Somebody once told you that doing it too much would turn your hair white. Somebody else swore it drains your energy, kills your testosterone, or, in the wilder versions, gives you diseases. You half-believed it, mostly because nobody ever sat you down and gave you the real answer.

Here’s the thing about a topic everyone does and nobody discusses: the silence gets filled with nonsense. Surveys consistently find that the large majority of adults masturbate at some point, with some research putting it above 80%. Yet the questions people type into Google at 1 a.m. are still the ones their grandparents whispered about.

So let’s go through the six biggest ones, one at a time, and give you straight answers.

Quick answers if you’re in a hurry:

Myth	Verdict
Causes white hair	Myth
Causes pregnancy	Myth
Causes HIV/AIDS	Myth
Lowers testosterone long-term	Mostly myth
Drains your energy permanently	Myth (short-term tiredness is real)
Causes stomach pain	Sometimes true, usually harmless

Myth 1: “Masturbation causes white hair”

Nope. There is no biological pathway connecting masturbation to the pigment cells in your hair follicles. This one seems to come from old folklore about “losing vitality,” and it has stuck around because greying hair is visible and scary, so people go looking for a cause they can control.

What actually turns hair grey:

• Genetics. By far the biggest factor. Look at when your parents started greying.
• Age. Pigment cells wind down over time.
• Chronic stress. Real, and the one most relevant to a lot of people reading this.
• Nutrient gaps, like low vitamin B12, iron, or copper.
• Smoking.
• Certain medical conditions, such as thyroid problems.

If you’re greying early and it’s bothering you, a doctor or dermatologist can check for the fixable causes. The habit you’re feeling guilty about isn’t one of them.

(Related worry, same answer: masturbation does not cause hair loss either.)

Myth 2: “Masturbation causes pregnancy”

Pregnancy needs a sperm cell to meet an egg. Masturbation, on its own, doesn’t put those two in the same place. That’s the whole story.

The one sensible footnote: if semen ends up on or near the vulva during partnered activity, that’s a different situation from solo masturbation, and it’s worth knowing about if you’re trying to avoid pregnancy. But solo masturbation? No risk. At all.

Myth 3: “Masturbation can give you HIV/AIDS”

No. HIV spreads through specific body fluids, mainly blood, semen, vaginal fluids, and breast milk, entering another person’s body through a direct route. Touching yourself involves no transfer between two people, so there’s nothing to catch.

This is why public health organizations have long listed mutual masturbation as a very low-risk activity, and why it was promoted as safer sex when HIV first emerged in the 1980s.

Two practical notes so you’re not walking away with only half the picture:

• Sharing toys is where hygiene matters. Clean them before and after each use, and don’t share without a barrier or thorough cleaning.
• Partnered activity that involves fluid exchange is a separate topic from solo masturbation, and regular STI testing is the right call there.

Myth 4: “Masturbation lowers your testosterone”

This is the myth with the most interesting answer, because the truth sits in the middle.

What’s solid: In healthy men, how often you masturbate doesn’t meaningfully change your baseline testosterone in any lasting way. Testosterone naturally moves around all day (it’s usually highest in the morning), and it’s shaped far more by sleep, body fat, stress, age, alcohol, and exercise than by what you do in private.

The nuance: A small 2003 study reported a temporary testosterone bump around day seven of abstinence, which is where a lot of the semen-retention hype comes from. It’s real data, but it’s one small study showing a short-lived blip, and the levels returned to normal afterward. It doesn’t show that ejaculating “drains” you. Both things can be true at once: there’s a minor short-term wobble, and there’s no lasting loss.

What actually tanks testosterone: poor sleep, being overweight, heavy drinking, chronic stress, and certain medications or medical conditions. If you’re dealing with persistent fatigue, low mood, or a flat libido, get a blood test instead of blaming your habits. A doctor can check this properly.

Myth 5: “Masturbation drains your energy”

Here’s where there’s a grain of truth, so let’s be precise.

After orgasm, your body releases prolactin and oxytocin, and your heart rate and arousal come back down. That combination is why you often feel relaxed, sleepy, or just done for a while. It’s the same reason many people nod off afterward. That’s a normal, short-lived response, typically a matter of minutes to a few hours.

It is not a permanent loss of “vital energy,” and nothing in the research supports that old idea.

The caveat worth taking seriously is compulsive masturbation. When it becomes something you do to escape stress or boredom, that you can’t stop even when you want to, or that starts eating into your sleep, work, or relationships, the tiredness you feel is usually coming from the lost sleep and the stress cycle, not from the act itself. That pattern deserves attention, and a therapist who works with compulsive behavior can help without any judgment.

Myth 6: “Masturbation causes stomach pain”

This one is partially true, and it’s the only entry on the list where the answer is “sometimes.”

Mild lower-abdominal cramping afterward can happen, and the usual culprits are boring and harmless:

• Muscle contractions. Orgasm involves rhythmic contractions of the pelvic floor and lower abdominal muscles. Like any muscles, they can feel tender afterward, especially with a very intense session.
• Pelvic congestion. Prolonged arousal without release leaves blood pooled in the pelvic area, which can cause a dull ache or heaviness (the thing people jokingly call “blue balls,” in men and women alike). It passes on its own.
• Friction and irritation, from too little lubrication or too much intensity, which can feel like a vague ache or burning down there.

When to actually see a doctor: if the pain is severe, keeps coming back, or lingers for hours or days, don’t brush it off. It can point to something unrelated to masturbation that’s worth checking, such as a hernia, prostatitis, an infection, or pelvic conditions in women. Sudden, intense testicular pain in particular is an emergency and shouldn’t wait.

So is masturbation actually harmful?

For the vast majority of people, no. It’s a normal, common part of human sexuality, and the research tends to link it to things like relaxation, better sleep, and stress relief.

The honest caveats are about patterns, not the act:

• Compulsion. If you feel unable to stop, or it’s interfering with your life, that’s worth addressing, whether or not porn is involved.
• Guilt and shame. For plenty of people, the shame does more damage than anything physical ever could. If the shame is heavy, talking to someone is worth it.
• Physical irritation. Give yourself a break if you’re sore.

If you’re trying to cut back for your own reasons, whether personal, religious, or because it’s become compulsive, that’s a perfectly valid choice, and tools like a content blocker can take away the in-the-moment friction. Just make it your decision, not a response to myths.

The takeaway

Nearly every scary thing you’ve heard about masturbation is either flat-out false (white hair, pregnancy, HIV), heavily exaggerated (testosterone, “lost energy”), or comes with a boring, manageable explanation (cramps). The real issues are compulsion and shame, and neither of those is solved by fear.

Know the facts, listen to your body, and see a doctor when something actually seems off.

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