Sensory Stimulation: Senses That Give Us Sexual Pleasure
Although people tend to focus on physical stimulation, the fact is there are other senses which are determining factors for increasing sexual arousal.
Sensory stimulation allows using your senses to enjoy a wide variety of sensations during sex. It’s a useful tool to break sexual routines, get to know your partner and enjoy more pleasurable sex.
Although, it is part of every kind of sexual contact, many people are unaware of being able to enhance its effects with some technical and specific elements. Other than just these senses, below you can find some tricks to stimulate and increase their sensitivity.
Don’t miss out!
What is Sensory Stimulation?
These are the sensations perceived through taste, smell, and sight. Including, our other senses that enhance sexual arousal. It may vary according to each person’s preferences, and you can use foreplay and intercourse to make sex even better.
Although these sensations are unnoticeable to some – – probably due to a lot of people’s sex routines – – they may lead to an orgasm.
See also: Essential Oils That Will Relax You
Senses That Pleasure You and How to Stimulate Them
All your body’s senses participate in what you feel and experience during sex. However, due to carelessness or inexperience, people don’t always stimulate their senses correctly and satisfactorily.
Touch
Sensory pleasure through touch is strongly related to sexual arousal and to the ability to reach an orgasm. It’s one of the most important senses since the skin is our largest organ.
How to Stimulate it
- The most basic way to do this is by touching and massaging.
- You should always try different things, like playing with temperatures or textures.
Smell
Perceiving certain scents before and during intercourse can increase sensations to make sex more enjoyable. This type of pleasure is closely related to pheromones.
How to Stimulate it
- Perfume can make your partner experience sexual arousal.
- Some essential oils used in aromatherapy are also beneficial (lavender, licorice, or lemon, etc.).
Hearing
Auditory pleasure significantly enhances the sensory experience of sex. Especially when people like to be whispered in their ears or get off by hearing their partner moan. It has a strong relationship with agrexophilia, i.e. sexual arousal based on knowing other people are aware of your sexual activities.
How to Stimulate it
- Whispering fantasies or “dirty” talk into your partner’s ears.
- Not holding back on your moans.
- Listening to erotic songs.
We recommend reading: Keeping an Eye on Your Hearing is Important, Too: When Was Your Last Checkup?
Taste
Taste is one of the senses that helps you explore your partner’s body more intimately. It’s necessary to stimulate the genitalia during oral sex. The mouth and especially the tongue, enhance you and your partner’s arousal. This stimulation comes from the pleasure of enjoying the taste of body fluids.
How to Stimulate it
- While for some tasting their partner’s private parts or body fluids is enough, others prefer taking it up a notch. For example, using oils or flavored condoms.
- You can use some foods, such as chocolate or whipped cream, as long as they’re safe for your health.
Sight
Men are more prone to sexual arousal from visual stimulation than women are. In this type of stimulation, couples express emotions through eroticism. It allows people to constantly innovate sex since it includes all kinds of sexual fantasies.
How to Stimulate it
- Observe the reactions of the other person while receiving stimuli.
- Stare at your partner during intercourse.
- Use costumes, lingerie, paint, leather, and other elements to create an erotic fantasy.
What sense gives you more pleasure? Regardless of the type of stimulus, the arousal and pleasure that the senses give off may vary from person to person.
It’s important to know what your partner likes, what he/she is most sensitive to, and what things drive him/her wild. Knowing how to use this kind of pleasure can certainly improve sex and help reach an orgasm. So have a wonderful time enjoying it!
All cited sources were thoroughly reviewed by our team to ensure their quality, reliability, currency, and validity. The bibliography of this article was considered reliable and of academic or scientific accuracy.
- Wallen, K., & Lloyd, E. A. (2011). Female sexual arousal: Genital anatomy and orgasm in intercourse. Hormones and Behavior. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yhbeh.2010.12.004
- Pfaus, J. G. (1999). Neurobiology of sexual behavior. Current Opinion in Neurobiology. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0959-4388(99)00034-3
- Komisaruk, B. R., Wise, N., Frangos, E., Liu, W. C., Allen, K., & Brody, S. (2011). Women’s clitoris, vagina, and cervix mapped on the sensory cortex: fMRI evidence. Journal of Sexual Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1743-6109.2011.02388.x
- Holstege, G., Georgiadis, J. R., Paans, A. M. J., Meiners, L. C., van der Graaf, F. H. C. E., & Reinders, A. A. T. S. (2003). Brain activation during human male ejaculation. The Journal of Neuroscience : The Official Journal of the Society for Neuroscience.
- Symes, L. B., & Price, T. D. (2015). Sexual Stimulation and Sexual Selection. The American Naturalist. https://doi.org/10.1086/680414
- Verhaeghe, J., Gheysen, R., & Enzlin, P. (2013). Pheromones and their effect on women’s mood and sexuality. Facts, Views & Vision in ObGyn.
