Giving up playing with yourself for No Nut November? Not so fast, fellas — one vocal medical expert says that abstinence-minded men signing up for the 30-day, hands-off challenge are actually just playing themselves.
Created back in 2011 and popularized on discussion boards like Reddit, proponents claim that a masturbation-free month can lead to greater mental clarity, a decrease in dependence on porn, a boost in testosterone and enhanced athletic abilities.
But one doctor says there’s no substantial research to back up the medical claims, and even warns that the challenge could have detrimental effects.
Urologist Dr. Urina Malik recently told Insider of the risks total abstinence can cause — starting with the discomfort-making epididymal hypertension.
The condition, known commonly as “blue balls,” is described by the National Institutes of Health as “scrotal pain following heightened sexual arousal that did not result in orgasm.”
The concerns Dr. Malik expressed closely mirrored a recently-resurfaced viral video posted to YouTube last year, where she offered five reasons why men should not participate in the challenge.
First, the doctor declared that lack of release could reduce the quality of your sperm.
“As you abstain from sex, sperm number and volume increases over time, but the quality of sperm decreases,” she claimed.
She additionally alleged that one analysis of 5,000 semen samples uncovered that sperm mobility was lower in men who hadn’t ejaculated in more than a week.
Secondly, Malik claimed that abstaining from orgasm does not significantly boost testosterone levels over a sustained period.
The urologist said that the misnomer was based on a study of just 10 men, which uncovered that there was only a temporary boost in the hormone.
Similarly, the doc declared that nine separate studies found no correlation between improved athletic performance and abstaining from sex or masturbation.
“Since Roman and Greek times, educators have been touting the benefits of abstaining from sex before athletic performance,” she explained. “They thought sexual frustration would cause some increased aggression.”
Instead, the studies referenced by Malik uncovered that not orgasming before exercise made no difference to several different factors, including focus and hand grip strength.
Additionally, Malik said participants could also experience epididymal hypertension and possible pelvic floor dysfunction.
The doc explained that the latter could be caused by edging — ie. bringing oneself to the brink of orgasm before stopping short.
No Nut November participants tend to make their own rules — while some abstain from sex and masturbation completely, others don’t deny themselves pleasure altogether and engage in edging.
“Pelvic floor muscles can carry a lot of stress,” she explained. “If you’re getting very stressed and trying to control your ejaculation over and over again they [the muscles] can get tense.”
Malik said pain with ejaculation, testicular pain and pain during defecation are possible symptoms of pelvic floor dysfunction.
Malik isn’t the only critic of the challenge — a prominent sex columnist railed against No Nut November last year, saying it increased the stigma and shame around masturbation.
Several men responded to the criticisms, saying that they were still looking forward to undertaking the challenge, with several saying they hoped it would help kick their porn habit.
“I’m doing this for the dopamine detox, as a stepping stone to quit porn addiction and reconnect to the real world, real women,” one commented. “That’s all I ever need, and will ask for from this challenge.”
Another chimed in stating: “Stay strong y’all. No one can break us now. We going strong and will be strong for the whole month without touching ourselves.”
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