Sex has wide-ranging health benefits for men. For example, it can help to bolster men’s mental health by promoting stress relief, emotional connection, and better sleep. Likewise, sex is a form of exercise that can help men in optimizing cardiovascular function. In addition, sex can help men to maintain and improve their intimate health, which is what we’re going to be focusing on in this article.
Below, we’re going to break down the science that shows how regular sexual activity can help support prostate health, fertility, sexual function, and more.
Sex and Prostate Health
The prostate is a walnut-sized gland that plays a central role in the production of seminal fluid, making it crucial to both fertility and sexual function. As men age, however, the prostate usually grows, and as it does, it can lead to a range of problems. In addition, with age, the risk of prostate cancer rises, which is the most common cancer among men.
There isn’t much you can do to prevent prostate growth because it’s simply a normal part of aging; however, you may be able to lower your risk of prostate cancer by maintaining an active sex life. In fact, multiple scientific studies exist showing a link between ejaculation and prostate cancer, such that men who ejaculate more frequently have a lower cancer risk.
For example, in a study out of Harvard that involved more than 31,000 men, researchers found that guys who ejaculated 21+ times per month had a significantly lower risk of developing this form of cancer than guys who ejaculated less often.
So why is that? We can’t say for sure, but the prevailing thought is that orgasm and ejaculation (whether through solo or partnered sex) are good for the body. For example, they may help to flush harmful substances from the prostate regularly to prevent accumulation. They may also improve blood flow to the pelvic area. Further, the hormones released upon orgasm, such as oxytocin, have anti-inflammatory properties, which may be playing a role, too.
In short, frequent sex just might help when it comes to preserving the health of your prostate.
Does Sex Boost Testosterone?
Testosterone is a crucial hormone for men’s sexual health and function, but it also plays a role in overall well-being because it impacts things like mood and energy levels.
So what’s the connection between testosterone and sex? Well, it’s bidirectional. This means that having higher testosterone typically leads to more sexual desire and activity, but at the same time, the act of having sex itself can actually boost testosterone, at least temporarily.
For example, in one study that took place over eleven nights, researchers documented that on nights men had sex, testosterone increased over the course of the evening; by contrast, on nights men didn’t have sex, testosterone decreased.
This might be part of what explains the sexual “afterglow” effect: given the role that testosterone plays in supporting mood, the increase in this hormone following sex might contribute to feeling good.
It’s important to note that the increase in testosterone that comes from sex is only temporary, but if you’re engaged in sex frequently, it might help in maintaining higher levels over time.
How Sex Affects Sperm Count
Research finds that there is indeed a link between sex and fertility in men. Frequent sexual activity seems to improve sperm health. Specifically, research finds that ejaculating more often is linked to releasing sperm with less DNA damage.
The thought here is that when men ejaculate more often, they’re flushing out the old sperm regularly and replacing it with fresh sperm. This is important because the longer sperm sits in the body, the more likely it is to experience DNA damage.
However, it’s important to note that when it comes to sperm count, ejaculating with a very high frequency can temporarily reduce it. So for men who are actively trying to conceive, spacing out sexual activity by 2-3 days can help when it comes to maximizing both sperm count and health.
Sex and Erectile Dysfunction Prevention
Erectile dysfunction (ED) is one of the most common sexual difficulties that men experience, and the risk of it increases with age. However, there’s a lot that you can do to reduce this risk, which starts with maintaining a healthy lifestyle through diet and exercise. Maintaining a healthy sex life just might be preventative, too.
For example, research has found that men who have sex at least once per week have significantly lower odds of developing ED than men who have sex on less than a weekly basis. So why is that?
It’s because our sexual health and function is really a “use it or lose it” kind of thing. When we engage in sexual activity (solo or partnered) more often, we’re promoting regular blood flow to the genital tissues, which can help to keep the area healthier and your erections stronger.
Regular sex can also be a confidence booster, and we know that lack of confidence is a big contributor to erectile difficulties. Staying sexually active can therefore be good for both body and mind.
Sex and Libido
Engaging in sex frequently can actually make you want to have more sex. The link between sex and libido is cyclical, meaning that higher desire fuels more sexual activity, which in turn fuels more desire.
In other words, you can increase sex drive in men naturally simply through having more frequent sex. And this makes sense. As mentioned above, upon orgasm, the body releases more testosterone as well as various neurochemicals (like dopamine and oxytocin) that can give us a boost in mood and, by extension, more desire. After all, we usually want more sex when we’re feeling good.
Sex and Pelvic Health
When people think about pelvic health, they often only think about it with respect to women. However, men’s pelvic health is just as important and it plays a role in supporting bladder control, erectile function, and sexual performance.
Sex itself is a form of pelvic exercise because orgasms involve a series of rhythmic contractions of the pelvic floor. So if you’re engaged in sex frequently, you’re going to be keeping those muscles in stronger shape.
However, you can further enhance them via kegel exercises for men. They’ve very easy to do and simply involve identifying the muscles you use to stop urine midstream. Then you squeeze, hold, and release several times. Doing this daily can help to improve your pelvic tone over time. However, it’s important to recognize that kegels may not be right for everyone. If you have a tight pelvic floor to begin with, overtightening those muscles can lead to problems. So if you try kegels and find them to be painful or uncomfortable or you develop any new symptoms, stop doing them and consult a healthcare professional.
Conclusions
It should be clear by this point that sex carries a number of important benefits for men’s intimate health and wellness. As discussed above, sex can help in supporting prostate health, boosting testosterone and libido, enhancing fertility and pelvic function, as well as lowering the odds of erectile dysfunction.
For all of these reasons and more, it’s vital that we have open conversations about men’s sexual wellness and for doctors and other medical providers to discuss sexuality with their male patients. By normalizing sex as a topic of discussion and breaking the taboos around it, we can help more people to tap into the myriad physical, psychological, and intimate health benefits of sex.
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