A recent study showed that ejaculating 20 times a month or more reduced the risk of prostate cancer by up to 20% compared to doing so four or seven times every month (1).
The researchers said it is likely because ejaculating clears your prostate of debris and substances that would otherwise turn into cancer-inducing agents.
Some studies show that ejaculating can reduce the formation of prostate calculi, which are small stones that clog the prostate ducts.
With all this information, it is reasonable to conclude that ejaculation is beneficial for prostate health.
But what about inflammation? Is ejaculation a good thing to help prevent prostate inflammation? Keep reading to find out.
What is prostate inflammation?
Prostate inflammation or prostatitis is a localized inflammatory response in the prostate. It is a common disease that affects between 5% to 10% of men at some time during their lives.
There are different types of prostatitis, including acute bacterial prostatitis, chronic bacterial prostatitis, and chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CPPS). There is also asymptomatic prostatitis, which is even more common and remains undetected because it doesn’t have any symptoms (2).
Symptomatic prostatitis can cause frequent urination, prostatodynia, painful ejaculation, sexual dysfunction, and painful defecation.
Depending on the type, the symptoms can be mild or severe and last a few days or months. They can be recurrent or only happen to you once.
An interesting fact about prostatitis is that it is much more common in young patients than benign prostatic hyperplasia, prostate cancer, and other prostate-related conditions.
The typical prostatitis patient is young and sexually active, which is why prostatic infections are often associated with sexually-transmitted diseases.
Being so common in young males, the question of whether ejaculation can help avoid prostatitis (prostate inflammation) becomes even more interesting for males who want to prevent this disease.
What causes prostatitis?
Prostatitis occurs when bacteria from the urinary tract enter the prostate and cause inflammation. The infection usually begins in the urethra, a tube through which urine flows out of the bladder. As mentioned above, a common trigger would be a sexually-transmitted infection.
But that is not the only cause of prostatitis. It can be triggered by a urinary catheter, a prostate biopsy, or none of the above. Sometimes prostatitis is idiopathic, meaning there is no traceable cause, and doctors have a hard time locating the exact source of the disease.
Can prostatitis be caused by not ejaculating?
As mentioned above, a recent study showed that ejaculating more than 20 times every month reduces the risk of prostate cancer by 20%.
But reducing the risk does not mean that not ejaculating will cause prostate problems. Not having a protective factor such as ejaculation is not by itself a trigger or a cause of disease.
The same happens with prostatitis. The evidence we will review below supports the fact that prostatitis risk is reduced in men who ejaculate more often. But that doesn’t mean that not ejaculating causes prostatitis.
We can even say the opposite because doctors ask young patients if they have an active sexual life. After all, that is precisely a risk factor for prostatitis.
But what if you practice safe sex always, have an active sexual life with a single sexual partner, or masturbate frequently? Interestingly, that would make a risk factor become a protective agent against prostate inflammation.
Does ejaculation help prostate inflammation?
As mentioned above, the study quoted by the Harvard School of Public Health claims that the benefits of ejaculating more often are probably not limited to prostate cancer.
The researchers concluded that ejaculating clears the prostate of substances that would become a source of cancer. It similarly clears the prostate from debris that would gather up and turn into prostatic calculi, according to the prostate stagnation hypothesis.
The formation of calculi and the stagnation of prostatic fluid have been proposed as one of the likely causes of prostatitis when no other explanation is available.
When the prostatic fluid remains stagnant, it becomes a medium where bacteria can thrive and colonize the prostate. Thus, the rationale is that ejaculation sweeps out these substances, prevents stagnation and calculi, and can help reduce the incidence of prostatitis (prostate inflammation).
But those would be no more than empty words if they were not backed up by evidence.
One of the first studies about ejaculation frequency and prostatitis was made back in 1999 and was published in the International Journal of Urology.
In this article, the researchers included 34 single male patients with chronic non-bacterial prostatitis who avoided extramarital intercourse and masturbation for religious reasons and were not responding to treatment. They were encouraged to masturbate at least twice a week and were re-evaluated six months later.
After that period, only 18 patients followed the recommendations, and 88% of them experienced a significant improvement or a complete relief of their symptoms. Only four patients out of 18 reported the same symptoms and the same severity. Masturbation also helped achieve pain relief in this study (3).
A more recent study in 2020 confirmed this finding with a cohort of 685 male participants over 18 years.
After analyzing the data from questionnaires, the researcher reported that those with a higher ejaculation frequency had a lower incidence and severity of prostatitis symptoms (4).
It is clear that ejaculation can not only help patients with diagnosed prostatitis but also reduce the incidence of prostatitis symptoms in the future.
It may reduce the disease burden in young males, and it has been recommended repeatedly, as a part of the prostate prevention and maintenance program, to reduce the risk of prostate cancer and prostatitis.
Can ejaculation make prostatitis worse?
After reading about the benefits of ejaculation in prostate inflammation, we can say without a doubt that ejaculation will not make prostatitis worse. Quite the opposite because at least two studies show that a higher ejaculatory frequency is associated with symptomatic relief in patients with prostatitis.
We can sometimes find the term exhaustive or overuse prostatitis here and there, which refers to straining and irritating the prostate gland when you ejaculate too much.
But we will hardly reach such an extreme. An ejaculatory frequency of nearly 20 times a month will hardly give you an overworked prostate.
Indeed, every case of prostatitis is different, and some patients may experience very severe prostate pain after ejaculation. Thus, they would prefer to refrain from any type of sexual activity until the prostate no longer hurts after ejaculation, and they can resume intercourse, masturbation, and other types of sexual behavior.
Every case should be handled individually, and you will do better by asking your healthcare provider how this information applies to you.
However, we can recommend practicing safe sex if you engage in any type of intercourse. Remember that sexually transmitted infections can trigger prostatitis.
If you have prostate calculi and stagnant prostatic fluid, you don’t want to add new bacteria to the medium and continue to feed inflammation.
How to calm prostate inflammation
Ejaculation can be a protective factor or an excellent way to complement the treatment of prostatitis. However, it is not a treatment by itself. To calm prostate inflammation, you may need to undergo antibiotic therapy.
Men often don’t seek medical care when they have chronic prostatitis because many of them think it’s a minor problem if the symptoms are not severe. They only seek help when the situation becomes urgent. However, the condition can worsen with time, and patients should give attention to the disease as soon as possible.
Ben’s Natural Prostatitis Treatment: Prostate Healer
We formulated Prostate Healer to effectively combat prostatitis and BPH, protect bladder health, and provide symptomatic relief from urinary tract infections, urgency, frequency, and nocturia.
Prostate Healer is a blend of modern science and holistic healing. We’ve taken a 5,000 year old Ayurvedic recipe for prostate health and made it available for the men of today.
It works on the prostate, kidney, and bladder simultaneously, coaxing cells gently to resume normal function. So, by this action, you’re fighting against prostatitis and BPH.
If you’re like many men that use the formula, you’ll see a reduction in the number of times you get up to go to the bathroom to urinate. Plus, you’ll see an improvement in the flow of your urine.
Conclusion
Prostatitis is not contagious, and if you don’t overdo it with too many ejaculations at a time, it can be an excellent way to help speed up your treatment or prevent the condition in the first place.
Studies show an improvement in patients with prostatitis who engage in more frequent ejaculations, either by sexual intercourse or masturbation.
However, remember that prostatitis infections can also be due to sexually transmitted diseases. Lifestyle factors play a significant role in reducing the incidence of prostatitis, and it is always a good idea to practice safe sex.
Explore More
