News.BBC.co.uk – Sharon Mascall
For two millennia it was a “little hill” – the meaning of kleitoris, its root word in Greek.
But an Australian urologist, Dr Helen O’Connell, has revealed that the clitoris is shaped more like a mountain than a hill.
Her work is forcing a re-write of anatomy books and a rethink among medical professionals.
The findings could also have repercussions for women coping with continence problems.
The clitoris rivals the penis in size.
“The vaginal wall is, in fact, the clitoris,” said Dr O’Connell, who is based in Melbourne.
“If you lift the skin off the vagina on the side walls, you get the bulbs of the clitoris – triangular, crescental masses of erectile tissue.”
The idea had been that the clitoris is more than just its glans – the “little hill” but Dr O’Connell discovered the mistake 17 years ago.
Frustrated that she kept failing a medical exam, she went back to the anatomy books for answers. She discovered they were wrong.