What are the dartos and cremaster muscles?

The tunica dartos helps to regulate the temperature of the testicles by contracting to reduce the surface area of the scrotum and decrease heat loss, or relaxing to increase the surface area of the scrotum to help with cooling. Another muscle inside the scrotum is the cremaster muscle.

What type of muscle is the cremaster muscle?

skeletal muscle
The cremaster muscle is the thin fascial muscle of the spermatic cord made of skeletal muscle. It is also referred to as cremaster fascia or simply the cremaster. Its action is to retract the testes, important in thermoregulation and spermatogenesis.

What does the cremaster muscle do?

Transient retraction of the testis out of the scrotum is a normal reflex caused by contraction of the cremaster muscle. This muscle functions to regulate the temperature of the testis and to protect it from extrinsic trauma.

What is the tunica Dartos?

In the scrotum, the tunica dartos acts to regulate the temperature of the testicles, which promotes spermatogenesis. It does this by expanding or contracting to wrinkle the scrotal skin. Contraction reduces the surface area available for heat loss, thus reducing heat loss and warming the testicles.

What does dartos muscle mean?

Medical Definition of dartos : a thin layer of vascular contractile tissue that contains smooth muscle fibers but no fat and is situated beneath the skin of the scrotum or beneath that of the labia majora.

Is the cremaster smooth or skeletal muscle?

Our results show that the cremaster, widely known as a striated muscle, contains a large number of smooth muscle fibers that may contribute to the slow-tonic characteristic of the muscle.

Can you pull the cremaster muscle?

A hyperactive cremaster reflex; however, can pull the testicle up far too high into the groin, and men with this condition may have to actually push the testicle back down to the scrotum which may result in pain.

What is Buck’s fascia?

Buck’s fascia is the deep layer of the penile fascia that covers both the corpora cavernosa and the corpus spongiosum in separate fascial compartments.

What is Pampiniform plexus?

The pampiniform plexus is a loose network of small veins found within the male spermatic cord. The veins of the plexus ascend along the spermatic cord at the front of the ductus deferens. The pampiniform plexus helps regulate the temperature of the testes by acting as a “heat exchange” mechanism to cool down the blood.

Where does dartos muscle come from?

The dartos muscle is the thin rugated fascial muscle of the scrotum made of smooth muscle. Hence it is also referred to as dartos fascia or simply the dartos. It forms from the subcutaneous tissue of the scrotum and base of the penis and attaches to the scrotal skin and fibrous midline septum between the testes.

What nerve Innervates the dartos muscle?

It is innervated by sympathetic fibers of the genital branch of the genitofemoral nerve and its action is to corrugate the scrotal skin, important in thermoregulation of the testes.