Can Masturbation Cause Prostatitis? [Find Out The Truth]

Both men and women masturbate. It is a way young adults start exploring their bodies, and the activity is also pleasurable. Many may also masturbate as they do not have a sex partner. Thus, people of different age groups masturbate.

Here it is vital to understand that it is absolutely normal for humans to masturbate. There is nothing unnatural about it. Of course, a person can survive without masturbating, but one can even survive by not having any sex at all.

Masturbation does have some well-known benefits, like it may help reduce stress and sexual tension. It may also help you sleep better. Masturbation also helps strengthen pelvic muscles a bit.

However, for ages, many myths have been associated with masturbation like it will result in stunted growth or cause some sexual problems. Nevertheless, none of these things are true.

Similarly, different religious groups also had different attitudes towards masturbation. However, scientifically, it is not a bad thing for sure. But, whether you masturbate or not is up to you.

People have many questions regarding masturbation, and yet, most of them remain unanswered. There has been some research into the role of masturbation, but most of those studies have conflicting results.

For example, some may say it is good for health, while other studies may associate it with a higher risk of certain ailments.

However, it is worth understanding that most studies regarding masturbation have been of poor quality. Thus, making conclusions from those few studies is not a good idea. Moreover, most of those studies had some confounding factors.

For example, some may suggest that masturbation may cause prostate enlargement. But, then, people with higher testosterone levels are more likely to masturbate more. Thus, the greater risk of prostate enlargement may be due to higher testosterone rather than masturbation.

Can masturbation cause prostatitis?

To begin with, no. There is no way that masturbation may cause prostate inflammation or prostatitis. There may be some conflicting information on various online sources, but none of that information is supported by sound evidence.

To understand why masturbation cannot cause prostatitis, one has to understand what prostatitis is. It is an inflammatory condition of the prostate.

Prostatitis has symptoms like pain around the penis, pain while peeing, and a general feeling of malaise.

Prostatitis is unlikely to occur just by frequently ejaculating through masturbation. Instead, it is more likely to occur due to infection.

Thus, for example, NHS, UK, says that some of the risk factors for prostatitis are urinary tract infections, urinary catheters, prostate biopsy, sexually transmitted diseases, HIV, anal sex, and pelvic injuries ^[1].

Of course, prostate inflammation or prostatitis may also be non-infectious. However, it is more likely to occur in people who already have some kind of urinogenital infection.

In fact, some well-designed studies suggest just the opposite, showing that masturbation may have a supportive role in treating chronic non-bacterial prostatitis (NBP). Although any benefit from masturbation is minimal, studies show that frequent ejaculation helps lower prostatitis risk and also helps treat the condition. Thus, those who lack regular sex may benefit from masturbation ^[2].

One of the reasons why some people think that masturbation may be bad is that it stimulates the working of the prostate. This is because the prostate gland produces fluid that comes out with sperm. Thus, every time a person masturbates, he stimulates the prostate gland.

It means that masturbating now and then, especially by those who do not have regular sex, may have a beneficial impact. However, some young men may become addicted to masturbation, and they might masturbate multiple times a day. Such kind of habit may increase the risk of certain disorders, including prostatitis.

However, here it is vital to understand that in those addicted to masturbation, the increased risk of prostatitis could be due to other reasons like high testosterone, risky behavior, multiple sexual contacts, substance abuse, and more. Thus, it would be unwise to say that masturbation alone is responsible for prostate inflammation.

Is there anything else to know?

One of the frequently quoted studies these days is by Dimitropoulou and colleagues, which found that if young men masturbate, they are increasing their risk of prostate issues, and even prostate cancer.

However, the same study also found that older men benefited from masturbation.

However, such studies should be interpreted with extreme caution. It was just a survey of people diagnosed with cancer. And many of those diagnosed with prostate cancer reported masturbating a lot as young adults.

However, the study has many limitations like it had no information about the hormone levels of these individuals, their medical history, how often they suffered from sexually transmitted diseases, and so on. Hence, it did not take confounding factors into consideration ^[3].

We here want to say that even if there are some studies saying that masturbation may cause harm in one way or another, most of these studies were ill-designed and have limited, if any, value.

The findings of studies showing that masturbation caused any harm have been inconsistent and quite often even contradictory. Contradictions in those studies are due to poor study designs and neglecting confounding factors like hormone levels, nutritional status, sex life, STDs, and more.

To sum up

Masturbation is not likely to cause prostatitis. Prostatitis is more likely to occur in those living with STDs or recurrent urinary tract infections. On the contrary, some well-designed studies indicate ejaculation is associated with better prostatitis treatment outcomes. It means those who do not have regular sex may benefit a bit from masturbation.

However, those who masturbate too frequently, like multiple times a day, may be at increased risk of certain health issues, including prostatitis. In addition, these individuals are more likely to have hormonal problems and risky behavior and are also more likely to be exposed to STDs.

References

1. Prostatitis. nhs.uk. Published October 19, 2017. Accessed October 4, 2022. https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/prostatitis/
2. Yavaşçaoğlu I, Oktay B, Simşek U, Ozyurt M. Role of ejaculation in the treatment of chronic non-bacterial prostatitis. Int J Urol. 1999;6(3):130-134. doi:10.1046/j.1442-2042.1999.06338.x
3. Richards L. Sexual activity link with prostate cancer. Nat Rev Urol. 2009;6(4):179-179. doi:10.1038/nrurol.2009.34