# Vulva's sensitivity to pain **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 12, 2005, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vulvas-sensitivity-to-pain/289734 "2005-02-12T12:45:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DaveP](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/49beb7/32.png) [@DaveP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaveP)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2005, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vulvas-sensitivity-to-pain/289734/1 "2005-02-12T12:45:18Z")
The title says it all really, does anyone know how sensitive the vulva (labia, clitoris etc) is to pain? I used to think it wasn’t that sensitive but experience with my ex-girlfriend suggests othewise. (She got kicked by her little brother for stopping him teasing the cat and her reaction was pretty extreme) ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2005, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vulvas-sensitivity-to-pain/289734/2 "2005-02-12T13:26:40Z")
Dude, it’s VERY sensitive to pain… the reason it’s not more obvious is that the female genitalia is better protected from random trauma than testicles are. The clitoris, as an example, has as many nerve endings as a penis, and is just as sensitive. It’s also a much smaller “target”, and again, less likely to be victim to random trauma. A direct blow to the female bits hurts like the dickens and likely would result in the woman curled up on the floor whimpering “mommy!”. But like I said, it’s a lot harder to get a direct blow in that case. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2005, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vulvas-sensitivity-to-pain/289734/3 "2005-02-12T13:38:25Z")
Both male and female genitals are _loaded_ with nerve endings. It’s hard to find an area of the body that is more sensitive to stimulus (hands, fingers, tongue, and lips are in that league). Here’s a homunculus where size indicates greater sensitivity: [http://www.vanderbilt.edu/neuro\_majors/homunculus.htm](http://www.vanderbilt.edu/neuro_majors/homunculus.htm) ---
**Author:** ![CrazyCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CrazyCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrazyCatLady)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2005, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vulvas-sensitivity-to-pain/289734/4 "2005-02-12T16:10:56Z")
Anything that’s sensitive to pleasure is sensitive to pain. How fun is it for you to get kicked in the crotch? As **Broomstick** points out, it’s just harder to hit the really sensitive areas on a female body. The external part of the labia majora is fairly desensitized from rubbing against clothes and those tend to provide some cushioning for the more sensitive bits. But when you score a direct hit to the inner part of the vulva (like you, say, lose your balance climbing over a fence and land a-straddle it), it HURTS. And if you manage to have a direct hit on the clitoris, we’re talking “oh god I’m going to pass out, puke, and shit my pants all at the same time” quality pain. ---
**Author:** ![whiterabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/cab0a1/32.png) [@whiterabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whiterabbit)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2005, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vulvas-sensitivity-to-pain/289734/5 "2005-02-12T16:58:56Z")
Once, when I was twelve or so, for some reason I was riding a friend’s brother’s bike. And then I slipped off the seat somehow, landing on the bar. OWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!! ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2005, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vulvas-sensitivity-to-pain/289734/6 "2005-02-12T17:27:00Z")
The vulva is the same tissue that on a male fetus would become the scrotum. Is your scrotum sensitive to pain? ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2005, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vulvas-sensitivity-to-pain/289734/7 "2005-02-12T17:27:42Z")
> [@CrazyCatLady](#): > > Anything that’s sensitive to pleasure is sensitive to pain. How fun is it for you to get kicked in the crotch? [inexact analogy police] **CCL** , the bits that are most sensitive to pain _aren’t_ sensitive to pleasure, in our case[/iap] ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2005, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vulvas-sensitivity-to-pain/289734/8 "2005-02-12T17:29:14Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > The vulva is the same tissue that on a male fetus would become the scrotum. > > Is your scrotum sensitive to pain? Scrotum? Not immensely. Kinda itchy if you have a seam crossways on it. It’s the testes that cause the major aggro. (Sorry for the consecutive posts but Zsofia’s post wasn’t there before my first reply.) ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2005, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vulvas-sensitivity-to-pain/289734/9 "2005-02-12T17:55:25Z")
> [@Malacandra](#): > > Scrotum? Not immensely. Kinda itchy if you have a seam crossways on it. You’ve obviously never had a scrotal laceration or bite wound, or you would **not** dismiss scrotal pain so lightly. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![CrazyCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CrazyCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrazyCatLady)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2005, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vulvas-sensitivity-to-pain/289734/10 "2005-02-12T18:13:14Z")
> [@Malacandra](#): > > [inexact analogy police] **CCL** , the bits that are most sensitive to pain _aren’t_ sensitive to pleasure, in our case[/iap] So, you’re saying that someone sinking their teeth into the head of your penis isn’t going to hurt like a bitch? I was referring to the concentration of nerve endings in the area, not the particular bits that hurt more or less than other bits. If an area is sensitive, it’s sensitive to good and bad. ---
**Author:** ![aeropl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f05b48/32.png) [@aeropl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aeropl)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2005, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vulvas-sensitivity-to-pain/289734/11 "2005-02-12T18:31:39Z")
> [@Qadgop the Mercotan](#): > > Both male and female genitals are _loaded_ with nerve endings. It’s hard to find an area of the body that is more sensitive to stimulus (hands, fingers, tongue, and lips are in that league). > > Here’s a homunculus where size indicates greater sensitivity: > > [http://www.vanderbilt.edu/neuro\_majors/homunculus.htm](http://www.vanderbilt.edu/neuro_majors/homunculus.htm) Okay, but the first time I saw that illustration I thought (as I am thinking now): why isn’t the genital area huge? That area seems even more sensitive than lips and fingers. ---
**Author:** ![Chanteuse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9de053/32.png) [@Chanteuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chanteuse)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2005, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vulvas-sensitivity-to-pain/289734/12 "2005-02-12T18:46:55Z")
And don’t forget that BONE right beneath our tender bits–with fairly little cushioning. If we slip and straddle a balance beam or get kicked by a hard shoe, it’s rather similar to smashing a finger between two bricks! Yeeowch! When I was about eight years old, I was walking an iron see-saw frame (the see-saws had been removed) and slipped, landing with a CRUNCH. Yeah, it hurt like hell. I was relatively uninjured, so I was able to walk home, but at bathtime I discovered my panties were full of blood. I had no external injuries, and the bleeding stopped, so Mom figured that I must have ruptured my hymen. Years later, I asked a doctor about it, during my first pelvic exam (I was still a virgin)–she checked, and while it was still somewhat intact, the hymen had suffered some definite injury. (I can’t help but feel that sex would’ve been a better way to have done that, though!) Having said that, however, in a fight, I think you’d get more mileage out of a good old-fashioned titty-punch! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2005, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vulvas-sensitivity-to-pain/289734/13 "2005-02-12T18:47:29Z")
> [@CrazyCatLady](#): > > So, you’re saying that someone sinking their teeth into the head of your penis isn’t going to hurt like a bitch? I was referring to the concentration of nerve endings in the area, not the particular bits that hurt more or less than other bits. If an area is sensitive, it’s sensitive to good and bad. Yes, but nowhere NEAR as much as a tap on the stones. I’ve had surface damage to my penis and my scrotum, and it hurt, but the testicles open up whole new worlds of pain. ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2005, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vulvas-sensitivity-to-pain/289734/14 "2005-02-12T18:51:31Z")
Nobody has answered the OP’s question! \>does anyone know how sensitive the vulva (labia, clitoris etc) is to pain? Yes. 3,000,000,000 people do. ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2005, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vulvas-sensitivity-to-pain/289734/15 "2005-02-12T18:54:38Z")
And some people more than others. _has gone bareback riding, once, would rather not repeat that experience_ ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2005, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vulvas-sensitivity-to-pain/289734/16 "2005-02-12T20:26:58Z")
> [@Nametag](#): > > Yes, but nowhere NEAR as much as a tap on the stones. I’ve had surface damage to my penis and my scrotum, and it hurt, but the testicles open up whole new worlds of pain. Yeah, gotta throw down with this. I’ve had more than my fair share of gential bang ups, including, on one memorable occasion, a burn from a lighter (it’s been a memorable life so far) but NOTHING I’ve experienced comes close to a solid shot to the testes. It’s pass out see stars wish to die painful. ---
**Author:** ![Mathochist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c89c15/32.png) [@Mathochist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mathochist)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2005, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vulvas-sensitivity-to-pain/289734/17 "2005-02-12T20:30:02Z")
> [@CrazyCatLady](#): > > So, you’re saying that someone sinking their teeth into the head of your penis isn’t going to hurt like a bitch? I was referring to the concentration of nerve endings in the area, not the particular bits that hurt more or less than other bits. If an area is sensitive, it’s sensitive to good and bad. I get the impression that women think the guy “kicked-in-the-crotch” pain has something to do with the penis, which it really doesn’t. It’s all about the testes. Not scrotum, **zsofia**. I can pinch my scrotum for hours and it’s mildly uncomfortable. Swift pressure on the glans penis (analogue of the glans clitoris) is Very Bad, but slow squeezing is just annoying. _Any_ undue pressure on the testes themselves will send a guy hopping away if he’s even able to move. The exact female analogue would be the ovaries; would any woman care to tell me the last time she got kicked in those was? The OP was answered: the glans clitoris is as sensitive as the glans penis. The rest of the vulva is as sensitive as any other mucuous membrane (usually pretty sensitive). In terms of “trauma” (where the discussion quickly ran to) I’ve yet to see a convincing argument that getting hit square in the clitoris is comparable to getting hit in the testes rather than in the head of the penis. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2005, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vulvas-sensitivity-to-pain/289734/18 "2005-02-12T21:21:15Z")
> [@CrazyCatLady](#): > > So, you’re saying that someone sinking their teeth into the head of your penis isn’t going to hurt like a bitch? I was referring to the concentration of nerve endings in the area, not the particular bits that hurt more or less than other bits. If an area is sensitive, it’s sensitive to good and bad. You may care to try rereading what I actually wrote. And yes, I’ve had a knee catch me on the end of my knob (my sister should not have been taught how to defend herself from “being attacked” if she was going to misuse it, but fortunately for me she did it incompetently) and I have had a **hand-thrown** tennis ball hit me in the pods, and I know which I’d take again like a shot. **Quadg** , I’ve yet to have a severe bite or laceration anywhere, but I do know that my dick and my scrote can stand about 100x the rough handling that my nuts can… ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2005, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vulvas-sensitivity-to-pain/289734/19 "2005-02-12T21:44:01Z")
> [@Mathochist](#): > > The exact female analogue would be the ovaries; would any woman care to tell me the last time she got kicked in those was? Actually, I’m pretty sure I have - walked into a doorknob, anyway. I imagine that’s what it was because I reacted surprisingly similarly to the guys I’ve seen get hit in the nuts. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2005, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vulvas-sensitivity-to-pain/289734/20 "2005-02-12T23:01:13Z")
> [@Malacandra](#): > > **Quadg** , I’ve yet to have a severe bite or laceration anywhere, but I do know that my dick and my scrote can stand about 100x the rough handling that my nuts can… If you’re ever given a choice between a crush injury to your gonads and a crush injury to your glans, and you **must** pick one, pick the crush injury to your gonads. Trust me on this. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vulvas-sensitivity-to-pain/289734.md?page=2)