14 Masturbation Techniques For Truly Incredible Orgasms

If you've already gone through the in-depth orgasm guide and want to go further with specific masturbation techniques, you're in the right place. Below are 14 distinct masturbation techniques and tips designed to help you reach genuinely powerful orgasms. There's another good reason to read on: understanding your own anatomy and which parts of your vagina respond best to touch appears to be central to reaching orgasm through masturbation [1].

Some of these masturbation techniques will click with you more than others. The goal is to try them all and see which ones you gravitate toward. Everything below centers on the clit, but there's also a separate guide covering fingering and penetration here if you want that too. Masturbating regularly may even help boost your libido.

1. Up And Down Strokes

This first technique is beginner-friendly. You're targeting the clit — take a finger and rub up and down along one side of it, as shown above. For more intensity, rub directly over the clit itself.

Simple as it is, you can play with pressure, speed, and stroke length. It also works well as a self-stimulation trick while you're giving your man a blow job.

2. Slow, Long Strokes

With one or more fingers, glide lightly from the bottom to the top of your vulva and clitoris, as pictured above. Pay attention to which spots feel best as you go.

From there, try faster strokes, slower strokes, and varying pressure. Switch directions too — starting at the clit and moving down, or going both ways. This technique may not get you to orgasm on its own, but it's excellent for mapping out what feels good.

3. Side-To-Side Motion

Another simple clit-focused technique. Just as it sounds, you'll rub your finger side to side across the clit.

Some women like indirect, barely-there contact, while others want firmer pressure. Experiment to find your preference. A few things to try:

• Different speeds.
• Varying pressure.
• Adding lube.
• Different finger counts (one, two, three, or four).
• Switching between direct and indirect contact.

This technique also works well layered into doggy style if you want extra clitoral stimulation mid-sex. You can find 11 different doggy style sex positions to try here.

4. Four-Finger Circles

This might be the single most effective technique on this list, since running four fingers over your clit at once makes climax easy to reach. Hold your four fingers together and move them in circles over your clit and vulva, as shown above.

Small circles zero in on the clit, while wider circles bring in the labia, the U spot, and more of your vulva.

This is also a great move for self-stimulation mid-sex when your clit is easy to reach, or you can hand the technique off to your man. Doggy Style (check it out here) gives you both unobstructed access.

5. The U Spot

A lot of women have never even heard of the U Spot. It's shown in a slightly darker shade of pink in the diagram below (it doesn't actually look any different in real life). It sits just above your urethral opening and along its sides.

Stroke it gently with a fingertip, as shown in the illustration below. Rubbing the U Spot alone feels great, but an even better version of this technique is sweeping softly from the U Spot up to the clit and back again (also shown below).

If you're not already wet, add some lube before touching this area. Feel free to drift off course into the labia or clit for variety.

For some women, the U Spot extends further up, close to just below the clitoris.

6. The Shower Head Trick

If you haven't tried masturbating with the shower head or faucet, you're missing out. Women have relied on this method for decades [2]. It's more hands-off than most techniques but delivers an entirely different sensation. All you need is a faucet or shower head you can angle toward your vagina.

I can't explain the exact science, but everyone who tries it says the flowing water feels amazing and can bring on orgasm fast. Play around with your shower head's settings — the 'pulse' setting is often a favorite. One nice side benefit: if you're chasing female ejaculation, the water rinses everything away instantly. Want to learn to squirt? Check out the squirting guide here.

Related: 12 kinky sex positions in the shower.

7. Working Through The Hood

Some women have an extremely sensitive clitoris — sensitive enough that direct touch feels unpleasant or even painful. If that's you, several of these techniques may not work well for direct contact.

Instead, use the clitoral hood, the flap of skin covering the clit, as a natural buffer. It's marked in a slightly darker shade of pink above (again, no real color difference in person).

If your clit runs sensitive, try stimulating through the hood rather than directly on it — it should feel much more comfortable. Alternatively, these fingering techniques might work better for you.

8. Exposing The Hood

You might have the opposite issue from the one above — not enough sensitivity, meaning you need maximum contact and stimulation to feel anything. The fix is straightforward: expose the clit more directly. The illustration above shows exactly how.

Place your fingers above the clit, on either side, and gently pull the skin back to retract the hood and expose more of the clit. This pulling-back move isn't itself a masturbation technique, but it sets you up to use your other hand or a vibrator for more direct stimulation. It's also useful during certain sex positions when you want stronger clitoral contact. You can learn more clitoral stimulation techniques here.

9. Orgasmic Meditation

The first time I heard "Orgasmic Meditation," I pictured something tantra-adjacent. In some ways it is — tantric masturbation shares the same structured process, where the point isn't necessarily orgasm itself. So what does that have to do with clitoral stimulation?

Everything.

The basic version involves both you and your partner. Start lying comfortably on your back with your legs spread wide. Your man settles in beside you on your right, his left leg bent over your stomach and his right leg tucked under yours. Using one lubricated finger, he strokes the upper left quadrant of your clit — marked between the dotted lines above — very slowly and lightly. His touch should stay as light as possible throughout.

The technique he follows – He moves his finger just a few millimeters back and forth, using the lightest possible pressure. Some women find it frustrating, almost teasing, and can't sustain it for long, while others say it gets better the longer it continues.

My suggestion: try it at least once, and push yourself to hold out as long as you can with minimal pressure. Even if it doesn't lead to orgasm, it works beautifully as foreplay heading into a full masturbation session.

There's no strict rulebook for orgasmic meditation — think of these steps as a starting framework rather than a rigid procedure. Adjust it however feels best for you and your partner.

10. The Squeeze

This clit-focused technique flies under the radar. Everyone knows the clitoris packs an enormous concentration of nerve endings [3], but fewer people realize it extends inward and back along the vaginal wall too.

So it's not just the visible tip that's sensitive — the clitoral bulb [4], the hidden base of the clitoris, is hypersensitive as well, and the squeeze technique targets it directly.

Place your thumb and index finger on either side of the clitoris, as shown above, then press inward to squeeze it gently between the surrounding folds. Start light — you'll find you can apply more pressure than expected without discomfort.

From there, roll it gently between your thumb and finger.

If you're into more pressure or a hint of pain, you might enjoy the sadism and masochism side of BDSM.

One fun twist: imagine it's a tiny penis and give it a light jerking motion.

As always, experimentation is the name of the game for finding your favorite version of this. If you've got a squeeze variation you love, share it in the comments. For more ways to reach powerful orgasms, solo or partnered, make sure to check out the Orgasm Guide here.

11. Labia Love

Stimulating your labia is essentially foreplay before the main event. It probably won't get you to orgasm alone, but it's a great warm-up for the more intense techniques on this list. A few ways to try it:

• Run your fingers up and down them, as shown above.
• Press and squeeze them together.
• Add lube for a silkier feel.
• Experiment with different textures and materials against them.

12. Grinding Against A Pillow

Plenty of women first discover masturbation through humping or grinding against a pillow, blanket, toy, or the bed itself [5]. This technique hits both the clit and labia at once, and you'll likely get the most friction wearing just underwear or nothing at all. As always, figuring out what works is a matter of trial and error. Here are a few approaches:

• With a long pillow, lie on your side with it between your legs, squeezing to hold it in place and pulling it back so it presses against your labia and clit — also known as syntribation. From here you can start grinding.
• No long pillow? Grab a mid-sized one, turn it on its side, and straddle it (or fold it in half first, whichever you prefer). Settle your weight onto it, adjust so it's pressed firmly against you, then move up and down to ride it toward orgasm.
• For more pressure and a rougher texture, wrap the pillow tightly in a towel before you begin — this also keeps the pillow itself dry. Bonus tip: slip a stuffed toy or electric toothbrush under the towel for a different sensation.
• A pillow is just the basic version of this move. Next time you're making out with your man, try straddling his thigh and grinding on that instead.

13. Pearl Necklace

This technique calls for a beaded necklace — a genuine pearl necklace works, but so does a cheap Mardi Gras strand.

Get into a kneeling or standing position, hold one end of the necklace in front of you with one hand, then reach behind your back with your other hand to grab the other end so it runs between your legs.

From there, pull it slowly forward and back, letting it glide over your vulva, labia, and clit. It's playful and even better with a bit of lube on the beads.

You're not limited to a necklace — a towel, a satin scarf, or anything with a pleasing texture works too.

Quick note: skip anything expensive in case it snaps. A cheap Mardi Gras necklace or clean anal beads are safer bets.

Curious about the other "pearl necklace" — the one where your man finishes on your neck? You can learn everything there is to know about it here.

14. Vibrator Sessions

Vibrators get mixed reactions — some call it cheating, though most people view them positively [6], and more than half of women have used one [7]. There's a reason: the orgasms tend to come easier and hit harder.

Everyone's preference is different, so there's no single "correct" method. A few starting points:

• Some women love running a vibrator over their whole body, including their breasts and nipples, and can orgasm that way. Learn more about nipple play here.
• Some prefer indirect vibration on the clit since direct contact can be overwhelming — techniques #7 and #9 above are worth trying, or place a towel between the toy and your clit [8].
• Some need direct clit contact to finish — technique #8 will get you plenty of it.
• Some love a vibrator gliding along the labia — see technique #11 for more ideas there.
• Some enjoy penetration with a vibrator. This guide on using a dildo covers the key spots to focus on.

Whatever you choose, experiment and see what feels best — there's no universal method for using a vibrator. For more detailed guidance, check out this guide here.

Beyond These 14 Techniques

All 14 techniques above center on the clitoris, but there's a lot more to masturbation than clit stimulation alone. If you want to explore fingering and penetration, there's a whole separate guide waiting here, covering how to reach intense, back-arching orgasms that way. Click here to read it now.

February 17, 2018