Squirting is the involuntary release of fluid from the urethra during sexual arousal or orgasm, and it happens when the bladder rapidly fills during stimulation and then empties in a sudden gush. The volume can range from about 15 to over 100 milliliters. Despite its popularity in sexual culture, the physiology behind it is only recently becoming clearer, and it turns out to involve a mix of bladder activity and secretions from small glands near the urethra.
What Happens Inside the Body
The fluid released during squirting comes primarily from the bladder. Ultrasound imaging has confirmed this directly: when researchers scanned women before arousal, their bladders were empty. During sexual stimulation, the bladder noticeably refilled, even though the women hadn’t been drinking large amounts of water. Immediately after squirting, scans showed the bladder had emptied again. In a separate experiment, researchers inserted a catheter, drained the bladder completely, then injected blue dye into it. The expelled fluid during squirting came out blue in every case, confirming the bladder as the source.
But the fluid isn’t purely urine. Two small glands called the Skene’s glands sit on either side of the urethra and contribute their own secretions to the mix. These glands develop from the same embryonic tissue as the prostate in males, which is why they’re sometimes called the “female prostate.” During arousal, the tissue surrounding them swells, and they release a milky fluid containing proteins also found in male semen, including prostate-specific antigen (PSA). So the squirting fluid is best understood as dilute urine mixed with prostatic secretions from the Skene’s glands.
Squirting and Female Ejaculation Are Different
Until about 2011, researchers used “female ejaculation” and “squirting” interchangeably. They’re now recognized as two separate events that can happen independently or at the same time.
- Squirting produces a larger volume of clear, watery fluid that originates from the bladder. Its chemical profile is similar to urine, with varying concentrations of urea, creatinine, and uric acid.
- Female ejaculation produces a much smaller amount of thicker, whitish fluid from the Skene’s glands. Its composition is closer to some components of male semen.
Many people experience both simultaneously, which is part of why the distinction took so long to identify. When someone reports a large gush of fluid, that’s squirting. A small amount of milky discharge during orgasm is ejaculation. Both are normal physiological responses.
What Triggers It
Squirting is most commonly triggered by stimulation of the G-spot, which is the area on the front (belly-side) wall of the vagina about two to three inches in. This area is significant because the Skene’s glands, the urethral sponge, and the internal portions of the clitoris all sit in the same neighborhood. Stimulating one tends to stimulate all of them.
Manual stimulation, using fingers or a curved toy, is more likely to produce squirting than penetration with a penis or a straight dildo. That’s because fingers can apply more targeted, consistent pressure to the front vaginal wall. Combining G-spot pressure with clitoral stimulation at the same time increases the likelihood further. The dual stimulation creates more intense arousal and engorgement of the surrounding tissue, which appears to be part of what drives the bladder-filling response.
Relaxation plays a major role. Right before squirting, most women describe a building sense of fullness or pressure deep in the pelvis, similar to the urge to urinate but more intense. There can be a sensation of “ballooning” inside. The natural instinct is to clench and hold back, but squirting requires letting go of that tension. The release feels like sudden relief after the pressure peaks.
How Common It Is
Older estimates placed squirting prevalence at around 5% of women, but researchers now consider that figure unreliable because no large-scale studies have been conducted to confirm it. The actual number is likely higher, since many women may experience small amounts of fluid release without identifying it as squirting, and stigma around the topic has historically discouraged reporting.
The variation in Skene’s gland size partly explains why some women squirt easily and others never do. These glands range considerably in size from person to person, roughly from tiny to about the size of a small blueberry. Women with larger or more developed Skene’s glands may produce more noticeable fluid. But since the bladder is the primary source of the larger-volume fluid, gland size alone doesn’t determine whether squirting will happen.
Why It Feels Like Needing to Pee
The sensation of needing to urinate during intense G-spot stimulation is one of the most commonly reported experiences, and it makes anatomical sense. The bladder is filling rapidly, the urethra is being stimulated from inside the vaginal wall, and the Skene’s glands are swelling with fluid. All of these structures sit within millimeters of each other. Your body interprets that pressure the same way it interprets a full bladder, because in part, it is a full bladder.
This is also why many women hold back during sex when they feel this sensation, worried about urinating. That instinct to clench actually prevents squirting from occurring. Women who do squirt consistently often describe learning to push past that moment of hesitation rather than tightening up. Emptying the bladder before sex can help reduce anxiety about the sensation, making it easier to relax into it.
What the Fluid Looks and Smells Like
Squirting fluid is typically clear or very slightly yellowish and much more dilute than regular urine. It’s usually odorless or has only a very faint scent. This is partly because the bladder fills so quickly during arousal that the fluid hasn’t had time to concentrate the way stored urine does, and partly because the Skene’s gland secretions mix in. Female ejaculate, when it appears separately, looks more like a small amount of milky or whitish fluid and has little to no odor.