Masturbation is one of those words and one of those acts that cause people to feel uncomfortable. This is hardly justified. Significant percentages of men and women masturbate on a daily basis. Some studies have found that up to 94% of men and 89% of women have masturbated in their lives. Despite what some are attempting to inform youths of otherwise in an era of increasing abstinence-only programs, masturbation is a healthy act that can produce a number of health benefits in both males and females.
At its most basic level, masturbation serves to reduce stress and sexual tension. Humans don’t go into heat at certain points of the year like other mammals, so starting with puberty we have a lot of bottled-up sexual energy year-round. People can’t exactly just leap on someone they’re attracted to and take out their pent-up sexual frustration on them. Well, they can, but it’s called rape and it’s a despicable thing indeed. What’s the alternative when there’s not a consenting partner to help you to release your sexual tension? Well, of course masturbation is the answer. Masturbating and achieving orgasm can cause all that sexual tension to be released in a controlled way and provide you with blocks of time in which you can be more focused, productive, and relaxed. Relaxation is a benefit that many stressed-out people in America could sorely use.
One of the most fundamental health benefits of masturbation is that it feels good. The reason behind this is because sexual stimulation and orgasm release endorphins in the body. Endorphins are natural chemicals produced by the body that give a feeling of well-being and elation after periods of exertion. Two of the best ways to release endorphins are exercise and sexual activity. In the absence of actual sex, masturbation serves the same purpose of releasing endorphins and improving mood. In women, masturbation can help to relieve cramps associated with menstruation. With both sexes, regular masturbation can help combat insomnia by lowering blood pressure and increasing relaxation through the release of endorphins.
Masturbation can be considered a light form of exercise, since it can burn a few calories during a session. It might not amount to much or shave ten pounds off you in a week, but what other exercise is as enjoyable as sexual exercise? In any case, masturbation has cardiovascular health benefits. It helps relieve muscle tension through orgasm, in which muscles tense and then release. This helps to improve blood flow in the human body. Lowered blood pressure helps to relieve headaches and muscle aches throughout the body and masturbation can help you attain it.
Finally, masturbation helps improve sex. By being accustomed to your level of arousal and stimulation during a sex act, you can have better control over your performance. Masturbation is one of the best ways to practice better sex. With enough practice, you will be able to coordinate your pleasure with your partner’s pleasure and make sex better for the both of you. Orgasm control, improved stimulation, endurance- you name a sexual health benefit and masturbation will help you achieve it.
I suppose masturbation will always have a stigma attached to it because a certain group of people think that touching your body is sinful or obscene. I’m not too concerned, since they’ll be the ones not reaping the health benefits of a benign human urge. There is a piece of history that I always keep close to my heart. Reverend Sylvester Graham, a nineteenth-century minister and inventor of the graham cracker spent much of his adult life crusading against what he believed to be the evils of masturbation. He suffered a nervous breakdown and died at the age of 57.
