"Massage your prostate for better prostate health!"
You don't need to look too hard to find someone making this claim. Sometimes they're trying to sell prostate massagers, other times it's just someone encouraging people to try out prostate play. No matter what the motivation, there's still one problem: it isn't entirely accurate.
There have been studies that show a correlation between frequent ejaculation (between once a day and approximately twice every three days) and a lower incidence of prostate cancer later on in life among the sample. The reductions noted by the researchers were significant - between about 32% for men having around 21 ejaculations per month to around 50 percent for those in the once-a-day club.
This is by no means bad news. Think about it - you can possibly cut your cancer risk by doing something fun. The problem is reading too much into it.
Firstly, the study is only correlative. It doesn't prove that frequent ejaculations work, but only suggests a relationship. Granted, if you're safe and sane about your ejaculations there's not much of a downside to this therapy, but you still can't take it to the bank yet. I also don't know exactly what they controlled, so it's possible that the study has further limits.
Secondly, the study really doesn't say anything about prostate massage at all. Sure, prostate massage can give you a very pleasurable orgasm and ejaculation, but so can other means. While I'm a strong proponent of buttfun in general, including prostate play, you shouldn't try to pressure someone into something using spurious health arguments. It didn't work when your parent told you to "eat this, it's good for you", so why should telling your partner "bend over, it's good for you" make them like it?
For those guys out there who think this might be just the way to get their partners to play around down there I'd also recommend avoiding it. Think about what you're saying: "Honey, play with my butt. If you don't want to that's OK, but please promise me you'll put flowers on my grave every month after I die from prostate cancer because you were afraid of getting your finger a little dirty". Guilt works for moms, but it really shouldn't be used to get sexual favors in a relationship.
Does this mean I'm now all of a sudden against prostate play? No way! Careful prostate play can feel great and add a new dimension to your sex life - you just should get into it for the right reasons. Give it a try because you're willing to experiment with pleasure in a new way, not because you're trying to follow the latest health rage.
This also doesn't mean that prostate massage doesn't potentially have health benefits. While there haven't been any studies showing benefit all that means is that there haven't been any studies showing a benefit. A studiy on prostate massage won't be a glamorous study, and it's not likely to be one that will lead to a big payout, so there aren't many researchers rushing to sign up. Similarly it would likely still be difficult to find subjects in a statistically valid manner, so I imagine that a true study of the health effects of prostate massage is still many many years off. It's possible that massaging the prostate can help keep it working better, but it hasn't been shown yet. Until it has any claims for special curative powers are unsubstantiated. That doesn't mean you can't enjoy some prostate play in the meantime (and perhaps hope that it helps) - so go ahead, but don't make claims for prostate massage that aren't there yet (though you can feel free to try to get a study going on it).
References: Something missing from so many discussions!
Here's the most recent study: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1464-410X.2008.08030.x/abstract;jsessionid=C3C8E7F91A2AD654A05E82BC2D44EAAC.d02t03
It isn't as clear cut as the earlier studies, but then again it is backwards looking (taking people who have had prostate cancer and looking at their ejaculation history). Here's the more famous JAMA study from 2004 that was forward looking (questionnaires taken every two years and then correlated with later diagnoses): http://jama.ama-assn.org/content/291/13/1578
1 year ago
7 comments:
There is a lot of opinions in both directions about the potential benefits of prostate massage. When I tried to research it I found the same thing as you did, Scott; no studies that prove those assertions.
Us fans of butt play would love for that assertion to be true! Thanks for getting specific about the validity of this claim.
Hey Scott, I've been doing an informal survey and have some follow-up information for you. There is plenty of anecdotal information about prostate massage helping BPH (enlarged prostate) and many doctors still recommend it. You are right, however, that it's not likely for a study to be done because Big Pharma doesn't get any benefit so why do a study. I did find these two things, however:
http://www.highisland.com/images/20TOUNJ.pdf
http://curezone.com/art/read.asp?ID=61&db=5&C0=74
Seems like it was common knowledge for some time that prostate massage would help enlarged prostate issues, until doctors and drug companies started citing the lack of a study as proof that it might not work at all. Older GP doctors recommend it all the time. great article - really got me thinking!
It does seem to make sense that massaging the prostate would help, or even could be good as a preventative, because it helps to move stuff around the prostate. I think the reason that it stopped was because there are certain cases when prostate massage can be dangerous, and there were no definitive studies showing when and how it should be used for good effect. I don't really blame the doctors - malpractice suits can get very nasty, and if something happened then the lawyers would pounce.
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David
Maybe there are no studies concerning massaging the prostate, but I doubt it would do any harm. Hell I would massage my prostate if it hurt.
If you're not careful you can do harm - there are studies indicating that excessively vigorous prostate massage can cause problems, and also some studies indicating that in certain situations it can make things worse. On the flip side there is one study that shows prostate massage in conjunction with antibiotics may be good for some cases of prostatitis. Unfortunately for the most part there have just been few studies, especially for preventative prostate massage (which is what many places selling prostate massagers claim is beneficial). It's not that prostate massage is bad, it's just that we don't know much about it and I personally object to someone being sold a device with claimed health benefits that aren't there. If you want to do it go ahead - I personally find it fun- but there's just no proof yet that it can prevent problems later.
There is a lot of opinions in both directions about the potential benefits of prostate massage. When I tried to research it I found the same thing as you did, Scott; no studies that prove those assertions.
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