Too Much of a Good Thing: The Water Jet Edition

A young woman is concerned after discovering that masturbation with a shower jet no longer excites her.

Case #: 807

Concern：

I’ve used a shower jet to masturbate for as long as I can remember. Living in a dorm room with multiple girls, I was always shy to keep a vibrator. I feared the other girls would laugh at me. Since I’ve never had a boyfriend, I had to resort to my trusty showerhead to apply pressure where it mattered most. Now, my beloved showerhead in stall three of my dorm bathroom no longer provides the same sensation. What have I done to myself?

Discussion：

Masturbation and orgasms are fun. Whether we enjoy them with select company or in private, most clinical experts agree that orgasms come with health benefits, both mental and physical. People who experience routine orgasms are more likely to lead emotionally balanced lives and maintain good cardiovascular health.

Couples who engage in sex routinely are more likely to sustain their relationship over time. Unfortunately, it's always possible to have too much of a good thing. Too much sexual stimulation, whether from a shower jet, a partner's attention, or another source, can have negative effects that outweigh the positive.

Overstimulation with a Shower Jet

Although they may feel pleasant and relaxing (they should), sex and masturbation are strenuous activities. Sexual arousal, stimulation, and orgasm all require an adequate supply of hormones and other nutrients to occur, and it's possible to stretch these resources too thinly if you don't allow yourself enough of a break between pleasure sessions. Many people who overextend themselves sexually don't realize what they're doing, because they've read somewhere that sex can only be healthy, no matter how frequently one engages in it.

The friction of sexual stimulation from a water jet, like any other form of physical stress, causes micro-perforations in the tissue of sex organs. Generally, this stress goes unnoticed. In addition to the distraction of sexual pleasure, DHEA, prostaglandins, and other chemicals are arriving on the scene to regulate inflammation and resolve the damage, along with the body's other healing mechanisms.

However, if the affected tissues must then absorb more friction before they have a chance to recover fully, prostaglandin E-2 (an inflammatory agent) and stress hormones start to accumulate, while DHEA, HGH, nitric oxide, and neurotransmitters that regulate mood are depleted. If this process continues without adequate recovery time for your body, you may find that sexual pleasure and orgasms are harder to attain, as well as less satisfying. You may feel like your clitoris is numb, or has stopped working the way it used to.

How to Regain Sexual Sensation

Everyone is different in terms of how often they can masturbate before the sensation begins to lose its thrill. Age, stress level, individual hormone balance, diet, and level of physical activity are only a few of the factors that affect how quickly your body can recover after sex. For many people, restricting sexual activity to once every other day at most (with longer breaks interspersed) is enough to keep the passion alive.

If you are already taking what you consider to be reasonable breaks between masturbation sessions, it's possible that you need to lengthen the breaks, or abstain entirely for a few weeks so that your hormone levels can return to normal. Some people find that herbal medicines help them replace some of the nutrients lost during sex more quickly.