Masturbation is touching sensitive parts of your body – most often the penis for guys and the clitoris for girls – for sexual pleasure and often ending up in orgasm. It may help people learn what feels good and what doesn’t. Knowing more about your own sexuality may help you talk to your partner about what you both like and help you make choices in your sexual relationships.

Most people masturbate at one time or another. Some people masturbate once in a while, while others masturbate a lot. You may be worried about whether it is possible to masturbate too much. There is really no danger in frequent masturbation unless it keeps you from going about your regular daily schedule or if it interferes with personal relationships. If you have concerns, don’t feel embarrassed about talking to your doctor, someone at Planned Parenthood, a community clinic or the Health Department.

Masturbation is normal behavior. It is also normal NOT to masturbate. There are still many myths about masturbation. For example, if you masturbate, you'll go blind or you’ll lose your mind. These myths are not true. Some true things about masturbation include that it can reduce stress, release sexual tension, and masturbation alone or with a partner can be a form of safer sex with lower risk of STDs or pregnancy.

You might also hear people talking about the danger of not masturbating and saying that you must masturbate to keep your sex drive high or that people who don't masturbate are not well adjusted. These are myths and are not true.

The truth is that masturbation will not harm you, and NOT masturbating will not harm you. In fact, the only real harm is that so many people feel guilty about masturbation, when it is such a normal thing

All this message can do is assure you that masturbation is normal, and that it is done by people of all ages throughout their lives.