Masturbation is the act of touching or stimulating your own genitals for sexual pleasure. It’s one of the most common sexual behaviors across all age groups and genders, with roughly 83% of adults reporting they’ve masturbated at some point in their lives. It’s a normal part of human sexuality, carries no inherent health risks, and offers several measurable physical and mental health benefits.
How Common It Is
Data from the 2021 National Survey of Sexual Wellbeing, a nationally representative U.S. study, found that about 48% of adults had masturbated in the past month. Around 60% of men reported past-month masturbation compared to 36.5% of women. About 10% of men and 25% of women reported never having masturbated at all. These numbers shift across the lifespan: more than half of men aged 16 to 59 reported recent masturbation, while rates among women peaked in the 20 to 29 age range, where over 40% reported it in the prior month. Masturbation remains common well into older age, with 28% of men over 70 still reporting it.
People masturbate whether or not they have a sexual partner. Having a partner doesn’t replace the behavior, and doing it solo doesn’t signal a problem with a relationship.
What Happens in Your Body
Masturbation activates the same sexual response cycle as partnered sex. That cycle has four phases: desire, arousal, orgasm, and resolution. During arousal, blood flow increases to the genitals, heart rate rises, and muscles tense. At orgasm, the body releases a burst of several key chemicals: endorphins (natural painkillers), dopamine (which drives feelings of pleasure and reward), and oxytocin (linked to relaxation and bonding). Prolactin levels rise after orgasm, which contributes to the feeling of satisfaction and sleepiness that follows.
During the resolution phase, your body gradually returns to its resting state. Blood pressure and heart rate normalize, and swollen or erect tissues return to their usual size. Some people, particularly women, can cycle back to orgasm with continued stimulation rather than entering full resolution.
Physical Health Benefits
The chemical release during orgasm has practical effects. Dopamine and serotonin act as natural pain relievers, which is why masturbation can ease headaches, joint pain, and menstrual cramps. During menstruation specifically, the increased blood flow and circulation that already accompany a period can heighten sensitivity and arousal, making orgasm easier to achieve and its pain-relieving effects more noticeable.
Masturbation also activates parts of the immune system. A study measuring immune markers in men before and after sexual arousal found that orgasm increased the number of natural killer cells circulating in the bloodstream. These are cells your body uses to fight infections and destroy abnormal cells. The boost was temporary, but it demonstrates that sexual activity engages the body’s defenses.
For men, a large study following nearly 32,000 men over 18 years found that those who ejaculated 21 or more times per month had about a 20% lower risk of prostate cancer compared to those who ejaculated four to seven times per month. This held true whether the ejaculation came from sex or masturbation, and the association was consistent across men in their 20s, 40s, and beyond.
There’s also evidence that masturbation can help counteract the natural daily drop in free testosterone. A pilot study in young men found that masturbation helped maintain free testosterone levels that would otherwise decline over the course of the day.
Mental Health and Sleep
The prolactin surge after orgasm promotes drowsiness, which is why many people masturbate specifically to help themselves fall asleep. The combination of oxytocin and endorphins also lowers cortisol, the body’s primary stress hormone. This makes masturbation an effective, drug-free way to manage tension and anxiety in the short term.
Beyond stress relief, masturbation plays a role in sexual self-knowledge. Research has found that women who masturbate tend to report more positive body image, likely because the practice connects sexual pleasure directly to their own physical responses. Understanding what feels good on your own makes it easier to communicate preferences to a partner, which can improve sexual satisfaction in relationships.
Risks and Side Effects
Masturbation has no serious medical risks. It does not cause blindness, infertility, or physical weakness. It has no effect on sperm count or the ability to conceive. It also carries zero risk of pregnancy or sexually transmitted infections.
The only physical issues that can arise come from technique rather than the act itself. Vigorous or prolonged friction without lubrication can cause skin irritation, chafing, or temporary swelling. These resolve on their own, usually within 24 hours. Using lubrication and avoiding an overly tight grip are simple ways to prevent discomfort. Over time, a very specific or intense stimulation pattern can make it harder to respond to different types of touch, but this is reversible by varying your approach.
When Frequency Becomes a Concern
There is no “normal” number of times to masturbate per week or month. Frequency varies enormously from person to person and fluctuates over a lifetime. High frequency alone is not a problem, even among adolescents, where elevated sexual interest is developmentally typical.
Masturbation only becomes a clinical concern when it fits the pattern of compulsive sexual behavior disorder, which the World Health Organization recognizes in its diagnostic manual. The key features are a persistent inability to control sexual impulses over six months or more, combined with real consequences in your life. Specifically, clinicians look for whether sexual behavior has become so central that you’re neglecting your health, responsibilities, or relationships; whether you’ve repeatedly tried and failed to reduce the behavior; whether you continue despite negative consequences; or whether you keep doing it even though it no longer brings satisfaction.
Importantly, feeling guilty about masturbation due to cultural, religious, or moral beliefs does not qualify as a disorder. Distress rooted in disapproval of the behavior itself, rather than in a genuine loss of control, is not the same thing. A person who masturbates frequently but experiences no impairment in their daily functioning does not have a clinical problem, regardless of how often they do it.