Why Is foreplay so important?

Foreplay can lead to better sex—and could be the key to better orgasms. Sex therapist Ian Kerner, PhD, explains why foreplay is so important.

Transcript

00:00

Foreplay is also mental. It can involve fantasy. It can involve talking. It can involve just communicating and being loving.

00:08

[MUSIC PLAYING]

00:17

So foreplay, what's the importance? What's the big deal? Well, foreplay is incredibly important.

00:25

If you look at the orgasm, both the male orgasm and the female orgasm, it really consists of two things happening at once, vasocongestion,

00:33

which means blood flow into the genitals, and myotonia, which is tension, muscular tension

00:40

throughout the body. And when those two things, blood flow to the genitals and muscular tension throughout the body,

00:47

when those two things intersect and reach a critical threshold, orgasm happens. Well, it takes a lot of foreplay to make those two things happen.

00:56

And foreplay can be both physical-- it can involve touching, kissing, caressing, oral sex.

01:03

It can involve intercourse and then going back to foreplay. And of course, foreplay is also mental.

01:10

It can involve fantasy. It can involve talking. It can involve just communicating and being loving.

01:17

But both physiological stimulation and psychogenic stimulation or psychological stimulation, mental stimulation, both play a big role in orgasm.

01:26

[WHOOSH] [AUDIO LOGO]