Ovulation day

[marla192]

I sometimes get nervous to ask this question but. 1) Does masturbation cause the day where you ovulate come faster?
2) Can you release an egg when you masturbate?

[Sam W]

Hi Marla,

No need to be nervous With your first question, masturbation isn't something that can influence your cycle so you couldn't use it to make ovulation occur faster. With your second question, it's possible that at the same time you were masturbating your ovaries released an ovum, but those two actions wouldn't be connected to each other. Does that all make sense?

You may also want to check out this article, since it talks about the different parts of your cycle, how they occur, and what they often feel like to the person having them: On the Rag: A Guide to Menstruation

[marla192]

Thank you for the article!! And it kinda does. So does that mean I did release an egg or something close to an egg?

[Sam W]

You're welcome! So, your body will release an ovum (which is the official name of an egg in this case) at some point each month, which is what ovulation is. You may or may not experience a little bit of cramping during ovulation, called middleschmerz, which can sometimes clue you into to what's happening. Is there a reason you think ovulation happened when you were masturbating?

[marla192]

Yes, when I masturbated I saw a clear discharge and it looked watery too. I was just wondering if that was an ovulation? I know its suppose to look white and sticky on the day of ovulation, but I was wondering if that was an ovum (egg)

[Sam W]

You're right that the type of discharge you saw is common during the ovulation portion of your cycle, so it's likely you were at that point. However, an ovum is not actually going to come out of your body during ovulation. If a pregnancy dosen't occur during your cycle, the egg just disintegrates.

[marla192]

Oh, does that mean I ovulated early? On this app I use to tract my period and ovulation, it saids I should ovulate on the 24th of this month

[Sam W]

It's tricky to say, because some of those apps don't collect the data they need to accurately predict your cycle. Does the app you use have you taking your temperature and tracking cervical mucus?

[marla192]

I use the app Flo, but no it doesn’t. I updated my cycle so far and it said I should be having it this Tuesday now

[Sam W]

Okay, so an app that isn't tracking those things can't accurately predict your cycle. However, if that's something you're interested in doing, we have a great resource for getting you started here: Get With the Flow: All About FAM . Does what's described in that article look like something you'd like to try?

[marla192]

I see, yes. That sounds good, thank you for the article! I have another question if that’s okay, but when a sperm reaches day 7 inside the women’s body, it can’t fertilize? Because it’s too weak? I hope that’s a okay question to ask

[Sam W]

You're welcome! As for your other question, the reason sperm can only survive so long is that sperm are fairly fragile and require certain conditions in order to survive (and those conditions go away the longer the sperm waits). You can read more about that here: Who's Afraid of Sperm Cells? .

[marla192]

Yeah, I read it a while back and I sort of got it. So if a sperm cell waits for a egg to fertilize for like a week or 8 days, it can’t do it anymore? Also I was still wondering, can you lose eggs when you masturbate like send a egg down the Fallopian tube when you masturbate?

[Mo]

Yep, you have that right; after that amount of time, sperm just aren't able to fertilize an egg.
As Sam said above, there's no connection between masturbation and ovulation; masturbating won't impact when you ovulate at all.

[marla192]

Oh okay! Thank you, I’m sorry if I was over loading with questions!

[Mo]

You're welcome! Happy to help, no worries.