Masturbation is normal, healthy, and has no serious side effects. That’s the consensus from major medical institutions like the Cleveland Clinic, which describes it as “a natural, healthy way to explore your body and feel pleasure.” It carries documented physical and mental health benefits, and the long list of supposed harms you may have heard about are myths with no research backing them up. That said, there are a few situations where habits or technique can cause real problems worth knowing about.
The Proven Health Benefits
Orgasm triggers a release of several feel-good chemicals in your body. Dopamine and serotonin act as natural pain relievers. Oxytocin, sometimes called the bonding hormone, creates a calming effect. And prolactin, released right after orgasm, is linked to feelings of sleepiness. Together, these explain most of the benefits that research has documented.
Those benefits include reduced stress and tension, improved sleep, better mood, increased focus, and relief from aches and pain. For people who menstruate, masturbation can help with cramps, back pain, headaches, and joint aches during a period. It can also improve your sex life overall by helping you understand what feels good to you.
It May Lower Prostate Cancer Risk
One of the more striking findings involves prostate health. A Harvard study tracking over 29,000 men found that those who ejaculated 21 or more times per month had a 31% lower risk of prostate cancer compared to men who ejaculated 4 to 7 times per month. An Australian study of 2,338 men found a similar pattern: men who averaged 4.6 to 7 ejaculations per week were 36% less likely to be diagnosed with prostate cancer before age 70 than men who ejaculated fewer than 2.3 times per week.
The protective effect was strongest for frequent ejaculation in young adulthood, even though prostate cancer typically doesn’t appear until decades later. The protection also extended across all age groups studied.
The Myths That Aren’t True
Research has not found evidence that masturbation causes vision loss, hairy palms, mental illness, penile shrinkage or curvature, decreased sperm count, erectile dysfunction, lowered sex drive, or infertility. None of these have held up under study. They persist because of cultural taboos, not science.
One especially common concern is testosterone. Masturbation does not lower your testosterone levels in any meaningful way. A study in the World Journal of Urology measured testosterone in men before and after three weeks of complete sexual abstinence and found no difference in baseline levels. During the masturbation session itself, testosterone didn’t change between arousal and after orgasm regardless of whether the men had abstained. The only minor difference was a slightly heightened testosterone response to sexual anticipation after the abstinence period, not a lasting change in hormone levels. A second study published in Basic and Clinical Andrology confirmed these results.
When It Can Become a Problem
Masturbation itself isn’t harmful, but it can become an issue in a few specific ways.
The first is compulsive behavior. If you’re missing work, canceling plans, or neglecting responsibilities because of how much time you spend masturbating, that’s a sign something has shifted. The World Health Organization’s diagnostic manual recognizes compulsive sexual behavior disorder, defined by a persistent failure to control sexual urges that leads to neglecting health or responsibilities, continued behavior despite negative consequences, repeated unsuccessful attempts to cut back, and significant distress or impairment in your daily life. Importantly, feeling guilty purely because of moral or religious beliefs about masturbation does not meet the clinical threshold on its own.
The second issue is technique-related. What’s informally called “death grip syndrome” happens when you consistently masturbate with a very tight grip or one very specific motion. Over time, the nerves in your penis can become desensitized, making it harder to climax any other way. This creates a cycle where you need even more pressure to feel the same sensation, which can make partnered sex frustrating. It’s not a recognized medical diagnosis, but it’s a real pattern that sex therapists commonly treat. The fix is straightforward: vary your grip, pressure, and speed, and take breaks to let sensitivity return.
Pelvic Floor Tension
Masturbation isn’t inherently harmful to your pelvic floor, but certain habits during it can be. Some people unconsciously clench their pelvic muscles as they approach orgasm. Done repeatedly over time, this can lead to chronically tight pelvic floor muscles that lose their ability to fully relax. Awkward postures during masturbation, like sitting hunched on the edge of a chair, can add extra strain.
Symptoms of a tight pelvic floor include chronic pelvic pain, difficulty starting or stopping urination, a frequent urge to urinate, pain during ejaculation, and even erectile difficulty caused by restricted blood flow. If any of these sound familiar, a pelvic floor physical therapist can help. The issue isn’t masturbation itself but the muscle tension pattern that develops around it.
Guilt Does More Harm Than the Act
One of the more important findings in this area is that guilt about masturbation causes more damage than masturbation ever could. Italian researchers found that the roughly 8% of men who reported feeling guilty after masturbating had higher rates of depression, anxiety, and general psychological distress. They also had more sexual problems, more relationship conflicts with partners, and higher rates of alcohol use compared to men who didn’t carry that guilt.
Cultural and religious messaging can create a cycle where a person masturbates, feels shame, tries to stop, fails, and feels even worse. The biology is clear that the act itself is safe. When distress exists, it’s typically rooted in the beliefs surrounding it, not the physical behavior.