Did you have a bad day at work? Do you have a raging migraine or your period twisting your stomach? Or are you at the very end of your pregnancy and praying for an imminent and painless delivery? What if you treat yourself to … an orgasm?
In addition to the pleasure it provides, orgasm has many unsuspected benefits, yet largely confirmed by science. Anti-stress, anti-pain or even anti-cancer, on the occasion of this Tuesday of World Orgasm Day, 20 minutes reveals some of its health benefits.
A drug to naturally reduce pain
Rather than a pill of your gold standard painkiller or anti-inflammatory to relieve your headache or painful hip, a few minutes of pleasure could have the same effect. “Even before reaching orgasm, making love leads to sexual arousal, itself very linked to the blood mechanism: there is a heating of the body and an influx of blood in the penis or in the clitoris, described Alain Héril, sex therapist and author of The therapeutic orgasm. When pleasure drives away pain (ed. Grancher). Then, at the moment of orgasm, the body and the brain are in a form of release, and we secrete endorphins, the morphine naturally produced by the body, which has an analgesic function, therefore which reduces pain. It is scientifically proven by numerous studies ”.
As part of his work, Alain Héril has collected “more than 600 testimonies from people who, voluntarily, have tried only or two therapeutic orgasm, to treat problems related in particular to pain”, indicates the sex therapist. And the field of action of orgasm is wide, since it “releases a set of pain-regulating hormones and can thus have soothing effects on menstrual, joint and inflammatory pain, continues the sex therapist. But also calm migraines, thanks to its action of regulating blood flow. It’s better than having several coffees! I have even had testimonials from patients for whom orgasm was a way to calm the pain associated with multiple sclerosis outbreaks or related to chemotherapy sessions ”.
Anti-stress and anxiolytic properties
While France is the second European consumer of antidepressants, the coronavirus pandemic has accentuated the stress and the feeling of depression experienced by many French people. And again, the orgasm can unfold its benefits. “It’s an experience of relaxation and letting go,” recalls Alain Héril. As soon as one feels a psychic or physical tension, naturally, the orgasm will regulate this state of tension, which will disappear during a long time, from several hours to several days. It allows you not to be overwhelmed by your emotions: it regulates anger, fear and anxiety ”.
In addition, beyond the effects specific to orgasm, “the fact of having a physical, affectionate connection, of taking someone in his arms, has the same mechanisms as an antidepressant, explains the sex therapist. This is not to say that it cures deep depression. On the other hand, for a person who feels depressed or stressed, it is a good natural medicine ”.
Better than chamomile and sleeping pills to get to sleep
The mechanisms by which orgasm reduces stress also work to help people with insomniacs get back to sleep. “As part of this experience of therapeutic orgasm, the letting go that it achieves leads to a state of rest and relaxation which can lead to rapid drowsiness after orgasm”, explains Alain Héril. Who also wins people who have no trouble falling asleep.
Sedative properties tested and approved by several of his patients. “Some people took sleeping pills without success, and orgasm came as a solution to sleep problems that nothing else was fixing. People with insomnia describe better, deeper and more restful sleep after an orgasm ”.
An effective way to speed up and facilitate childbirth
If since this story of an apple bitten in the Garden of Eden, women are supposed to give birth in pain, orgasm could, almost like the epidural, be a game-changer. “It is a subject still a little taboo, because we persist in associating childbirth with pain, but it is quite possible, thanks to the enjoyment, to reduce the pain when labor has started”, assures Alain Héril.
And this moment of pleasure has other virtues for women at the end of pregnancy, since it “can even accelerate the onset of childbirth,” he adds. How? ‘Or’ What ? “Among the different hormones that it releases in the body, orgasm will in particular cause the secretion of oxytocin, which is naturally produced by the body, but which can also be administered as part of scheduled births. “.
And if the orgasm is to be consumed without moderation, the sex therapist has only one precaution to address to future mothers: “it is better to avoid penetrating and vibrating sex toys, which could lead to a somewhat rapid opening of the cervix”, underlines Alain Héril, who instead recommends “clitoral masturbation”.
Good for preventing prostate cancer
And when we say that having orgasms is good for your health, it is true to the point of reducing the risks of certain cancers. Thus, “ejaculating often, at least twenty times a month, contributes to the good health of the prostate, it is proven by many studies”, explained to 20 minutes Prof. François Desgrandchamps, head of the urology department at Saint-Louis hospital in Paris and author Are we talking about the prostate? (Hachette Pratique ed.).
This would be due to “a biological mechanism, since in the sperm, there are substances, called putrescines, which are carcinogenic. Ejaculating often thus eliminates toxins, according to the urologist. Part of the key to a healthy prostate is a fulfilling sex life. And this is not negligible: it halves the risk of developing prostate cancer ”.