When it comes to masturbation, there’s so many benefits, both physical and psychological, that you may not know about – so let’s talk! One study showed that 96% of participants masturbate and considered it to be a form of self-care.Along With masturbation comes an orgasm, and orgasms can have health benefits because of the types of hormones and chemicals released, regardless of whether you have the orgasm them alone or with someone else.

So, let’s take a look at what happens during an orgasm and the different health benefits of masturbation.

What Happens When You Orgasm?

When you orgasm your brain releases a rush of dopamine, the pleasure hormone, and serotonin which is responsible for carrying messages between the nerve cells throughout your body, ultimately impacting your mood and sexual desire.

Your oxytocin levels also increase during an orgasm – this is also known as the ‘love hormone’, as it leads to feelings of closeness and leaves you feeling good in yourself.

Is masturbation good for you?

Masturbation is good for you as the chemicals released during an orgasm,boost your mood, help you relax and improve your sleep. A masturbation orgasm can also help to relieve different types of pain such as period pain.

Taking the time to masturbate and being able to focus on your own pleasure allows your mind to be less distracted and leads to more intense orgasms. put simply, as you focus on your body you are less able to focus on other thoughts. And these benefits still happen even if you don’t reach an orgasm during masturbation.

Health benefits of masturbation

In addition to the benefits listed above, there are even more health benefits to masturbating. Masturbation supports healthy blood flow to your genitals, which can be helpful particularly after the menopause, and it increases your heart rate, giving your heart a mini work out (don’t get too excited, it doesn’t quite replace a full exercise regime!) Masturbating is also good for your pelvic floor and there is even evidence that it can help boost your immune system.

Exploring your body and discovering what causes you pleasure will help give you a better understanding of what you do and don’t enjoy. Sex is about communication, and it is easier to communicate your likes and dislikes to your partner if you know what you find pleasurable.This is where masturbation can help.

Male masturbation has a further benefit in addition to those above, as it has been suggested that more frequent ejaculation can lower the risk of prostate cancer. Though it hasn’t been proven, there is growing evidence linking between them.