Why Does Anal Sex Make Me Wet?

The first time that 32-year-old Tessa had anal sex with her boyfriend, something unexpected happened. When she reached down between her legs to pleasure herself, she found that her vagina had lubricated to unprecedented, “near-waterfall levels,” and the sheets below her had gone damp.

“I was honestly kind of shocked,” she remembered. “I don’t think I’ve ever gotten that wet before. Neither I nor my boyfriend were touching my clit or vagina, so it made me really curious to know why.”

It’s no secret that anal sex can be intensely pleasurable for the person receiving it. According to Carlyle Jansen, a sex therapist and the author of Anal Sex Basics, the anus contains just as many nerve endings as your fingertips or mouth and is home to a rich network of blood vessels and tissue types that respond particularly well to light stretch and in-and-out movement. If a person has a prostate, there can be even more potential for pleasure. Often referred to as the “P-spot,” the prostate is capable of producing legendarily intense, non-ejaculatory orgasms that occur independently from penile stimulation and can happen again and again with no refractory period.

What’s less obvious is why anal sex can feel so good for people without prostates. With no additional erogenous organ to bump up the pleasure, what’s going on at the south end of the colons of women—and other people assigned female at birth—that can make it feel so good? And, to paraphrase Tessa, why can it make them “so historically soaked”?

Not everyone gets as wet as she did her first time, but some factors make it possible. For one, the anus and rectum are located incredibly close to the vagina, cervix and pelvic floor, meaning good feelings in one of these structures can cause good feelings in the other. Still, the opening of the anus and the anal canal are sensitive enough to cause orgasm and increased vaginal lubrication on their own. “The anus has so many nerve endings that, when stimulated properly, it allows one to feel incredible sensations from head to toe,” explains Evan Goldstein, D.O., a nationally renowned anal surgeon and the founder the anal wellness brand Future Method. “This could potentially cause enhanced lubrication as well.”

Often, these feelings can lead to what Goldstein referred to as a “whole-body high,” a slightly different sensation than the more localized pleasure produced by the vagina or clit. This high might be so intense for some people that the vagina revs up its lubrication production in response.

Likewise, anal penetration can activate a number of additional pleasure zones both within and around the vagina, each of which can cause the increased circulation and nerve stimulation needed for Tessa-level wetness.

The anus contains just as many nerve endings as your fingertips or mouth and responds particularly well to light stretch and in-and-out movement.

The first of these is the perineal sponge, a collection of nerves and erectile tissue found between the vaginal opening and the rectum. This area, which can be stimulated through the top of the rectum or the back wall of the vagina, is located about a thumb’s length in and engorges with blood during arousal. When it does, it ever-so-slightly compresses the lower third of the vagina, putting some pleasurable pressure on both the internal clitoris and the G-spot. When the G-spot is stimulated (either directly through the vagina or indirectly through the anus) and a person is aroused, a pair of glands known as the Skene’s glands release lubrication fluid into the vagina via two small ducts located on either side. The more aroused someone is and the more the G-spot and the surrounding area are stimulated, the more fluid these glands tend to release. In some cases, this can even lead to squirting.

Many people who enjoy anal penetration do claim they feel it in their G-spot, particularly if they’ve stimulated it with a finger, toy or penis first. Tessa said her anal orgasm felt like it originated there, but while that may be the case, Jansen said it’s more likely her A-spot that’s responsible for her wetness. A lesser-studied erogenous zone located between the cervix and the frontal wall of the vagina, the A-spot is responsible for a large portion of the lubrication that happens during arousal and sex and needs a slightly deeper touch to access. (Jansen said it’s about 2-3 inches north of the G-spot.) The most direct way to do this is with a toy or a longer penis in the vagina, but because there’s so much cross-wiring between nerves in the pelvic region and their stimulations can be felt by multiple areas at once, anal penetration can also do the trick.

Fascinating physiology aside, there’s also a much more obvious explanation. “When we’re turned on, we lubricate,” said Jansen. “If anal sex feels good and we’re aroused by what’s happening, it makes us wet because we're feeling pleasure.” Bonus points if what you’re doing is novel or something you consider slightly taboo—trying new, supposedly “naughty” activities such as anal can be particularly arousing and, therefore, particularly wet.

That said, if you haven’t experienced the sort of wetness Tessa has during anal, never fear—people lubricate at different rates, for different reasons and at different times, and the amount of pleasure or wetness they get from anal sex can vary wildly depending on the situation. A lack of vaginal lubrication during anal doesn’t necessarily mean a person’s not enjoying it, just like a flood of wetness at the slightest butt touch doesn’t automatically mean they are.

That’s why Goldstein said it’s important to be patient while you explore what works and what doesn’t. “Things like your pelvic floor angulation, the angle of insertion and what size toy or penis you're inserting, all contribute to how pleasurable anal sex can be,” he said. “If you’re someone who can climax simply through vaginal stimulation (read: no clitoral stimulation), you may have an easier time achieving an orgasm through anal penetration alone. However, if you combine anal, clitoral and vaginal stimulation, the sensations will be like nothing you’ve ever experienced before.”

So far, that’s been true for Tessa. The deeper she’s gotten into anal, the more she’s discovered that giving herself time to stimulate all of her erogenous zones and work her way up to anal makes her “extra wet.”

“You gotta put in work,” she said. “It’s not easy being this wet, but trust me, it’s worth it.”