10 Health Benefits of Masturbation

Sex in general has many health benefits and solo sex has many benefits you may not be aware of. Masturbation can contribute to a happier, healthier, and sexier you. You get more than just some sexy time with yourself; you take steps to improve your health in many ways. Not everyone may feel some of these benefits but when all you need to do is pleasure yourself, it doesn’t hurt to try. The key to many of these is masturbating regularly. Some readers may not need much prompting for daily self-pleasure but others just may not be feeling the need to practice that often. Do what feels right when it comes to feeling good, so how often is up to you. No matter which way or how frequent you decide to get off; here are some of the benefits we get from masturbation.

1. Better Mental Health

Orgasms release dopamine and oxytocin that bring on a euphoric feeling. These neurochemicals help improve our overall feeling of well-being and help improve our mood. Masturbation can help to reduce the symptoms of depression. It can improve self-esteem and help us to feel better about ourselves overall.

2. Helps You Fall Asleep

Neurochemicals released by orgasms help you to relax along with lowering your blood pressure. These neurochemicals relax your muscles and the oxytocin released is a natural pain reliever. All together it helps you to relax while working to soothe any aches and pains. This helps you to fall asleep faster and easier.

3. Relieves Cramps

Orgasms help increase blood flow to and in the pelvic region. This increased blood flow can really help alleviate those annoying cramps most women get during their period. Add the same pain relieving benefits of oxytocin and the relaxation of muscles, which also helps you go to sleep, to the increased blood flow and you’ve found a great way to minimize cramps.

Masturbation Tips: For Men and Women

One would think that masturbation would come naturally, that we would do it easily and often. Unfortunately, most of us were taught masturbation is bad when we were young. Many others were simply not told about it at all. Self-pleasure is something our bodies don’t always figure out on their own. If you haven’t spent a whole lot of time exploring your body or getting to know what types of pleasure you enjoy, you may not know what really rings your bell when it comes to masturbation. You might be using the same technique your whole life a “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it.” kind of way. These tips might help you get started if you haven’t explored much or give you something you may never have thought to try. They’re useful to all genders and orientations, so pick and choose what you like.

How We Work

Your body responds to both touch and pressure. There are well known highly sensitive areas like the clitoris for women and the frenulum for men, but there are many other areas that can be stimulated during masturbation. The clitoris has an external nub (glans) and extends into your body cradling the urethra and vagina. It is estimated there are about 8,000 nerve endings in the glans alone. The urethral sponge (area between the clitoris nub and the vagina) and the perineal sponge (area between the vagina and the anus) are sensitive to touch and pressure. Basically you have the entire area from your pubis to your anus as a self-pleasure playground. Clitoral stimulation may be your go-to way to get off but don’t forget these other areas. The penis is most sensitive at the glans (the head of the penis), particularly underneath at the area called the frenulum, but also along the underside of the shaft. The frenulum has just as many nerve endings as the clitoris. The penis is not the only area that feels good, pay some attention to the testicles and the perineum (area between the anus and testicles) and don’t forget the anus, which has many nerve endings. Anal play and fingering can add so much more to the experience.