Here’s what forum members learned when they asked their urologists whether they need to ejaculate frequently to protect prostate health:
No need to clean out the pipes. Shortly before I found this site, I asked my urologist if ejaculation helped prevent prostate cancer. He stated unequivocally that he knew of no medical reason for a man to ejaculate. This was actually a bit of a relief to me, for I was “cleaning out the pipes” 3 or 4 times a week, partially because I thought it promoted good health. Since I have always been slow to ejaculate, this was sometimes a lot of work, especially for my wife. One less thing on the to-do list.
I spoke to a urologist a while back due to some bicycling-related prostatitis. I asked him what he thought the ideal ejaculation frequency would be. He replied that in the ABSENCE of frequent masturbation, the wet dream interval would be a good guide.
The doctor explained that glands are not muscles, and do not need “exercise.” Glands secrete fluids automatically, and manual intervention is simply not needed. Therefore, avoidance of ejaculation is not a problem whatsoever. Preventing a wet dream would be, but the good news is that no one seems to know how to prevent them anyway.
In my case, the doctor recommended that once my prostatitis cleared up and all was irritation gone, I wait until I have a wet dream, THEN wait until I have another one, without disrupting the cycle by masturbation or orgasm. The resulting interval would be a good guide for the sake of reproductive health regarding the number of ejaculations.Since I have not had a wet dream for a decade or more (always masturbated) I have no idea how long this interval is. I asked the doctor, “What if I don’t have a wet dream?” His reply, “Well then you no longer need to ejaculate at all.” This makes sense to me. Probably this interval is a good way to calibrate things to age and overall physical health. Young men might have wet dreams once a month, while older men might not have any at all.
Talk to your Doctor about NoFap… I did!
As part of my annual physical check-up, I spoke with my primary doctor today about the effects of masturbation on my health. I have a great doctor who’s been monitoring of my body’s well-being for most of my life, including my bouts of depression, so he was well qualified to consider my medical history in his response.
Fist of all, my doctor confirmed that there are no specific health risks determined by whether you masturbate or not. Downplaying the claims some people make masturbating helps prevent prostate problems, my doctor said:
- “I wish I could say, ‘You should ejaculate this often to help prevent prostate cancer,’ but I can’t. That’s just not true.”
-Dr. Grayson, D.O., 1/8/13
Additionally, my doctor agreed that not masturbating can help improve other areas of your life since, “you can use that energy to form other habits.”
My doctor has been monitoring my testosterone levels with blood tests every so often since it tested low in the past. While it will be interesting to see if a change correlates with me making it half way to 90-day NoFap (woot!), he was strong in his opinion that masturbation use has little to no effect on testosterone levels.
Finally, when I told my doctor that I feel cutting out porn and masturbation has improved my health, he nodded in agreement, stating:
- “My patients tell me that [avoiding porn and masturbating helps them], and I believe them.”
-Dr. Grayson, D.O., 1/8/13
I was surprised and encouraged to find that I’m not the only one who’s spoken to my doctor about this issue, and that others who’ve seen him are experiencing the same results! Be encouraged, my friends; the hard science may still be out on the issue, but doctors are listening to their patients and are reaching the same conclusions as us!
My wife and I had some concerns about this as her dad had prostate cancer—and most of what you read leads one to believe that regularly “emptying the tank” could be beneficial in reducing cancer risk. I conducted as much research as I could find on the subject and there is no definitive answer either way.
Not bragging here but I have always been a prodigious (high volume) ejaculator, and what initially put me on the path to become non-ejaculatory was the fact my semen upset the delicate environmental balance of my wife’s vagina and triggered seemingly endless yeast infections. So when life deals you a lemon you find a way to make lemonade out of it. I stopped ejaculating inside her—which eventually led to not ejaculating at all, once we began to see the benefits [greater harmony, more sex, no fatigue/irritability afterward].
I relate this to illustrate that I have literally been from one extreme to the other—and am currently approaching three years without ejaculation. From my own meandering experience, my take is that ejaculation is much like any other bodily function. The body reacts to meet the demand—what ever the demand might be. We are all highly individualistic as far as what works for us and what our needs are. If one ejaculates frequently the body ramps up production, and if one goes for extended periods without, then the lymphatic system removes waste. Automatically.
For me, at least, I do not think any “drying up” occurs as I do “leak” the clear pre-ejaculatory fluid during play and since we play at the edge sometimes I do get that very “full” congested feeling if play is extended for long periods of time. But the body quickly processes out the “excess” to restore equilibrium. So all the “plumbing” appears to be working just fine in spite of a long period without ejaculating.
I have found that my arousal cycle is very much in harmony with my lovely wife, and when she is out of commission during menstruation my libido slows down to match hers—where as during peak ovulation I “rise” to the occasion and take full advantage of her increase in “demand.” We just naturally flow together in the most delicious way.
I once asked a medical doctor—who has practiced non-orgasmic sex techniques for years—about prostate trouble and ejaculation. He said: “I don’t know of any research on this, but I have a strong opinion that the big consideration is whether there is a sense of control/frustration/holding back involved. If one is moving energy well, then congestion [stagnant blood flow] does not happen.”
- If you want to exercise your prostate region and meet potential mates, try sexercise.
- Also see: Ejaculation: How Often for Good Health? and the discussion below.
Comments of a natural health practitioner
From a clinical standpoint i can tell you as a wholistic practitioner that there are myriad other elements playing into this topic of prostate cancer. Indeed, viruses and bacteria play into prostate health. Because stress elevates cortisol and elevated cortisol creates dysbiosis (leaky gut), the prostate is more susceptible to influxes of yeast, virus and bacterial.
Furthermore, the prostate does not have much blood supply, thereby making drugs (antibiotics) and even herbs etc penetrate with difficulty. The key in this area is stress reduction (bonding anyone?) and gut health. With food allergies, increased estrogens in the form of xenobiotics etc making their way into the body, we are exposed to many things we weren’t 20 plus years ago.
As far as the pure physiological perspective, I go with the Eastern philosophy of energy and chi depletion. Overuse creates “heat” in the organ, which leads to stasis etc.
I personally feel no side effects from abstaining from orgasm and in fact I feel like my prostate is much healthier because of it. Even being new to karezza and edging a number of times has not led to any personal negative side effects, whereas orgasming usually does lead me down the road to issues with the prostate.
Too bad we can’t do a karezza study but it’s like vaccinations and medications versus taking herbs, homeopathics and nutrition; it’s too expensive to do studies on things that can’t be produced to make a profit off of. However, that doesn’t stop many of us from benefiting from herbs, nutritional supplements and homeopathics.
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