Wild & Wacky Masturbation Facts

Masturbation is self-stimulation for arousal or pleasure. People of all sexes, ages, relationship situations, and stages of life report masturbating. Some do it often. Others do it rarely. And a few even say they never do it. There are lots of wild & wacky facts about masturbation. We could bombard you with trivia. But we want to get to the most important fact of all, the one we get asked more than anything else: is masturbation normal?

According to a national survey of 3,878 US adults, 60.1% of men and 36.5% of women reported masturbating in the past month. That ranks it among the most ordinary things adults do in private, and certainly makes it a normal thing to do. That same survey found that 10.4% of men and 23.3% of women said they had never masturbated at all. And that makes not masturbating perfectly normal as well.

One caveat is worth mentioning. People often fudge the truth when discussing such a personal and private topic. So, the real numbers are likely higher than the ones shared here. But that doesn't take away from the larger truth. Your personal attitude toward masturbation is shared by millions of other adults. And you have nothing to be embarrassed about.

Masturbation frequency is where you find the biggest difference between people. It's also the thing everyone wants to know about.  In that same national survey, 35.9% of men and 8.8% of women reported masturbating at least weekly. Plenty of others reported doing it once a month or a handful of times a year.

The reasons people gave are the more interesting part of the picture. Pleasure came first for both men and women, named by roughly 66% of respondents, followed by simply feeling aroused and then relieving stress.

That is a very different story from the one the old health pamphlets told, where solo sex was something people fell back on when they didn't have any other options. Researchers also saw a pattern that undoes this old theory entirely. People who frequently had sex with another partner often masturbated more and not less.

Many people just their hands when they want to masturbate, usually in a private room. But there are plenty of other ways to do it, and that's where things get wild and wacky.

Sex toys stopped being niche a long while ago, but they're the next most-common masturbation tools. In a global search-interest analysis, the most-searched sex toy categories from 2009 to 2023 ranked as dildos, vibrators, strap-ons, anal plugs, and masturbators. Denmark did the most searching for dildos, Romania for vibrators, Greece for strap-ons, Brazil for anal plugs, and the Czech Republic for masturbators. Vibrators and masturbators are the only two terms on a sustained upward trend during that time period.

Behind those search terms are ordinary categories you can browse without any of the mystery. Male masturbators cover sleeves and strokers designed to add texture and a different kind of pressure. Vibrators run from small clitoral toys up to wand massagers. None of them are required for masturbation. Sex toys are simply one more way to enjoy yourself.

While many people masturbate in private, some like to do it in front of another person. Some couples masturbate together to show each other how they like to be touched. Others enjoy watching. And some just like the company. You don't need a toy or a script to give partnered masturbation a try, and it might be something that you and your lover really enjoy.

Friction is the most common complaint about masturbation, and it has a simple answer. Cleveland Clinic's health library notes that rough or very frequent masturbation can cause minor chafing or swelling that usually settles within a day or two. But this can be reduced if not completely eliminated by using lubrication. A water-based lube is an easy place to start. Keeping a bottle within reach can makes a big difference.

Cleaning is quick. Use warm water and mild, unscented soap or a dedicated toy cleaner, before and after. Make sure anything you use is completely dry before putting it away.

Comfort is not only physical. If you experience guilt, shame, or fear it's becoming compulsive, you should speak to a healthcare provider.

Almost every frightening claim about masturbation has a traceable origin, and the origin is rarely medicine. The same Cleveland Clinic health library clears the folk consequences out in one pass. Masturbation does not cause vision loss or hairy palms. Both of those are pure playground folklore. There is no link to mental illness. Penis shrinkage and curvature are not consequences of masturbating either. The same goes for lower sperm count or infertility. Erectile dysfunction and lowered libido are off the list too, and there is no long-term effect on testosterone.

The modern version of those myths traces back largely to one Lausanne physician. According to the Swiss National Museum, Samuel Auguste Tissot published a treatise on onanism in 1758 arguing that masturbation sapped a person's strength and damaged the nervous system, memory, and intellect. His reasoning was that seminal fluid originated in the brain and traveled down the spinal column, so every orgasm supposedly spent a little brain fluid. The treatise went through roughly 60 revisions in his lifetime and launched an anti-masturbation movement that shaped Western attitudes well into the 20th century.

The other myth worth retiring is that any of this is a modern indulgence. A comparative study across the primate order found masturbation to be an ancient trait that was most likely already present in the common ancestor of monkeys and apes, humans included. The team assembled data on 105 of 272 primate species from nearly 400 sources, including questionnaires returned by primatologists and zookeepers. Tens of millions of years is a long run for a habit, and it puts Tissot on the losing side of a very old argument.

Want to try masturbating with a toy? Start with what your hands already do well and choose a toy that builds on it. A sleeve changes the texture and the pressure without asking you to learn a new skill. It's an easy first step if you have a penis. Masturbator kits suit you better if you would rather sample a few textures before deciding what you actually like.

If you don't have a penis, there are plenty of other options. Clit vibrators are the equivalent starting point for clitoral pleasure. Dildos, on the other hand, are great for vaginal thrills.

Add a lube you like, keep a cleaner nearby, and you have everything the research says matters for comfort.