Can masturbating (very) often harm your erection? Ejaculation, sperm quality or even penis size? An update on true (and false) beliefs with our psycho-sexologist.
Men indulge more in the pleasure of masturbation than women. But what about the effects of this practice on their body? Could there be long-term risks? Answers with psycho-sexologist Karine Artaud.
Can masturbating very often reduce penis size?
While the question may be surprising, many men ask themselves. But let them be reassured “this has nothing to do with” explains our interlocutor. “The size of the penis during erection plays with excitement and desire: that is to say, the more the penis will reach a kind of hyper rigidity, the longer it will be. Conversely, the more semi-rigid it is, the less length it will take” she recalls. The size thus fluctuates with the rise of desire but no risk of it decreasing due to manual caresses on the penis, even repeated.
Can masturbating too often affect sperm quality?
Yes, if the masturbation episodes are very close together. “After a refractory period, the man can start having penetration and masturbation again but it takes 3 days for the fluid to be complete. If he starts once every day (to masturbate, editor’s note) it may be that the sperm is not completely of good quality, explains Karine Artaud. In this case, the semen is clearer, more fluid and contains fewer sperm, but that does not mean that there are none. When it is more milky, there is a pronounced quantity of sperm. This influence is all the more marked as the man is older.” As a reminder, the entire process of spermatogenesis lasts about 72 days and the lifespan of a spermatozoon after ejaculation in the vaginal cavity lasts about 72 hours.
Can masturbating harm erections?
“Yes when we arrive at compulsive masturbation. This will affect the quality and there will be much less erection“ replies the psycho-sexologist. Apart from the compulsion stage, the effects depend on each man: “I meet a lot of men who find it very good to masturbate once a day and that doesn’t stop you from having sex frequently. Others masturbate two or three times a week without it harming their erection” she argues. Moreover, initially, masturbation allows a man to know his body better: “By masturbating a young man learns to control his erection, to appreciate it” explains Dr. Alain Héril in his book “Dans la tête des hommes”.
Does masturbating often promote premature ejaculation?
“Yes, this is part of the disorders inherent to rapid and compulsive masturbation” replies our interlocutor. Before recalling that “THE brain is the first sexual organ and that we can quickly overflow if we are not careful”. In fact, the man who has the habit of masturbating quickly, therefore ejaculating just as quickly, sends a message to his brain which registers a behavioral pattern of speed. Therefore, when he masturbates alone or with his partner or during vaginal penetration, ejaculation can be triggered much earlier.
To know : “A good masturbation is at least 15 minutes for both women and men.”
What is “dry masturbation”? Dangerous ?
We don’t always know it, but masturbation doesn’t always lead to ejaculation. “We can have dry masturbations with very little erection, the psycho-sexologist tells us. The man then has pleasure, an orgasm even, but without ejaculation. However, this phenomenon is not very common. It is better known to those initiated into tantric sexuality and “requires you to really know yourself”.
Thanks to Karine Artaud, Psycho-sexology Therapist in Chartres (Eure-et-Loir).