicle). These tubes join together and go through the prostate gland to the penis. The journey distance is about 6 metres (because the epididymis tube is very tiny and tightly coiled), and can take up to 3 weeks. Nourishing fluids from the seminal vesicle and prostate gland increase the volume, so sperm make up only about 5% of semen (also known as seminal fluid or ejaculate).
During sex, the semen gathers inside the base of the penis. At orgasm (climax), the muscles behind the base of the penis contract, shooting the semen out.
The sensation of orgasm is a relief of tension beginning just before the semen starts to spurt out, and ending with the final spurt – so if there is not much semen the orgasm will be short. Most men ejaculate more fluid at some times than at others – the amount can vary from a few drops to two teaspoonfuls.
Ageing is one of the most common reasons for a decrease in the amount of fluid produced when you ejaculate.
• Men aged 20–30 years typically ejaculate 4.0 mL.
• Men aged 30–50 years typically ejaculate 3.5 mL.
• Men aged 60–70 years typically ejaculate 2 mL.
• Men older than 70 years typically ejaculate just over 1 mL.
These figures come a survey published in Human Reproduction (2003;18:447–54) and they are averages, so some men in each age group will produce a lot more and some a lot less.
Smoking. If you want to increase the volume of semen you produce, stop smoking. The survey found that, on average, non-smokers ejaculated 3.2 mL of semen, but smokers ejaculated only 1.9 mL.
Frequency of sex. The survey also found that abstaining from sex increased the volume of semen produced. Men who had not had sex within the previous 5 days ejaculated a larger volume of semen.
Dry orgasm (no semen) means that although you have an orgasm, no fluid is produced. One possibility is that your semen is going backwards into the bladder. This can occur after surgery to the prostate, or with diabetes or some drugs. If you suddenly develop dry orgasm for no apparent reason, you should see your doctor. You will need tests to see if there is a blockage in the tubes.
Written by: Dr Margaret Stearn
Edited by: Dr Margaret Stearn
Last updated: Friday, February 26th 2010