The vast majority of men masturbate - even if they're in a long-term and happy sexual relationship.

Masturbation comes pretty naturally to most guys. Let's face it; a male child discovers that his penis feels good before he can talk! So it's not surprising that boys fondle this area of their bodies a lot, and then, at the age of around 14, discover that masturbation can lead to orgasm and ejaculation - all of which they find extremely exciting and pleasurable.

There are some men who don't masturbate, but these are mainly people who don't want to do it because of religious reasons, or because they're a bit uptight about sex. Also, some guys who have a fairly low sex drive don't masturbate.

Some men - mostly from eastern cultures - try to avoid masturbating, as they believe it depletes their energy, and may shorten their lives. But there is no truth whatsoever in this belief.

Most men masturbate by rubbing the penis with their ‘dominant’ hand - slowly at first and then more vigorously. Many guys grasp the shaft of their penis by wrapping their whole hand round it. Others grasp it between their thumb and first or middle finger. But however they do it, they don't usually have much doubt that they'll achieve orgasm as a result. This is quite a contrast to women, who may experience considerable anxiety about whether they will actually 'make it'.

Some young men worry that they masturbate too much. The fact is that it's almost impossible to do this. Obviously, if a young guy is staying home and masturbating on the hour every hour, one might want to try to persuade him to get out more! But when a teenager first discovers sex it's quite common for him to want to masturbate several times a day, on some days. And this certainly won't do him any harm. ( However, masturbating constantly over a period of hours can produces some swelling or ‘puffiness’ of this penis. This is called ‘oedema’ and is due to fluid leaking into the tissues; it will disappear after some hours, as the fluid goes back into the bloodstream.)

Other boys will masturbate quite rarely, especially if they don’t have a high sex drive - but that is normal for them.

Some men in their 70s and 80s are still masturbating several times a week, but in general terms, men masturbate most in their teens and gradually do it less and less as their life progresses - depending partly on whether or not they have a partner at the time.

As we have already indicated, many men still like to masturbate even when they are involved with a partner. They often feel that the orgasm they achieve through masturbation is less complex and more locally intense than climaxes achieved through sexual intercourse. Furthermore, they can control the pressure and speed of movement very accurately.

In recent years, we have encountered a number of couples who achieve considerable satisfaction through the woman watching the man masturbate in front of her (or vice versa). Also, this practice is certainly helpful when – for some medical reason – intercourse is difficult or impossible.