# Does masturbation affect testosterone levels? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 1, 2009, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-masturbation-affect-testosterone-levels/487845 "2009-03-01T02:50:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Draconis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c68b51/32.png) [@Draconis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Draconis)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2009, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-masturbation-affect-testosterone-levels/487845/1 "2009-03-01T02:50:14Z")
After some googling, I can’t seem to find any conclusive answers one way or the other. Therefore I am putting the question to the only people I trust to make sense of it all: Does masturbation increase or decrease testosterone levels? Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![vandal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/858c86/32.png) [@vandal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vandal)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2009, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-masturbation-affect-testosterone-levels/487845/2 "2009-03-01T05:16:00Z")
No, it doesn’t. Sperm does not equal testosterone. ---
**Author:** ![TNWPsycho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/47e85d/32.png) [@TNWPsycho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TNWPsycho)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2009, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-masturbation-affect-testosterone-levels/487845/3 "2009-03-01T15:15:37Z")
Not sure if the show “Manswers” is worthy of being cited in the SDMB. But, at least according to them, masturbation (or sex) does not effect testosterone levels. ---
**Author:** ![Draconis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c68b51/32.png) [@Draconis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Draconis)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2009, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-masturbation-affect-testosterone-levels/487845/4 "2009-03-01T18:29:09Z")
> [@vandal](#): > > No, it doesn’t. Sperm does not equal testosterone. That’s true. And sperm does not equal semen. Thanks for answers! ---
**Author:** ![Flander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8c91f0/32.png) [@Flander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flander)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2009, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-masturbation-affect-testosterone-levels/487845/5 "2009-03-01T18:35:40Z")
I’m guessing the answer is true for both men and women. ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2009, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-masturbation-affect-testosterone-levels/487845/6 "2009-03-01T19:28:09Z")
Research I did this morning in the medical journals seems to indicate that while testosterone influences the desire for males to masturbate, it does not appear to work the other way around. ---
**Author:** ![WarmNPrickly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d78d45/32.png) [@WarmNPrickly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WarmNPrickly)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2009, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-masturbation-affect-testosterone-levels/487845/7 "2009-03-01T19:39:54Z")
IANAD, but a quick wiki search suggests orgams may decrease testosterone. From the wiki on [orgasm](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orgasm): > [@](#): > > The moments after orgasm are often a relaxing experience, which is attributed to the release of prolactin.[sup][2][/sup] From the wiki on [prolactin](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prolactin). > [@](#): > > Prolactin also has a number of other effects including contributing to surfactant synthesis of the fetal lungs at the end of the pregnancy and immune tolerance of the fetus by the maternal organism during pregnancy; it also decreases normal levels of sex hormones — estrogen in women and testosterone in men."[sup][5][/sup]. Prolactin delays hair regrowth in mice[sup][6][/sup]. I have no idea how this translates to measurable quantities, but it seems as if at least some connection must exist if wikipedia can be trusted. ---
**Author:** ![Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speaker_for_the_Dead)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2009, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-masturbation-affect-testosterone-levels/487845/8 "2009-03-02T00:37:36Z")
> [@Una\_Persson](#): > > Research I did this morning in the medical journals seems to indicate that while testosterone influences the desire for males to masturbate, it does not appear to work the other way around. I made the same discovery. At least, that abstinence increases amounts of testosterone in the blood. ---
**Author:** ![Sleel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/73ab20/32.png) [@Sleel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sleel)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2009, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-masturbation-affect-testosterone-levels/487845/9 "2009-03-04T07:22:27Z")
Abstinence spikes testosterone levels on the seventh day, but returns to baseline afterward. (PubMed Abstract: [The relationship between ejaculation and serum testosterone level in men](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12659241)) I found nothing on intercourse frequency and testosterone levels, so either no one has run a comparison study or I just couldn’t find it. Most of the articles about testosterone have to do with therapeutic treatment attempting to restore normal function in hypogonadal males.