The location of the female urethra and vagina

Where is the female urethra located in the female body? The female urethral opening is very short, only 2.5-5 cm long, with an average of 3.5 cm and a diameter of 8 mm. It is easy to expand and reaches 10-13 mm. It has no bends and is located in the vagina, behind the ischial tuberosity, starting from the bladder neck and moving forward to the urethral opening.

The distance between female urethra and vagina is relatively close, with the urethral opening above the labia and the vagina below the labia. The urethra is mainly connected to the bladder, which can discharge urine produced by the kidneys out of the body. The vagina mainly belongs to the female reproductive organs. It can lead to sexual intercourse, the male reproductive organ can ejaculate into the vagina, and then enter the uterus, and the bilateral fallopian tubes will be fertilized, so as to achieve the purpose of giving birth to the next generation. The vagina is connected to the uterus, bilateral fallopian tubes, uterus and ovaries, etc.

The female urethral opening can be divided into three parts from top to bottom: the tissue structure at the upper end is consistent with the bladder neck. The circular muscles of the bladder neck and the upper circular muscles of the urethra are connected and are particularly enlarged in the neck, which is different from the expansion of the upper and lower middle and surface muscles of the male bladder neck. The female internal dilator is completely composed of circular smooth muscle fibers that surround the entire bladder neck and the upper end of the urethra.

Therefore, the effect of internal expansion is particularly strong in women. The middle urethral opening is outside the smooth muscle layer and also has random circular muscles. Although this muscle layer is not very obvious, it also has some external expansion function. The lower urethral opening, i.e. the urethral opening, has no muscle, only two layers of triangular ligament fiber tissue. In addition, the anal contraction muscles, deep perineal muscles and triangular ligament also play an auxiliary role in the control of female bladder urine.

Tissue of the female urethral opening: The mucosal epithelial cells in the middle and outside are square epithelial cells similar to the vaginal mucosa, and the upper end changes into transitional epithelial cells similar to the bladder neck. There is loose tissue between the submucosal layer and the muscle layer, and outside the muscle layer there is a colorful venous network structure, namely the urethral spongy tissue. The urethral glands in the female urethra are very rich and colorful, the most prominent of which are the paraurethral glands, which have columnar epithelial cells that secrete mucus.

Lymph nodes at the urethral opening: There are many lymph vessels and lymph glands under the mucosa of the urethral opening, and the lymph nodes are drained to the inguinal and subgastric lymph nodes on both sides.

Blood supply to the urethral opening: the aorta under the bladder supplies the upper urethral opening, the aorta inside the vagina supplies the middle urethral opening, and the aorta inside the private parts supplies the lower urethral opening. The veins flow back to the venous plexus in the bladder, vagina and private parts.

Physiology of the urethra: The main function of the female urethra is to excrete urine and secrete mucus; the urethral gland is also a kind of sex hormone, secreting transparent and protein-containing mucus, its function is to enhance lubrication during sexual intercourse.