Both men and women can perform masturbation in a variety of positions. Some men enjoy masturbating by rubbing their penis against soft bedding or pillows. Some women like spreading their legs wide apart, while others find more pleasure in squeezing the thighs together tightly during stimulation.
The Benefits of Masturbation
A common concern is that masturbation will affect sexual performance or create sexual dysfunction. In fact, some experts believe masturbation improves your sexual responsiveness by giving you a better understanding of your body and how it responds to stimulation.
Masturbation can help men better control ejaculation and resolve problems with premature or delayed ejaculation. Women can use masturbation to learn how to achieve orgasm during sexual intercourse.
Masturbation also has other health benefits. It can serve to:
Reduce stress
Relieve sexual tension
Be an outlet for people abstaining from sexual intercourse
Be a means of "safe sex," to prevent pregnancy and the spread of sexual transmitted diseases (STDs)
Help offset insomnia
Boost metabolism and stimulate the production of endorphins — brain chemicals that help ease pain and stress
Couples Masturbation
Couples who aren't ready to engage in sexual intercourse — or couples who would like a fun and intimate alternative to intercourse — can engage in mutual masturbation. This can involve touching and masturbating your partner, or touching yourself in the presence of your partner. Couples can masturbate simultaneously, while watching, listening to, or touching each other.
To enhance your mutual masturbation experience, you might want to:
Talk with your partner ahead of time to make sure he or she is comfortable with the notion.
Purchase some sexual lubricants to reduce friction and increase pleasure.
Practice safe sex by making sure you use birth control if you'll be touching each other in ways that could expose the woman to semen. Though rare, pregnancy can occur even without penetration. Likewise, any intimate contact with bodily fluids can transmit STDs, so use protection if mutual masturbation transitions into oral sex or intercourse.
