Male Anatomy
To fully understand Men’s Health, one must understand male anatomy. We have put together a glossary of some common associated medical terms.
Anus
The opening at the end of the digestive tract where bowel contents leave the body.
Bladder
A generally round shaped, hollow organ located in the pelvis. It is held in place by ligaments that are attached to other organs and the pelvic bones. The bladder’s walls relax and expand to store urine and contract and flatten to empty urine through the urethra.
Epididymis
A long highly coiled microscopic tube that is located behind each testicle. The epididymis is the tube in which the sperm mature after leaving the testicle, prior to cutting the vas deferens.
Penis
The external reproductive organ of the male. The penis is made up of two parts, the shaft and the glans. The glans is the head of the penis, while the shaft is the main part of the penis and contains the tube (urethra) that drains the bladder and the erection cylinders (corpora cavernosa). All boys are born with a foreskin or a covering over the tip of the penis. Some boys are circumcised, which means that this covering of skin is removed. Other boys are not circumcised and may have skin that covers the tip of the penis.
Prostate Gland
A sex gland in men. It is about the size of a walnut, and surrounds the neck of the bladder and urethra (the tube that carries urine from the bladder). It is partly muscular and partly glandular, with ducts opening into the prostatic portion of the urethra. It is made up of three lobes: a center lobe, with one lobe on each side. The prostate gland secretes a slightly alkaline fluid that forms part of the seminal fluid, the fluid that carries sperm during ejaculation.
Rectum
The lower end of the large intestine, leading to the anus.
Scrotum
The bag of skin that holds and helps to protect the testicles. The testicles make sperm, and to do this, the temperature of the testicles needs to be cooler than the inside of the body. This is why the scrotum is located outside of the body.
Seminal vesicles
The sac-like glands that join the prostate behind the bladder. They release the fluid that form more than 90% of the semen in ejaculation.
Testes (testicles)
The testes are two small organs that are found inside the scrotum sac. The testes are responsible for making sperm and are also involved in producing the major male sex hormone called testosterone. Testosterone is important during male development and maturation – for developing muscles, deepening the voice, growing body hair, and for male sexual desire (libido).
Urethra
The tube that allows urine to pass outside the body. The brain signals the bladder muscles to tighten, which squeezes urine out of the bladder. At the same time, the brain signals the sphincter muscles of the urethra to relax so that urine will exit the bladder. When all the signals occur in the correct order, normal urination results.
Vas deferens
A tube that participates in ejaculation and carries the sperm from the epididymis to the prostate. The vas deferens is between the epididymis and the urethra and connects these together.
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