A doctor has outlined the significant changes your body may experience if you refrain from sex or masturbation, particularly as the ‘No Nut November’ internet challenge nears.
This viral challenge involves sexual abstinence for 30 days and first appeared in 2011, gaining widespread popularity by 2017.
Though some argue that avoiding ejaculation benefits health, scientific evidence is lacking.
In fact, abstaining from sex can lead to notable physical changes, such as the potential for penile shrinkage.
Tobias Kohler, an assistant professor of urology at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, explained to WebMD that without regular erections, the penis may lose elasticity and shrink.
He stated: “If [men] don’t do anything to maintain normal erections, they will get shortening of the penis.”
However, Dr. Tara Suwinyattichaiporn, a sex and relationship expert, suggests it might take over five years of abstinence for such effects to occur.
Research from the Urology Care Foundation also shows that regular ejaculation might help prevent cancer by expelling harmful chemicals from semen.
Lack of sexual activity can negatively affect mental health too. Dr. Suwinyattichaiporn points out that those who avoid masturbation or sexual activities may face increased stress due to sexual frustration, which can lead to anxiety and depression.
Sex therapist Sari Cooper told the Daily Mail that it may also strain relationships, as couples who abstain for long periods may struggle with fostering intimacy and compromise.
“They also don’t have the technique to repair conflicts and instead blame one another, pursue the other with continuous criticism, or elicit a guilty response to get their needs met,” Cooper added.
Some speculate that ‘No Nut November’ could be detrimental, though a study found that a month of sexual abstinence isn’t significantly impactful.
Published in The Journal of Sexual Medicine, the study examined the psychological and sexual wellbeing effects of the annual challenge.
The results indicated: “This pioneering study provides the first scientific evidence evaluating the psychological and sexual wellbeing impacts of the ‘No Nut November’ phenomenon, finding that the month-long period of abstinence from ejaculation has no cost or benefit to participants’ sexual wellbeing.”