Doctor explains what 'shallow sex' trend is that people 'don't know they love'

When it comes to sex, there are all sorts of trends which people enjoy getting up to, but there's one incredibly popular even if people don't know they're doing it.

You might have heard of the likes of people getting up to 'hamstering', which involves a car and some rather complicated positioning - though one would hope the people doing this also have a garage so they're not showing everyone else what they get up to.

Then there are the ones which involve getting other people involved to add further layers of complication into the mix, such as 'hotwifing', where guys enjoy the sight of their wife sleeping with other men, and this seemingly strengthens their relationship.

Flipping it around, you get the 'cuckqueaning' trend where a woman likes seeing her man getting off with another woman, and you probably need to get a dictionary of all of these.

A rather more innocent trend which lots of people enjoy is something called 'shallowing', or 'shallow sex', and it's proven to be very popular.

It's a very popular trend (Getty Stock Photo)

What is 'shallowing'?

While a gentleman lying on top of his car and dangling his gonads through the sunroof for some oral pleasure for a spot of 'hamstering' seems like a somewhat niche activity, 'shallowing' has much more mass market appeal.

Writing for IFL Science, Dr Katie Spalding explained that a survey of thousands of women found that most of them were 'shallowing' while masturbating to have a good time.

As for what it is, it does what it says on the tin as shallowing involves only stimulating the entrance of the vagina and just inside, rather than penetrating deep inside while seeking pleasure.

This can be done whether solo or with a partner, but essentially the action stays shallow rather than deep.

It's not that deep, and that's the point (Getty Stock Photo)

Why is 'shallowing' enjoyable?

Cecile Gasnault of sex toy company Smile Makers explained to Glamour that keeping the action shallow made a lot of scientific sense.

She explained: “The entrance of the vagina is richly innervated. It actually contains 90 percent of the vagina's nerve endings which is why its stimulation can feel very pleasurable – be it with a partner or solo. So it's worth paying some attention to it.

"If you practice penetrative sex, you might have already found it pleasurable when the head of the penis creates pressure at the vaginal entrance before or at the very beginning of penetration. Same with a toy or fingers."

Meanwhile, back on the subject of strangely-named dating trends, there's one named 'Bob the Builder' where you get together with guys you meet on dating apps so they can do your DIY.