Scarleteen

Is it normal for masturbation to hurt in some areas or from what you are doing? How do I know if a way I'm masturbating isn't good for my mental or physical health? If its up to me to figure it out do you know some approaches I could use to figuring it out for myself? Like for me if masturbation hurts sometimes I'll go but this may be worth it I'll just keep doing it I'll see if I'll get into it even though I'm in pain and I'm not enjoying the pain, or I'll think- I like this? I like this and I like the pain but I don't like the pain that comes along with the pleasure I just misunderstand myself. What's your advice? Ok thanks!

Hi Starsnsloths,

Generally, if masturbation is causing you pain, you want to stop or adjust what you're doing. Pain is a signal from our bodies that what we're doing is causing some kind of issue for us, and it's good to listen to those signals. If someone enjoys incorporating pain into sex, including sex with themselves, that's something that involves pre-planning to make sure the ways they're incorporating pain are ultimately still safe ones.

A helpful starting point for all this may be to check in with how you feel afterwards; do you tend to feel relaxed and satisfied? Guilty? Just kind of "meh?"