Free ‘kinky’ activities may ease menopausal symptoms

Good news, ladies.

A new study suggests that free, feel-good activities can help relieve menopausal symptoms, including trouble sleeping and mood swings.

This is no small thing: About 85 percent of women experience symptoms during so-called “life changes,” but research shows that many women suffer in silence without ever finding relief.

For the study, researchers at Indiana University’s Kinsey Institute surveyed 1,178 U.S. women aged 40 to 65. About 23% of them are perimenopausal women and 56% are postmenopausal women.

Participants were asked about their experiences with menopause and how effective different strategies were at managing symptoms, such as hormone therapy, supplements, diet, exercise and sexual pleasure.

Nearly 14% of perimenopausal women said they frequently masturbated to relieve symptoms, and 66% said they would masturbate more often if they knew it would help.

Turns out, it can. On a 5-point scale, women who relied on self-pleasure rated their relief at 4.35, beating out other lifestyle interventions. Hormone therapy came in second at 4.2, although it was one of the least used options.

In terms of specific symptoms, 46% of perimenopausal women reported improvement in at least one area:

• 43% felt a mood lift
• 13% experienced increased sexual desire and pleasure
• 13% slept better

Smaller groups reported improvements in vaginal lubrication, less pain, fewer hot flashes, less bloating, and relief from painful urination.

Only 3% said masturbation worsened symptoms, but these women were more likely to have poor overall health or to have difficulty achieving orgasm since menopause.

“Discussions about menopause often focus on hormone treatments or lifestyle changes, but self-pleasure remains overlooked,” Dr. Cynthia Graham, a senior scientist at the Kinsey Institute, said in a statement.

“Our findings suggest masturbation may play a meaningful role in symptom management,” she continued.

Among postmenopausal women, the effects were less dramatic but still noteworthy: 7% said masturbation made their symptoms “much better,” 11% said “a little better,” and 80% said it had no effect.

Scientists are still figuring out why masturbation relieves menopausal symptoms, but past research has shown that the feel-good endorphins released during orgasm can reduce anxiety, improve sleep and relieve vaginal pain, among other benefits.

Kinsey’s research made headlines around the world as women look for ways to better navigate the hormonal rollercoaster of menopause.

“The concern may be because masturbation is a novel (and possibly somewhat erotic) strategy for alleviating these symptoms, and older women are often considered asexual,” lead researcher Jennifer Power from Australia’s La Trobe University wrote in The Conversation.

But this couldn’t be further from the truth. A 2021 survey found that while sexual activity decreases with age, men and women still have sex into their 80s and 90s.

However, only 17% of Americans over the age of 65 have discussed sexual health issues with a doctor in the past two years.

Discussions about menopause are not common. The Kinsey study found that only 54% of perimenopausal women and 46% of postmenopausal women had talked to a health care provider about the transition.

Even fewer had received instruction on masturbation: Only 7% of perimenopausal women and 4% of postmenopausal women had discussed the issue with their doctor.

Researchers say the findings underscore the need for open, evidence-based discussions between patients and health care providers. Without them, women may miss out on potential ways to relieve their symptoms—which seems to include a little self-pleasure.

In fact, more than half of perimenopausal participants said they would try masturbating to relieve symptoms if their doctor recommended it.