Are sex orgasms healthier than masturbation?
Sex is healthy. Researchers have already established this. But what if you do not have sex? Are you then cheated out of the side benefits of the act, or can you do it on your own?
Sex has a number of health benefits, such as strengthened immune system, better sleep and less risk of prostate cancer in men. Sex is not only for fun, but has many positive side effects. However, if you do not have sex, do you completely miss the wonders of the act, or can you just have sex with yourself?
Physicians in sexology in Scandinavia has researched and written about this. We feel alive when we have an orgasm. In addition to providing extreme pleasure, the orgasm has the obvious purpose of getting animals and humans to have intercourse.
When men and women have an orgasm, the pelvic floor muscles contract, but in fact a large part of orgasm takes place in the brain. There is activity in more than 30 different regions of the brain when we are sexually aroused. At the same time, the brain secretes the drug dopamine, which makes us feel happy and elated. The love hormone oxytocin is also secreted during orgasm and makes us better able to bond with a partner.
But even if you don’t have a partner to multiply or bond with, it does not mean that orgasms do not matter. It can easily make sense to have orgasms alone. It helps you feel that the body is functioning – that it is able to respond to some impulses and signals it receives. So, in that way, it helps to make you feel alive and that you are a whole person.
Masturbation is not reserved for humans alone. For example, some monkeys and bonobos (chimpanzees) also satisfy themselves for the purpose of having an orgasm.
Although my focus is women, it should be mentioned that ejaculation for men is important for men’s health. There are indications that for men it is good to have their prostate gland emptied from time to time to prevent prostate cancer, and you do that if you have an ejaculation. This has been shown in a study where 32,000 men have been followed for 18 years. The group of men with frequent ejaculation over the years had significantly fewer cases of prostate cancer. Sperm quality also gets better if you occasionally ejaculate says the experts.
For women it is extremely important in terms of quality of life to have an orgasm. Masturbation is healthy. It is completely OK to masturbate to an orgasm if there is no immediate partner available. Pleasure and redemption in connection with an orgasm is always healthy. In the sense that it increases our well being, puts us in a good mood and can strengthen our overall quality of life.
Having sex, with oneself or a partner, is in itself a sign of health. It is a health parameter in itself that you can have sex, and for a man it is also a health parameter that he can get an erection.