Does Masturbation Decrease Testosterone? What the Research Shows
The study behind the 7-day testosterone spike claim was retracted in 2021. What controlled research actually found about ejaculation, abstinence and testosterone.
By Juan Montes
Updated October 1, 2026 · 4 min read
The short answer
No. There is no evidence that masturbation lowers your testosterone, and no evidence that abstaining from it raises your testosterone in any lasting way.
The single study that launched this claim was retracted in December 2021.
If your testosterone is genuinely low, this is not where the cause lies.
The study everyone cites no longer exists
You have seen the claim: testosterone spikes by 45% on day 7 of abstinence.
It comes from one paper, published in 2003 in a Chinese university journal. Twenty-eight volunteers, daily blood samples during abstinence. It reported a peak on day seven at 145.7% of baseline.
It was retracted on 10 December 2021, for duplicate publication — the same work had already appeared in a Chinese-language journal.
There is a second problem. When a researcher requested the raw data in 2020, because the variance in the day-seven results looked unusual, the authors could not produce it. They indicated they no longer had it. Two of the four authors could not be located.
Two errors in how it gets repeated
The arithmetic. 145.7% of baseline is a 45.7% increase. A great deal of social media content reports it as a 145.7% increase. It was never that.
The conclusion. Even taking the retracted paper entirely at face value, it does not support the claim built on it. It described a single transient spike on one day that returned to baseline while abstinence continued. It measured nothing sustained. It said nothing about pornography. It never proposed seven days as an optimal interval for anything.
A study showing a one-day blip that resolves on its own is not evidence for a lifestyle programme.
What the non-retracted research found
Ejaculation itself does not change testosterone. Ten healthy men were tested before and after three weeks of abstinence. Orgasm did not alter plasma testosterone in either condition. Prolactin rose after orgasm, as expected. Baseline testosterone was higher in the post-abstinence session — but only in the second session, which is consistent with anticipation or an order effect rather than abstinence itself.
A 2021 randomised crossover study — eight men, three conditions, one-week washouts — found that both masturbation and visual sexual stimulation partly offset the normal daily decline in salivary free testosterone. Serum total testosterone ratios did not change significantly.
Note the direction. In the only randomised study available, sexual activity nudged free testosterone slightly up.
Note also the sample size. Eight men. The authors called it a pilot.
What about abstinence challenges?
A 2025 study followed men participating in a month-long abstinence challenge against non-participants. Participants scored higher on one measure of sexual flexibility. There were no significant differences in sexual pleasure, solitary desire, sexual dysfunction or sexual excitation.
No hormones were measured. Heavy attrition, self-selected sample, self-report only.
There is also a preregistered survey reporting that heavier engagement with abstinence forums correlated with worse erectile dysfunction, depression and anxiety symptoms. Being a cross-sectional survey, it cannot establish direction — men already struggling may be more likely to seek those communities out.
Where the claim came from
The testosterone plank of the abstinence movement rests essentially entirely on one retracted 2003 paper, amplified through social media with an arithmetic error attached.
That is the whole evidentiary base. There is no larger literature behind it.
What the evidence supports, plainly
| Claim | Status |
|---|---|
| Orgasm does not meaningfully change circulating testosterone | Well supported |
| Masturbation lowers testosterone | No controlled evidence |
| Abstinence raises testosterone for seven days | Unsupported, sole source retracted |
| Abstinence produces lasting testosterone elevation | Unsupported, no study has shown this |
| Sexual arousal may slightly blunt the daily fall in free testosterone | Weak, one pilot study of eight men |
What does affect your testosterone
If you are asking this question because you suspect your levels are low, these are the factors with real evidence behind them.
Body fat. A review of 24 trials found diet-induced weight loss raised total testosterone by an average of 83 ng/dL. Bariatric surgery raised it by 251 ng/dL. The amount of weight lost predicted the rise better than the method used.
Sleep. Eight nights of five-hour sleep reduced daytime testosterone by 10 to 15% in young healthy men — a larger effect than anything exercise training produces.
Medical causes. Pituitary problems, testicular problems, thyroid disease, certain medications, and chronic illness all affect testosterone, and several of them are treatable at the source rather than by replacement.
None of those are behavioural questions about sexual frequency.
If you think your testosterone is low
Symptoms alone do not diagnose it. Neither does one blood test.
A diagnosis requires two early-morning fasting blood tests, interpreted alongside your symptoms by a provider. About 30% of men whose first test comes back low are normal on the second.
Our $69 TRT Health Assessment starts that process. A US-licensed provider reviews your intake and orders the lab work needed. If your levels and symptoms support treatment, TRT is $387 every 10 weeks — about $39 a week, the same at every dose. If they do not, you are not prescribed.
Prescription required. A provider decides if treatment is appropriate. Payment never guarantees a prescription. Not available in every state.
Common questions
Does masturbation lower testosterone? No. No controlled study has found that it does.
Does abstinence increase testosterone? There is no evidence that it does. The study underpinning that claim was retracted in 2021 and has never been replicated.
Does ejaculation affect testosterone at all? Controlled testing found orgasm did not alter plasma testosterone. Prolactin does rise afterwards.
Why do I feel different when I abstain? Possibly for reasons that have nothing to do with testosterone. Sleep, mood, routine and expectation all affect how you feel, and none of them show up on a hormone panel.
Should I stop masturbating to raise my testosterone? There is no evidence this would work. If you suspect low testosterone, get tested properly.
Related reading
This article is for general information. It is not medical advice and it is not a recommendation for any particular treatment. Whether a treatment is appropriate for you is a decision for a licensed clinician who has reviewed your health history and current medications.
About the author
Juan MontesJuan Montes writes and reviews PrescribedRX's clinical content, covering testosterone replacement therapy, men's sexual health, weight management and hair loss. He trained as a Professional Nurse at the Colombian Red Cross in Cali, Colombia, and has worked in healthcare since 2011, roughly six of those years in direct emergency and critical care nursing. He served as Head Nurse in Emergency…
More from Juan →This article is for information only and is not medical advice. Treatment is prescribed solely at the discretion of a licensed provider following a clinical evaluation.
