When You Have An Orgasm, This Is What Happens To Your Blood Pressure

Much like an intense workout or a jump scare in a haunted house, sex gets our blood pumping — literally. So how does the physical exertion and flood of hormones that come with the pleasure of sexual release affect our blood pressure? Experts say your blood pressure may climax along with you.

Board-certified interventional cardiologist Dr. Amey Kulkarni writes via Permanente Medicine that our heart rate increases during sexual intercourse in order to circulate more oxygen throughout the body, which may produce a mild increase in blood pressure. As outlined in a 2012 research article published in Circulation, our systolic and diastolic systemic arterial blood pressure continues to climb as arousal heightens during sexual activity, starting during foreplay all the way through orgasm. Some research shows that blood pressure elevations are highest during orgasm — approximately 10 to 15 seconds. These physiological changes in heart rate and blood pressure that occur during sexual activity have proven similar across both men and women.

Some studies have alternatively shown that blood pressure is not at its highest during orgasm, but rather ramps up beforehand. In a 2008 study published in Blood Pressure Monitoring, sexual partners self-measured their blood pressure and heart rate during different phases of sexual activity, including at various intervals following orgasm.

Although heart rate was found to peak at the start of orgasm, blood pressure was a different story. Instead, participant blood pressure was highest at the start of the plateau phase (or the arousal phase), which the Cleveland Clinic explains is the second phase of human sexual response following desire and before orgasm and ending with the resolution phase. In the study, increases in heart rate lasted only approximately 10 to 20 minutes after orgasm. Similarly, blood pressure returned to its former levels 10 minutes following orgasm. Even at peak, however, the researchers note only mild increases in blood pressure in relation to sexual activity.

The effects of sexual activity on blood pressure are relatively short-lived. Similar to the 2008 study, the 2012 research article outlines how blood pressure measurements quickly drop back to their original levels after orgasm. Yet some people wonder if such fluctuations in blood pressure pose a risk for heart attack in people with hypertension (high blood pressure).

In a 2000 scientific review of recommendations issued by The Princeton Consensus Panel published in The American Journal of Cardiology, research findings showed that patients with controlled high blood pressure were among those considered low cardiac risk in relation to sexual activity. Among them were also individuals with mild, stable angina as well as patients with mild valvular disease, among others. As per the recommendations, sexual activity is deemed safe for these patients. However, people with uncontrolled hypertension fell into the high cardiac risk category, along with people with congestive heart failure, unstable angina, high-risk arrhythmias, and more. Experts advise that these individuals should not resume sexual activity until the condition is controlled with treatment. You don't want to leave high blood pressure untreated. To learn more, here's everything you need to know about high blood pressure symptoms, causes, and treatments.