Self-Pleasure As Menopause Symptom Management

Recently, we covered a new study assessing how trends in masturbation have changed over time. This research found that, across gender, the number of people who report having masturbated before has increased, although men are more likely to have done it than women.

We know that there are a number of different health benefits to masturbation, including stress relief, improved self-esteem, and a lower risk of developing prostate cancer. Today, we’re going to look at a new set of studies from the Kinsey Institute and Womanizer that investigated the potential health benefits of masturbation for menopausal women specifically.

Masturbation During Menopause

The first study we’ll discuss surveyed 1,500 women aged 40-65 to better understand the extent to which women masturbate across premenopause, perimenopause, and postmenopause. [1] In premenopause, women have not yet observed changes or irregularities in their periods and hormone cycles. Perimenopause is what we’re often referring to when we say “menopause,” because this is when periods start to become irregular and hormone levels begin to change. After twelve months without a period, women become postmenopausal.

Regardless of menopausal status, most women reported having masturbated in the last year (66.5% premenopausal; 73% perimenopausal; 56% postmenopausal). However, postmenopausal women were the least likely to have done so, and they did it less often on average.

Across the entire sample, the most common reason for masturbating was due to feeling horny, to achieve sexual pleasure or satisfaction, and to reach orgasm. However, participants also reported masturbating to help them sleep, to relieve tension, to reduce stress and anxiety, and to relax. Some even reported that masturbation can help to relieve physical pain.

We know that common symptoms of menopause include sleep difficulties, negative mood changes, and physical pain–and all of these are things that women report being helped by masturbation. This raises the interesting question of whether masturbation could be a useful tool for symptom relief, which is what the next study sought to explore.

Self-Pleasure and Symptom Relief

The follow-up study explored the association between self-pleasure and menopausal symptoms. [2] This research focused on a demographically-representative US sample of 1,178 perimenopausal and postmenopausal women aged 40-65, who completed a survey about their sexual health. 

When women were asked whether they had ever noticed that masturbation had affected specific menopause symptoms, 46% of perimenopausal women and 32% of postmenopausal women said that they had noticed improvement in at least one symptom. 

Some of the most common symptoms addressed included positive changes in mood, enhanced sexual desire and sexual pleasure, and improved sleep. Additionally, some reported that masturbating helped relieve pain, reduce the frequency of hot flashes, and increase vaginal lubrication. 

The results of this study are promising when it comes to the viability of masturbation in providing some relief for menopause symptoms. Also, it’s important to note that while the three most common symptom management strategies reported by both peri- and postmenopausal women were physical exercise, eating a healthy diet, and trying to reduce stress, these were not necessarily the strategies that were most effective. It turned out that masturbating regularly and having regular partnered sex were rated as the most effective strategies for relieving symptoms.

Can Sex Toys Enhance The Effects of Masturbation? 

Lastly, we’ll consider preliminary results from an intervention study, which explored how masturbation and sex toy use were associated with menopause symptom relief . In this research, women were first asked to abstain from masturbation for a few weeks, followed by a few weeks of masturbating with their preferred method, followed by several weeks of masturbating with the Womanizer Next clitoral stimulator. Per Womanizer, this toy uses 3D Pleasure AirTechnology, which delivers “gentle, pulsating airwaves that mimic the sensation of oral sex.” 

Compared to the abstinence phase, all forms of masturbation were related to lower symptom reports. However, the largest benefits were observed after participants had used the clitoral toy. Specifically, after four weeks of using the Womanizer Next, 92.9% of women reported experiencing at least one menopausal symptom less frequently.

Women who orgasmed regularly reported more improvement compared to women who had orgasm difficulties. This suggests that it’s not just masturbation itself, but also orgasm that may explain symptom reduction. While orgasms achieved through partnered sex may be similarly beneficial, there are a number of reasons why solo pleasure may be more appealing to some menopausal women (e.g., it does not require having a partner, it can be done any time on demand, and it is an activity that is fully within one’s own control).

Takeaways

The results of these studies suggest that there are a number of menopause symptoms that masturbation may help with.

Three major symptoms include sleep difficulties, psychological symptoms such as mood swings and irritability, and physical symptoms such as vaginal dryness and pain. These symptoms may pose significant interruptions to individuals’ everyday quality of life. Given that many women will experience at least one of these symptoms while going through menopause, exploring ways to lessen their impact is important–and masturbation appears to be a potentially useful tool in doing so.

This is not to suggest that masturbation is a substitute for other forms of symptom management, such as hormone replacement, which is the gold standard of care. However, masturbation can work to complement other symptom management approaches. For example, to the extent that hormone replacement enhances vaginal health, it could make masturbation more comfortable and feasible, opening the door to further benefits from orgasm.

Also, it is worth mentioning that not everyone has access to hormone replacement and other forms of menopausal healthcare. Given that masturbation is a no-cost activity, it may be a way of making menopausal care more accessible. 

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References

[1] Graham, C. A., Ferrall, L., & Lehmiller, J. J. (2025). Masturbation frequency and experiences among US women aged 40-65 years: Comparisons across different stages of the menopause transition. Menopause, 32(10), 903. https://doi.org/10.1097/GME.0000000000002597

[2] Lehmiller, J. J., Graham, C. A., Ferrall, L., Mendelson, E. A., & Prine, M. S. (2025). The role of masturbation in relieving symptoms associated with menopause. Menopause, 10.1097/GME.0000000000002675. https://doi.org/10.1097/GME.0000000000002675