Does masturbation cause low testosterone? No published study has shown that it does. In the best-known experiment on the question, ten healthy men had blood drawn continuously during masturbation to orgasm, and their testosterone did not change at any point while their heart rate, blood pressure and prolactin all went up. What does move is prolactin, and a small study from 2021 found free testosterone behaved slightly differently on a day with masturbation. Neither finding points to a lasting drop in baseline levels, and the most-quoted study claiming abstinence raises testosterone has since been retracted.
Quick answer: Masturbation does not lower testosterone in any lasting way. Blood measured during and after orgasm shows no change in total testosterone, while prolactin rises briefly. Three weeks of sexual abstinence produced modestly higher testosterone in one ten-man study, and the widely shared “day 7 spike” paper was retracted in 2021. Persistently low testosterone has medical causes and needs repeat morning blood tests.
What happens to testosterone during and right after ejaculation
The cleanest data come from a study that sampled blood without a break during the act. In Exton and colleagues’ 2001 study in the World Journal of Urology, ten healthy men masturbated to orgasm while blood was drawn continuously and heart rate and blood pressure were monitored. Orgasm raised blood pressure, heart rate, adrenaline and noradrenaline. Prolactin rose too.
Testosterone did not.
That matches the wider literature. The authors of a 2021 trial in Basic and Clinical Andrology summarized earlier work this way: studies over the past decades observed no change in total testosterone during the first 60 minutes after masturbation or intercourse. So the short answer to “does ejaculation lower testosterone” is that the hormone people worry about stays level during the act, and the one that climbs is prolactin, a separate hormone that the same study saw rise with orgasm both before and after a three-week abstinence period.
Why prolactin gets confused with testosterone
Prolactin is the hormone that shows the clearest orgasm-linked spike in these studies. Men sometimes read about “hormone changes after ejaculation” and assume testosterone is the one falling. The measured data do not support that reading.
Does masturbation cause low testosterone over time?
This is the question most men are asking. Cleveland Clinic’s review of low testosterone myths, reviewed by urologist Lawrence Hakim, MD, puts it plainly: hypogonadism is not caused by frequent masturbation or sex, and there is no proven evidence of long-term negative effects on testosterone from masturbation or sexual activity.
Does masturbating lower testosterone for a few hours, then? The short-term data say no.
The 2021 randomized crossover study
The most recent controlled trial is Isenmann and colleagues, “Hormonal response after masturbation in young healthy men,” published in Basic and Clinical Andrology in December 2021. Eleven men enrolled and eight finished. All were experienced strength athletes with a mean age of 27.1. Each man went through three conditions a week apart: masturbation to orgasm with a visual sexual stimulus, the visual stimulus alone, and a passive control day. Blood and saliva were sampled at nine points across the day.
Here is what they found:
- Total testosterone in serum showed no significant difference between the three conditions.
- Free testosterone, measured in saliva, normally falls over the course of the day. That daily drop was smaller on the masturbation day (p < 0.01) and on the visual stimulus day (p < 0.05) than on the control day.
- Cortisol did not differ, and the ratios between total testosterone, free testosterone and cortisol stayed the same.
If anything, then, free testosterone stayed a little higher on the masturbation day, which is the opposite of what the myth predicts. The authors are careful about it. Eight men is a very small sample, total and free testosterone were measured in different fluids, and they call for larger studies before anyone draws conclusions. They also note that a single session before training would not be expected to improve muscle growth through testosterone, though they could not rule out effects from repeated sessions over a training program.
Does abstinence increase testosterone?
A little, in one small study. In the same Exton 2001 experiment, the ten men were tested once, then again after three weeks without sexual activity. Orgasm still did not change testosterone in the moment, but baseline testosterone was higher after the abstinence period. The authors concluded that short abstinence does not change the hormonal response to orgasm but does produce higher testosterone.
Two things limit how far that result travels. It is one group of ten men. And a higher reading after three weeks of abstinence is a different claim from “ejaculation lowers testosterone,” because these were healthy men with no hormone disorder and the study measured nothing beyond three weeks.
The day 7 study was retracted
Many articles still repeat that testosterone peaks on the seventh day without ejaculation. That figure comes from Jiang and colleagues, “A research on the relationship between ejaculation and serum testosterone level in men,” Journal of Zhejiang University Science, 2003. The paper monitored 28 men daily after ejaculation and reported a peak on day 7 at 145.7% of baseline.
The journal retracted it on December 10, 2021. The article page is marked as retracted and links to a separate retraction notice. A retracted paper should not be used as evidence, and any page still quoting the 145.7% figure as settled fact has not checked its source. We think that includes a lot of the pages ranking for this question.
Semen retention and testosterone: what the claim rests on
Semen retention is the practice of avoiding ejaculation for weeks or months, often with the belief that it builds testosterone. When you trace the testosterone part of the claim back, it rests on the two abstinence studies above: one that was retracted, and one of ten men over three weeks.
That is thin ground.
Neither study followed men for months, neither tracked symptoms, and neither looked at men who started with low testosterone, which is the group most likely to be reading about this. The Australian men’s health site Healthy Male, notes that the body’s feedback system keeps testosterone within the range it needs for sexual, reproductive and other functions. A man with a normal hypothalamus, pituitary and testes does not run his supply down through ejaculation, and a man with a problem in one of those organs will not fix it by abstaining.
Our position is simple. Semen retention is a personal choice, but it is not a testosterone treatment, and it should not delay testing for a man who has symptoms.
Myth: Every ejaculation drains testosterone, so frequent masturbation leads to low T.
Fact: Continuous blood sampling during masturbation to orgasm showed no change in testosterone (Exton et al., 2001), and earlier studies found no change in total testosterone for 60 minutes afterward.
Myth: Testosterone rises to 145.7% of baseline if you avoid ejaculating for seven days.
Fact: The study behind that figure (Jiang et al., 2003) was retracted by its journal in December 2021.
Myth: Semen retention is a natural way to treat low testosterone.
Fact: No study cited here tested retention as a treatment. The longest abstinence period studied was three weeks, in ten men with normal levels.
What does lower testosterone
If masturbation is not the cause, what is? Cleveland Clinic splits the causes into two groups. Primary hypogonadism starts in the testes and can follow genetic conditions, infections, direct injury, or chemotherapy and radiation. Secondary hypogonadism starts in the hypothalamus or pituitary, and the listed causes include head trauma, kidney failure, certain medications, alcohol use disorder, a high BMI, type 2 diabetes and sleep apnea.
Look there first. Several items on that list, such as body weight, sleep apnea and alcohol use, come up again in our guide on how to raise testosterone naturally. Sexual symptoms need their own check. Lower libido or weaker erections are reasons to check hormone levels, and our article on low testosterone and erectile dysfunction explains how the two connect.
Cutting back on masturbation will not change any of these causes.
How low testosterone is confirmed
A single number never settles it. The Endocrine Society’s 2018 clinical practice guideline (Bhasin et al.) recommends diagnosing hypogonadism only in men who have symptoms and signs of deficiency along with consistently low total testosterone, confirmed by repeating a morning fasting measurement.
Proactive Choice follows the same approach: a fasting, early-morning total testosterone test, repeated on a second morning, with treatment considered only when results are consistently low and the symptoms fit. The first appointment with Dr. Drew Collins, ND, runs about an hour and covers medical history, stress, current medications, diet and exercise alongside the labs.
One question the studies here do not answer is whether ejaculation the evening before a morning blood draw nudges the result at all. The 60-minute data suggest the effect would be small, but nobody has tested that exact scenario, so if it worries you, mention it when you book your labs.
If you have symptoms and want your levels checked properly, you can start with a free 10-minute call with Dr. Collins at Dr. Drew Collins’ testosterone clinic in Bend. Call +1 (858) 333-5196 to set it up.
Frequently asked questions
Can masturbation cause low testosterone?
No study has shown that masturbation causes low testosterone. Continuous blood sampling during masturbation to orgasm found no change in testosterone, and Cleveland Clinic states there is no proven evidence of long-term effects on testosterone from masturbation or sexual activity. Persistently low levels point to medical causes such as pituitary problems, obesity, type 2 diabetes, sleep apnea or certain medications.
Does ejaculation lower testosterone right afterward?
The available studies say no. Research reviewed in a 2021 Basic and Clinical Andrology trial found no change in total testosterone during the first 60 minutes after masturbation or intercourse. Prolactin is the hormone that rises with orgasm, and it is often confused with testosterone in online discussions of this topic.
Does abstinence increase testosterone?
One study of ten healthy men found higher baseline testosterone after three weeks of sexual abstinence, while orgasm itself still did not change testosterone. A second study that reported a peak on day 7 was retracted by its journal in December 2021. Neither shows that abstinence treats low testosterone or helps men whose levels are already low.
Is semen retention good for testosterone?
There is no good evidence that long-term semen retention raises testosterone. The claim rests on a retracted 2003 paper and a ten-man study that lasted three weeks. Neither followed men for months or included men with low testosterone. Men with symptoms of low testosterone are better served by repeat early-morning blood tests.
Does masturbating before a workout affect muscle growth?
The 2021 crossover study in strength athletes found that masturbation reduced the normal daily drop in free testosterone but did not change total testosterone or hormone ratios. The authors said a single session before training would not be expected to improve muscle growth through testosterone, and that larger studies are needed.
Sources
- Exton MS, Krüger THC, Bursch N, et al. Endocrine response to masturbation-induced orgasm in healthy men following a 3-week sexual abstinence. World Journal of Urology, 2001.
- Isenmann E, et al. Hormonal response after masturbation in young healthy men: a randomized controlled cross-over pilot study. Basic and Clinical Andrology, 2021.
- Jiang M, Jiang X, Zou Q, Shen JW. A research on the relationship between ejaculation and serum testosterone level in men. Journal of Zhejiang University Science, 2003 (retracted December 10, 2021).
- Cleveland Clinic. Causes of low testosterone: myths and truths (reviewed by Lawrence S. Hakim, MD).
- Bhasin S, et al. Testosterone Therapy in Men With Hypogonadism: An Endocrine Society Clinical Practice Guideline. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, 2018.
- Healthy Male. Does masturbation decrease testosterone?
Medically reviewed content from Proactive Choice. This article is for education and is not a diagnosis. Talk with a licensed clinician about your own labs and symptoms.
Want to talk this through for your own health? Book a visit with Dr. Drew Collins, ND at 601 NW Harmon Blvd in Bend, or call (858) 333-5196.
