One way of explaining how an ejaculation works is by comparing it to firing a rifle. In that case too one first has to load before one can shoot, with the urethra acting as the barrel of the rifle. Ejaculation changes as one gets older: both the emission and expulsion phases last longer.
Emission stands for loading and expulsion for firing. In the emission phase the mixture of sperm cells, seminal and prostate fluid is forced into the urethra by powerful contractions of the epididymises, the sperm ducts, the seminal glands and the prostate. In the expulsion phase the prostate and the muscles beneath the urethra contract periodically and the ejaculate spurts from the penis at intervals of o.8 seconds. Adolescents often tend to brag about how far they can ‘shoot’. A certain tribe in New Guinea has turned it into a parlour game, and there are countless limericks on the subject, like the following:
There once was a passionate pastor With feelings he never could master.
His ejaculations
Baptized congregations
And hung from the ceiling like plaster!
In a man the amount of sperm ejaculated each time totals between 2 and 5 millilitres, after between a day and a day and a half’s abstinence. According to the American urologist Metcalf the world record is half a teacup full. It is, incidentally, customary in the making of porn films for the actor who has to ejaculate to abstain for several days, so that the amount produced for the ‘money shot’ is as large as possible. Ask a man how many millilitres of sperm he ejaculates, and he will usually overestimate. This was certainly true of the 1970s uk band who had such hits as ‘I’m Not in Love’ and ‘The Things We Do for Love’ and called themselves 10 cc — their own estimate.
After ejaculation the sperm coagulates, becoming clotted like egg white that has been heated for a moment. After about fifteen minutes this frogspawn liquefies again.
While the sperm is being expelled the neck of the bladder is closed to prevent sperm from being forced in, as virtually always happens after a prostate operation, when the bladder can simply no longer close. The mechanism is irrevocably damaged by such a procedure, and the sperm is simply passed out with the urine.
In the elderly sensation during orgasm is greatly reduced, as happens with many other physiological processes: they run out of steam. As we get older our muscles leave us in the lurch. Much to the disappointment of patients there is nothing to be done about this. The only good piece of advice one can give is: soldier on!