Benefits of Masturbation

Here at Pleasures N Treasures, we absolutely love masturbation! Masturbation is a natural and healthy way to explore your body and sexuality, and it has many benefits to your mental and physical health. Also it can feel absolutely fantastic.

What is masturbation anyway?

Masturbation is the act of stimulating your own genitals or other erogenous zones for pleasure or sexual arousal. Self-pleasure takes many forms: inserting, stroking, pressing, vibrating. You can use hands, fingers, toys to achieve this, and there’s no real right or wrong way to masturbate, as long as you do so safely and it feels good.

As opposed to common misconception, masturbation is common across all ages, genders and sexual orientations. Some people find they start masturbating earlier in life, some don’t discover the titillation of self-pleasure until well into adulthood.

Another frequent misunderstanding around masturbation is that you have to be sexually active. This is completely untrue. You can be sexually active, but if you’ve never had sex, self-pleasure is a great way to find out how you like to experience pleasure. You can masturbate alone, or with a partner(s).

Masturbation is an incredibly subjective experience and you may find your self-pleasure is different to others’. For example, you may only stimulate your erogenous zones (such as testicles or nipples) with just your fingers, whereas someone else may prefer using toys in their vagina or anus. It’s all about what feels best for you. You may enjoy consuming erotica (e.g. watching porn or reading smut) when someone else uses their imagination.

General Benefits

Many studies have shown that masturbation has many physical and mental benefits. You may experience the following:

• Reduce in stress
• Tension relief
• Improve your focus
• Better quality sleep
• Improved mood
• Fewer aches and pains
• Amplify your sex life
• No risk of pregnancy
• Rare to contract STIs (as long as you clean your sex toys, especially if you share them with someone else)
• Great way to explore your body and how you experience pleasure – this makes it easier to communicate with any potential partners about sex

When you masturbate, your body releases the hormones oxytocin and dopamine; they typically improve your mood and evoke positive emotions. These hormones also counteract cortisol, which causes you to feel stress and anxiety. This explains why self-pleasure can help with boosting your mood and relieving daily stresses.

Masturbation can also be a great way to treat yourself to self-care! Taking time to yourself and doing something just for you and no one else can be really refreshing and relieving.

Self-pleasure has more benefits than you can believe! For people with vaginas (AFAB), you might find:

• You’re more likely to orgasm during sexual relationships with partners
• Relief from menstrual cramps
• Increased self-esteem
• Higher libido
• More satisfaction in your relationship and sex life
• If you’re pregnant:
  • Heightened sexual desire
  • Relief from pregnancy symptoms like back pain
• If you’re older:
  • Less vaginal dryness
  • Less pain during sex

Furthermore, those with penises (AMAB), masturbation is also incredibly healthy! Studies have shown that masturbating often has long term health benefits such as decreasing the risk of prostate cancer. This is because frequent ejaculation may help clear the prostate gland of potential cancer-causing substances.

Potential Side Effects

Masturbation has no serious side effects.

However, rumors and misinformation have spread across the schoolyard and beyond regarding the “side effects” of masturbating. From hairy palms and vision loss to infertility and erectile dysfunction, falsehoods go on and on.

While masturbating won’t do anything as serious as causing blindness, there are some minor side effects that it can cause:

Guilt – certain cultures and religions frown on masturbation and self-pleasure. However, there is nothing scientifically wrong with masturbation and actually promotes a healthy lifestyle. Pleasures N Treasures prides itself on its accepting culture and employees, creating a safe space for anyone to find masturbation fun and exciting! If you find yourself feeling shame or guilt about masturbation, speak to sex therapist, mental health specialist or general practitioner.

Compulsive sexual behavior – basically this means finding it hard to resist the constant urge to act on sexual urges. Also referred to as hypersexuality or sex addiction, compulsive sexual behavior can have a negative impact on romantic or personal relationships. You may find yourself missing work or neglecting other responsibilities in order to masturbate. If this is the case, seek advise from a therapist and try replacing masturbation with a different hobby.

Minor physical harm – potential chafing or swelling from frequent masturbation. This shouldn’t last more than 1 or 2 days. If you find masturbation to feel uncomfortable, try using lube to ease the friction.

Overall, masturbation is incredibly healthy and has many benefits for your physical and mental health. Everyone masturbates differently and what works for one may not work for the other. Experimenting and discovering your body and sexuality is incredibly important and masturbating is a great way to do this! While there are some minor potential side effects, these are rare and completely avoidable when (like with most things) it is done in moderation. But don’t let that deter you from how healthy and fun masturbating is!

If you have any more questions or queries, feel free to email our customer service team wecare@pleasuresntreasures.com or drop in to one of our stores! Our team is happy to help answer any questions you may have.

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