Masturbation is very healthy for all of us - men and women alike. Many, many people masturbate throughout their entire life. It is a way to relieve sexual tension and it is a way to give ourselves pleasure. I can't stress enough how healthy it is.

Our bodies need the stimulation of sexual arousal. Even couples who are in a sexual relationship, married and have been together for years, masturbate separately. It is a different act than intercourse or pleasuring with a partner. It is for ourselves.

There is nothing to be ashamed of because you are helping your body feel better and increasing your health. Sexual arousal increases our heart rate, breathing and helps release prostaglandins into the blood stream which help muscles and joints be less stressed and painful.

It is also good for learning how our body works when we do have a partner. We can remember the triggers toward orgasm and know what to do to speed up or slow down.

I know that you said you feel guilty and want to stop, but it isn't healthy for you to stop. There is no reason to. If it is a religious belief, there is really little in religious teachings of the Bible that have anything to do with masturbation. The Bible is written at a time when the population was very small and when they didn't really know how pregnancy occured thinking it was only the male "seed" that was involved so it suggested that men should not waste their seed (so there would always be plenty more people to grow up). There is nothing said about masturbation for sexual pleasure, and there is NOTHING said about women masturbating.

IF you would like to talk about this more, please feel free to write back and we can continue. Thanks again for posing the question.

Reviewed by Sexual Health Editorial Team