Do you often masturbate and feel guilty about it later? Is that your guilty pleasure as well? It is common among people to think that masturbation is not suitable for your health and can lead to physical disorders despite being highly pleasurable.

Medical experts claim that masturbation is neither unhealthy nor harmful to your health. In fact, masturbation is beneficial to one’s mental and physical health. It’s also the safest form of sex because there’s no risk of getting pregnant or contracting an STD. Masturbation, in addition to providing pleasure, can improve your health and well-being by assisting you in achieving better sleep, improved mood, and stress relief, among other things. Let us first understand masturbation, how to achieve it, and why it is beneficial for your health.

What is Masturbation?

Masturbation is a natural and risk-free way to explore your body, experience pleasure, and relieve sexual tension. It includes touching the genitals or vagina or other sensitive areas of the body for sexual arousal or pleasure. Masturbation is usually a pleasurable, natural, and healthy activity. Endorphins, which are hormones that block pain and make you feel good, are released when you have an orgasm. So whether you’re masturbating or having sex, orgasm produces pleasurable feelings.

What are the health benefits of Masturbation?

Some of the health benefits of masturbation include –
● Better sleep
● Improvement in your mood
● Released accumulated tension
● Avoiding anxiety and depression
● Feel intense pleasure
● Cramps relief
● Letting go of sexual tension
● Boost your self-esteem
● Gain a better understanding of your desires and needs

Other essential health benefits of masturbation are –

1. For married couples
Masturbating married women have been found to get more orgasms, increased sexual desire, higher self-esteem, and greater satisfaction with their sex life after committing to masturbation. Couples can also masturbate together to explore different desires while avoiding pregnancy. Masturbating helps couples initiate foreplay for sexual intercourse and set boundaries (or extend them) for the intensity of sex.

2. Determining sexual preferences
Masturbation can also assist you in determining your sexual preferences. What part of your body do you want to be touched? How fast or slow should you masturbate? How much pressure is comfortable? Learning to have solo orgasms can make having one with a sexual partner easier as you can instruct or show them what feels good. Compared to partner sex, self-pleasuring also aids in the prevention of sexually transmitted infections (STIs).

3. Lowering the risk of Prostate Cancer
A higher frequency of ejaculation was linked to a lower risk of prostate cancer. However, there is no evidence that ejaculating on a regular basis prevents advanced prostate cancer, so more research is needed on this argument.

4. Masturbation during pregnancy
Some pregnant women experience increased sexual desire as a result of hormonal changes during pregnancy. During pregnancy, masturbation is a safe way to relieve sexual tension. Self-satisfaction may also help to alleviate pregnancy symptoms like lower back pain.

Where should you draw the line?

Some people masturbate on a daily basis or even multiple times a day. Some people masturbate once a week or once every few weeks. Some people never masturbate, which is perfectly acceptable. Masturbation becomes “too much” only when it interferes with your job, responsibilities, or social life. If this is a concern for you, you should seek the advice of a counsellor or therapist. If you’re having second thoughts, keep in mind that the majority of people masturbate. It’s completely normal, and nothing is wrong with it. On the contrary, it is beneficial to your mental and sexual health.

Masturbation is as normal as having sex, and many sex toys can ease the activity of masturbating. For better pleasure from masturbation, you can use vibrators, dildos, sex dolls, cock rings, fleshlight, etc.