Urethritis May Be a Side Effect of Frequent Masturbation

Urethritis is a common disease, referring to an inflammation of the mucosa of the urethra. It can be clinically classified as acute urethritis, chronic urethritis, nonspecific urethritis, and gonococcal urethritis.

Urethritis is mainly urethral infections caused by various pathogens. Neisseria gonorrhoeae, chlamydia trachomatis, mycoplasma, trichomonas, herpes simplex virus, and hepatitis virus can cause this disease. Patients mainly present with symptoms such as itching of the urethra, painful urinary tract, redness and swelling of the urethral opening, and urethral discharge. Patients infected with the pathogens require targeted anti-infective treatments.

So, can frequent masturbation lead to urethritis?

Generally speaking, there are several ways of infection for urethritis:

1. It can be infected directly, usually caused by the pathogenic microorganisms entering the urethra directly through the urethral orifice. 

2. Some are transmitted through neighboring tissues and organs. In men, it may be caused by prostatitis or seminal vesiculitis. If women are combined with gynecological inflammation, such as vaginitis, and cervicitis, inflammation may be transferred to the urethra, leading to urethritis.

Specifically, the leading causes of urethritis include:

1. Urethral orifice or urethral obstruction: urethral stones, urethral stricture, etc., will lead to poor urine drainage, resulting in a decline in the flushing effect of urine, adding the possibility of infections.

2. Infections of the urethra and surrounding glands, such as prostatitis, vaginitis, or cervicitis, result in the spreading of inflammation to the urethra and causing urethritis.

3. Urethral injury: sexual intercourse, trauma, or medical device stimulation can lead to urethral injury, which also easily leads to the occurrence of urethritis.

4. Microbial invasion: for example, if women are in the usual existence of unclean sex, or one of the spouses suffers from reproductive diseases and cross-infection, it may also make women suffer from urethritis.

5. Immune resistance declines in part of the body: under normal circumstances, intestinal bacteria in the front part of the female urethra does not cause infection. If the immune resistance declines in part of the body, such as in menstruation or pregnancy, local trauma, etc., bacteria will further grow and multiply, resulting in upstream infection and causing urethritis.

6. External triggers: frequent masturbation and tight underwear can lead to compression of the urethra or cause damage to the urethra, resulting in local ischemia and hypoxia, or stasis of blood. As a result, the mucous membrane of the urethra becomes less resistant to disease, and it is easy to develop urethritis.

As shown above, frequent masturbation is not the direct and only factor that causes urethritis, but it is indeed an external trigger that causes it. Masturbation may cause friction and irritation to the penis as well as the urethra, which makes it easier to harm the urethra, and that's why the symptoms of urethritis occur. 

If you ignore physical hygiene during masturbation and ignore cleaning the genital area before and after masturbation, it may lead to the growth of local bacteria that can enter the urethra and cause urethritis. In addition, if you masturbate frequently and with too much force, you may damage the urethra, which can also cause symptoms related to urethritis, such as frequent and painful urination.

Excessive masturbation is a very harmful bad habit, and it can cause excessive fatigue, depression, insomnia, dizziness, headache, back pain, and so on. Appropriate masturbation is not harmful; you can solve some of your sexual needs with it. The best frequency is about once a week. Proper masturbation is good for the body and can be a timely way to vent sexual stress and relieve the patient's anxiety. 

But excessive masturbation has a greater impact on later sexual function and tends to cause urethritis. It is recommended that excessive masturbation should be avoided as much as possible to avoid causing adverse reactions to many aspects later on.