Can Female Masturbation Cause Infertility?

Women can masturbate using their fingers or even a sex toy for sexual arousal and satisfaction. Masturbation can involve more than just the vagina. It can involve various other body parts that are part of a woman’s sexual arousal and satisfaction. It is a very common and safe practice.

Benefits of Masturbation

Though many women are not comfortable trying or even about masturbation, it can benefit you in the following ways:

• Helps reduce stress and tension
• Reduces anxiety and depression
• Improves your mood and sleep
• You can satisfy your sexual needs yourself
• You can masturbate on your own or with a partner
• Improves your focus and concentration
• Helps you understand more about your body and sexual needs
• Can alleviate aches and pains

Safe Female Masturbation Practices

If you want to masturbate to satisfy your sexual needs, go ahead by all means. Just keep these points in mind, to ensure you do not harm yourself in any way.

• If you are using sex toys, ensure you wash them well after use.
• Ensure your sex toy is clean before you use it on yourself during masturbation
• Ensure your nails are not long and sex toys do not have any sharp edges as well.
• Do not be too hard or rough on yourself as doing this regularly might decrease your sexual sensitivity
• Regular masturbation can lead to an addiction. So, watch out for signs and symptoms of masturbation addiction and seek help if you need it.

Effects of Female Masturbation

Masturbation can have both positive and negative effects on a woman. It all depends on how you do it and how frequently you do it. Using too many sex toys or cleaning them properly can lead to infections or pain in the vagina. Some studies show frequent masturbation can reduce a woman’s sexual sensitivity and also cause backaches. These are not very common side effects and the impact is generally positive.

We can further split the impact or effect of female masturbation on various aspects relating to her fertility.

1. Masturbation and Its Effect on Hormones

Masturbation can help reduce sexual tension and orgasm. When you orgasm or reach the peak of your sexual arousal, your body will release dopamine, oxytocin, and serotonin. While dopamine makes you feel good, serotonin helps you relax and sleep better. Oxytocin is a bonding hormone that makes you feel more connected. Masturbation can leave a woman feeling deeply satisfied and self-sufficient.

2. Masturbation and Its Effect on Ovulation

Ovulation is a part of your menstrual cycle. It is when your body releases a mature egg from the ovaries, which goes down the fallopian tube. If it meets sperm at this time, fertilization can happen, leading to a pregnancy. Masturbation does not have any impact on your menstrual cycle or the hormones causing ovulation. It cannot delay or stimulate ovulation. So, you don’t have to worry about masturbating when you are ovulating.

Ovulation in fact increases a woman’s libido. Your testosterone and estrogen levels increase during ovulation – your peak fertile period. It can help satisfy this libido without seeking a partner.

[Read : Phases of Menstrual Cycle – A Comprehensive Guide]

3. Masturbation and Its Effect on Menstruation

Masturbation does not affect your menstrual cycles in any way. Some women feel sexually aroused during or just before their periods. So, masturbating around this time can help satisfy your arousal.

Menstruation can cause cramps and pain for many women. Masturbating during your periods can help relieve cramps and reduce pain. Menstruation impacts your hormones and can make you feel gloomy, tired, or dull. Masturbation can help release the feel-good hormones and alleviate your mood as well.

4. Masturbation and Its Effect on Fertilization

Fertilization is when sperm successfully penetrates and fertilizes the egg that releases during ovulation. For fertilization to happen, you need sperm and masturbation does not provide your egg with sperm for fertilization. This is the only impact masturbation can have on a woman’s fertilization.

Many people believe a woman masturbating can negatively impact her fertility by preventing or delaying her ovulation. This is not true. Masturbation has no effect on your egg or the fertilization process. If you have sex in the right time and sperm manages to penetrate the egg, fertilization can happen irrespective of whether you masturbate or not.

Masturbation And Its Effect On Implantation

Implantation is when a sperm successfully fertilizes the egg, and the resulting embryo attaches itself to the uterine wall. Just as having sex during this period does not affect the implantation, masturbation will not too. Masturbation and implantation do not impact one another.

Implantation bleeding and cramps are very common. You may confuse these as side effects of masturbation and worry about its impact on your possible pregnancy. Don’t worry, you masturbating will not affect the way your embryo attaches to the uterine wall.

Can Masturbation Lead to Female Infertility? 

No, female masturbation cannot affect a woman’s fertility in any way. It does not interfere with her menstrual cycle, ovulation, fertilization, or implantation. Many factors can affect a woman’s fertility or lead to infertility but female masturbation is not one of them

Female masturbation is completely safe and nothing to feel uncomfortable about. Women have sexual urges and needs just like men and they can satisfy their needs without the need for a partner. When they follow safe and hygienic methods, masturbation can benefit a woman in multiple ways.

[Read : 11 Everyday Things That Might Be Affecting Your Fertility]

FAQ’s

1. How Often Can Females Masturbate?

Women can masturbate as frequently as they want. It is safe to masturbate even twice a week as long as you listen to your body and stop if your body reacts negatively to it.

2. Does Female Masturbation Affect Her Virginity?

No, masturbation does not affect a woman’s virginity. If you worry about your hymen tearing, avoid inserting sex toys into your vagina. A hymen can tear due to many other physical activities, and exercises or sometimes be absent from birth too. So, the presence of an intact hymen does not determine a woman’s virginity.

3. Can Female Masturbation Cause UTIs?

If you do not follow hygiene practices or clean your sex toys properly while masturbating, it can increase your risk of contracting a UTI. The act of masturbation does not cause UTIs, but the lack of hygiene does.

Read Also: Sex Position to Conceive a Baby