MALE ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY
The workings of the human body are extremely complex. Consequently, they are not that easy to explain. The word ‘anatomy’ relates to the study of the structure of the body. What goes where, like muscles and bones and skin, etc. ‘Physiology’ refers to the way the body actually functions. Medical science is about trying to understand what the bits are, and how they work. Unlike a manufactured machine, the body was not designed by humans, so we cannot just refer to the plans.
Medicine has given names to things, and proposed how things work, in the hope of understanding the body better, and perhaps fixing it if it goes wrong. It is also helpful for the owners of all this high-tech machinery to know as much as they can about it. It can help us to monitor our bodies and pick up problems earlier. Probably more importantly it can help us to look after our bodies, so they are less likely to break down. Prevention is better than cure.
The penis is made up of sensitive skin covering ‘erectile’ tissue. This specialised tissue becomes harder when there is more blood flow to the area, such as at times of sexual arousal. The penis lengthens and hardens when a man is sexually aroused, which allows for insertion into a woman’s vagina.
The penis has a ‘shaft’, and a smooth rounded, more sensitive tip, which is called ‘the glans’. Covering the glans is a sheath of skin, called the foreskin. The foreskin retracts when the penis is erect. The foreskin is removed in circumcision, which is a surgical procedure performed in some cultures around the world for social reasons, and sometimes performed for medical reasons.
Ejaculate is the secretion containing seminal fluid and sperm, released at the moment of orgasm.
Testes (balls) are situated in the scrotum, a skin sac which hangs below the penis. Testes make sperm, by the squillion. The sperm travel from each testis through a network of ducts which become the epididymis, attached to the upper part of each testis. From the epididymis on each side the sperm travel through tubes, the vas deferens. They mix with seminal fluid, which is made in the prostate gland and stored in the seminal vesicles. This mixture is expelled from the penis, via the urethra, during ejaculation.
Sperm are constantly being made, and unlike females, fertile males are potentially able to reproduce at any time. Testes continue making sperm irrespective of a man’s age.
*12\52\4*
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.