A new study from the Kinsey Institute at Indiana University, published in journal Menopause, finds self-pleasure is a valuable care strategy for managing menopause symptoms, especially mood and sleep changes. Most women are open to trying it, yet few say their doctors have ever mentioned it.

Researchers surveyed a demographically representative sample of 1,178 women ages 40 to 65 in the United States about their experiences with menopause and the effectiveness of their current symptom management strategies including hormone therapy, supplements, lifestyle factors, and sexual pleasure, among others. 

Almost 14% of perimenopausal women reported using regular masturbation as a symptom management strategy. Overall, participants were more likely to report using strategies such as exercise (25%), relaxation (24%), diet (21%), and supplements (19%) with few (4%) reporting using prescribed hormone therapy. Approximately a third reported no symptom management.

Compared to other approaches, self-pleasure was rated among the most effective strategies for symptom relief on a 5-point scale, scoring 4.35 versus 3.89-4.06 for various lifestyle changes. The effectiveness of hormone therapy also ranked highly at 4.2, despite having one of the lowest utilization rates.  

When asked about how masturbation affects specific menopause symptoms, 46% of perimenopausal survey participants reported an improvement of at least one menopause symptom, including improved mood (43%), enhanced feelings of sexual desire and pleasure (13%), improved sleep (13%), improved vaginal lubrication (11%), pain relief (8%), reduction in hot flashes (3%), and other positive impacts (10%).

Importantly, a majority of perimenopausal women (66%) reported they would masturbate more if they knew it could positively impact their symptoms and more than half (57%) indicated they would be open to trying masturbation for symptom relief if their health provider recommended it, underscoring the importance of open, evidence-based conversations between patients and providers about sexual health. Perimenopausal women were significantly more likely than postmenopausal women to report that their doctor had talked to them about menopause (54% vs 46%), yet both reported low rates of receiving guidance from their doctor about masturbation (7% vs 4%).

“Conversations about menopause often focus on hormone therapy or lifestyle changes, but self-pleasure remains overlooked,” said Dr. Cynthia Graham, Senior Scientist at the Kinsey Institute. “Our findings suggest masturbation may play a meaningful role in symptom management.”

Researchers also uncovered a potential generational shift in views toward self-pleasure, with perimenopausal women significantly more likely than postmenopausal women to report that they had masturbated in the past year and that they had masturbated more often. Perimenopausal women were also significantly more open to self-pleasure for symptom relief compared with postmenopausal women. At the same time, not all women will be open to the idea of masturbation, regardless of whether it might help with symptom relief; one in five women surveyed reported having never masturbated in their lifetime.

This study, funded by sexual wellness company Womanizer, adds to a growing body of research emphasizing the connections between sexual wellbeing and menopause care. While effective menopause management requires a solution tailored to the individual, a combination of management strategies—including self-pleasure—is likely to yield the most positive health outcomes.

About the Kinsey Institute

The Kinsey Institute at Indiana University is the world’s premier research institute on human sexuality, relationships, and wellbeing, and serves as a trusted source for independent, nonpartisan, evidence-based information. The Kinsey Institute’s research centers and global collaborations are led by internationally renowned experts across disciplines including neuroscience, psychology, gender studies, public health, anthropology, and informatics. The Kinsey Institute also houses the world’s largest library and historical archive on human sexuality and offers a dynamic range of art exhibitions, public lectures, and educational programs. Visit kinseyinstitute.org to learn more and follow on LinkedIn or Instagram.

Journal

Menopause

Funder

Womanizer

DOI

10.1097/GME.0000000000002675

Metabolic syndrome constitutes a group of interrelated risk factors including central obesity, hypertension, elevated fasting glucose, and dyslipidemia characterized by high triglycerides. This syndrome fundamentally predisposes individuals to atherosclerosis by promoting endothelial dysfunction and systemic inflammation, accelerating the progression of cardiovascular diseases, and contributing significantly to morbidity and mortality worldwide. Moreover, it is a pivotal precursor to type 2 diabetes and is implicated in increased risks of certain malignancies, underscoring the gravity of its early detection and intervention.

The hormonal milieu during and after menopause plays a crucial role in modulating metabolic pathways. Estrogen, which declines precipitously during menopause, exerts protective cardiovascular and metabolic effects such as enhancing insulin sensitivity, favorably altering lipid profiles, and promoting vasodilation. The reduction in circulating estrogen levels during menopause disrupts these homeostatic mechanisms, thus increasing susceptibility to metabolic derangements. However, the current research emphasizes that the age at natural menopause is a determinant factor that stratifies risk, with early menopause heralding considerably greater metabolic challenges.

In this extensive meta-analysis employing electronic health record data, participants were meticulously selected to exclude confounding factors such as surgical or treatment-induced menopause, including hysterectomy, bilateral oophorectomy, radiation, chemotherapy, and hormone replacement therapy, thereby isolating the effects of natural menopause timing. The resultant dataset allowed for robust comparative analyses of metabolic syndrome prevalence across different menopause onset ages, providing new insights into the intrinsic biological and clinical implications of menopausal timing.

The study revealed an overall metabolic syndrome prevalence of 11.7% among the cohort, with a notable increase to 13.5% in women experiencing early natural menopause—defined typically as menopause occurring before age 45—compared to 10.8% among those with later menopause onset. Statistically, this corresponds to a 27% relative increase in risk, a finding that persisted even after adjusting for confounders such as race, body mass index, and medications, underscoring a strong independent association between early menopause and metabolic syndrome vulnerability.

These findings underscore the significance of early menopause as more than a reproductive milestone; it emerges as a critical prognostic marker for cardiometabolic health. Clinicians are urged to incorporate menopausal age into risk stratification paradigms, facilitating targeted surveillance for metabolic abnormalities in postmenopausal women. Early identification allows for preemptive lifestyle modification and therapeutic interventions aimed at curbing the trajectory toward cardiovascular disease and metabolic dysfunction.

Furthermore, the mechanistic pathways underpinning this elevated risk likely involve estrogen deficiency-induced dysregulation of glucose metabolism, altered adiposity distribution favoring visceral fat accumulation, and heightened systemic inflammation. This hormonal perturbation also affects endothelial function and lipid metabolism, which together contribute to the pathophysiology of metabolic syndrome. Future research integrating molecular biomarkers may unravel the precise biological underpinnings linking menopausal timing to metabolic risk.

The study’s results add to a growing body of literature recognizing premature and early menopause as harbingers of adverse health outcomes beyond reproductive cessation. According to Dr. Shefali Setia Verman of the University of Pennsylvania, one of the study’s lead researchers, “Recognizing early menopause as a marker for metabolic syndrome gives clinicians a crucial window to identify at-risk women sooner and intervene proactively to prevent heart disease, diabetes, and other related complications.”

Equally, Dr. Stephanie Faubion, medical director for The Menopause Society, highlights the clinical implications noting that “this research reinforces the need for heightened awareness and integrative approaches in managing women’s health during the menopause transition, particularly for those with early onset menopause.” Such a stance emphasizes the necessity of multidisciplinary care models that encompass endocrinology, cardiology, and primary care for comprehensive risk reduction.

The pioneering nature of this large-scale meta-analysis, leveraging the power of electronic health records and stringent inclusion criteria, provides high-level evidence supporting the integration of menopausal age into routine clinical evaluations. This approach could revolutionize the current paradigm of women’s health by offering personalized risk assessments and tailored prevention strategies aligned with reproductive aging trajectories.

As public health stakeholders and clinicians endeavor to reduce the burden of metabolic and cardiovascular diseases, the study’s revelations advocate for policy initiatives promoting early screening, education, and intervention programs targeting women undergoing early menopause. Such strategies may include lifestyle counseling, pharmacologic management, and regular metabolic monitoring, thereby optimizing health outcomes and extending healthy life expectancy.

In conclusion, this seminal research affirms that the age of natural menopause serves as a potent indicator of future metabolic health, with early menopause conferring a substantially increased risk for metabolic syndrome. It spotlights an urgent need for heightened clinical vigilance and ambition in screening practices to preempt the devastating sequelae associated with metabolic dysfunction. As the global demographic shifts toward an aging female population, these findings have profound implications for the prevention of chronic diseases and the enhancement of women’s health worldwide.

Subject of Research: People
Web References: http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/GME.0000000000000002541
References: Presented at the 2025 Annual Meeting of The Menopause Society
Keywords: Health and medicine