# Can blindness be caused by excessive masturbation? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 23, 2014, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-blindness-be-caused-by-excessive-masturbation/682034 "2014-02-23T21:17:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![twobook](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f475e1/32.png) [@twobook](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twobook)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2014, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-blindness-be-caused-by-excessive-masturbation/682034/1 "2014-02-23T21:17:07Z")
I once worked with a man who regularly masturbated at work, sometimes up to three times a day. He would go into a stall, drop his pants, and get on with it. The noises were distinctive and unmistakeable. His identity was confirmed by clocking his shoes and pants. He was married, so we assumed that he was getting some sexual relief at home. A few years ago, the man went blind. Just a coincidence? ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2014, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-blindness-be-caused-by-excessive-masturbation/682034/2 "2014-02-23T21:20:21Z")
Yes. ---
**Author:** ![SanDiegoTim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85e7bf/32.png) [@SanDiegoTim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanDiegoTim)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2014, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-blindness-be-caused-by-excessive-masturbation/682034/3 "2014-02-23T21:23:35Z")
Only if your hand slips off your root and you poke yourself in the eye. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2014, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-blindness-be-caused-by-excessive-masturbation/682034/4 "2014-02-23T21:29:00Z")
i’d like to reply to this thread but the screen is barely readable. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2014, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-blindness-be-caused-by-excessive-masturbation/682034/5 "2014-02-23T21:30:29Z")
**Can blindness be caused by excessive masturbation?** Yes, if you define “excessive” as “more than one trillion times per day, for one year.” ---
**Author:** ![Washoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecae2f/32.png) [@Washoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Washoe)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2014, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-blindness-be-caused-by-excessive-masturbation/682034/6 "2014-02-23T21:30:51Z")
People never pay heed to what their parents tried to teach them as children. They weren’t just talking out of their asses when they told you “watch where you point that thing.” ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2014, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-blindness-be-caused-by-excessive-masturbation/682034/7 "2014-02-23T21:37:01Z")
> [@Washoe](#): > > People never pay heed to what their parents tried to teach them as children. They weren’t just talking out of their asses when they told you “watch where you point that thing.” “I swear, doc, I was aiming for the frying pan!” ---
**Author:** ![Canadjun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2014, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-blindness-be-caused-by-excessive-masturbation/682034/8 "2014-02-23T21:51:05Z")
Well, if you masturbated so often that you couldn’t go out shopping or make proper meals you might get vitamin A deficiency and get night-blindness. 🙂 🙂 of course not! what would be the mechanism? ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2014, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-blindness-be-caused-by-excessive-masturbation/682034/9 "2014-02-23T22:00:25Z")
Now the burning question is…does blindness cause excessive masturbation? > [@kaylasdad99](#): > > “more than one trillion times per day, for one year.” Which is nowhere near my peak at 13. ---
**Author:** ![Lanzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/74df32/32.png) [@Lanzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lanzy)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2014, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-blindness-be-caused-by-excessive-masturbation/682034/10 "2014-02-23T22:02:44Z")
Staring at it too closely? ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2014, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-blindness-be-caused-by-excessive-masturbation/682034/11 "2014-02-23T22:04:37Z")
> [@twobook](#): > > . He was married, so we assumed that he was getting some sexual relief at home. Hell of an assumption there, dude. ---
**Author:** ![harmonicamoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/65b543/32.png) [@harmonicamoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harmonicamoon)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2014, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-blindness-be-caused-by-excessive-masturbation/682034/12 "2014-02-23T22:18:21Z")
I was concerned about it. So, when I needed glasses, I stopped. Well, slowed down a bit. ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2014, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-blindness-be-caused-by-excessive-masturbation/682034/13 "2014-02-23T22:30:19Z")
I’m only blind in the left eye. I guess I should have alternated hands. ---
**Author:** ![Washoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecae2f/32.png) [@Washoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Washoe)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2014, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-blindness-be-caused-by-excessive-masturbation/682034/14 "2014-02-23T22:31:13Z")
All kidding aside, how did the entire too much sex/too much masturbation = blindness thing originate? I’m sure we’ve covered this before, but I’ll let the hamsters have a smoke break. IIRC, it’s a biblical reference, isn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2014, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-blindness-be-caused-by-excessive-masturbation/682034/15 "2014-02-23T22:32:29Z")
My eye doctor once told me that I should stop masturbating immediately. I was quite shocked and asked if I was going blind. “No,” she replied, “it’s just making me really uncomfortable.” ---
**Author:** ![GaryM](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garym/32/241_2.png) [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2014, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-blindness-be-caused-by-excessive-masturbation/682034/16 "2014-02-23T22:55:52Z")
My Dad caught me masturbating and told me I’d go blind. I said “I’m over here Dad.” ---
**Author:** ![Canadjun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2014, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-blindness-be-caused-by-excessive-masturbation/682034/17 "2014-02-23T22:56:12Z")
Quoting from “The People’s Common Sense Medical Adviser”, copyright 1895: > [@](#): > > **Self-Abuse.** Untold miseries arise from the pollution of the body. Self-pollution, or onanism, is one of the most prolific sources of evil, since it leads to the degradarion of body and mind. It is practiced more or less by members of both sexes, and the habit once established, is overcome with extreme difficulty. It is the source of numerous diseases which derange the functional activity of the organs involved, and eventually impair the constitution. This vicious habit is often practiced by those who are ignorant of its dangerous results. Statistics show that insanity is frequently caused by masturbation. > … > The abuse of the conjugal relation produces the most serious results to both parties, and is a prolific source of some of the gravest forms of disease. Prostatorrhea, spermatorrhea, impotency, hyponchondria, and general debility of the generative organs, arise from sexual excesses. There you have it; no need to reasearch new tranquilizers, anti-psychotics, etc. Just get everyone to quite playing with themselves! ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2014, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-blindness-be-caused-by-excessive-masturbation/682034/18 "2014-02-23T23:07:29Z")
> [@Canadjun](#): > > Quoting from “The People’s Common Sense Medical Adviser”, copyright 1895: > > > [@](#): > > > > Quote: > > Self-Abuse. Untold miseries arise from the pollution of the body. Self-pollution, or onanism, is one of the most prolific sources of evil, since it leads to the degradarion of body and mind. It is practiced more or less by members of both sexes, and the habit once established, is overcome with extreme difficulty. It is the source of numerous diseases which derange the functional activity of the organs involved, and **eventually impair the constitution.** This vicious habit is often practiced by those who are ignorant of its dangerous results. Statistics show that insanity is frequently caused by masturbation. > > … > > \ > > There you have it; no need to reasearch new tranquilizers, anti-psychotics, etc. Just get everyone to quite _[sic]_ playing with themselves! My emphasis. So\* THAT’S\* the problem with The Constitution. ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2014, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-blindness-be-caused-by-excessive-masturbation/682034/19 "2014-02-23T23:11:40Z")
I think this was covered in a StraightDope column, but I can’t find it at the moment. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2014, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-blindness-be-caused-by-excessive-masturbation/682034/20 "2014-02-23T23:22:29Z")
I’m still waiting for the hair on my palms to grow; I have a feeling that would make yanking the torpedo feel awesome! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-blindness-be-caused-by-excessive-masturbation/682034.md?page=2)