Does Sex Improve a Woman’s Health?

October 28, 2025

2 min read

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Some believe that if a woman does not have sex, her health could suffer. Is this true?

Key takeaways

Some believe that if a woman does not have sex, her health could suffer.
Sex and pain
Sex and youth

Who this is for

People exploring Women's health through sex, women health.

Why it matters

This piece helps you get oriented quickly, then move into a collection or series if you want to keep going.

Article author

Dr. Helene

obstetrician-gynecologist

Sex and pain

Some claim that an orgasm can help increase a woman's pain tolerance. After all, during orgasm the level of the hormone oxytocin in women's blood increases, and it is oxytocin that reduces pain — from headache to labor pains, especially during periods. However, a 1987 Murphy study showed that orgasm causes an increase in oxytocin for only 5 minutes, after which the pain if it was there, returns in full.

Sex and youth

Does sex make you younger? The influence of estrogen, the hormone that increases with regular sex, on the female body has long been studied, which is how we know that at premenopause and menopause when less estrogen is produced, many women complain about the dry vagina, discomfort during sex, and deterioration of the skin, hair, and nails.

In 2001, the American Journal of Clinical Dermatology published an evidence-based paper by two doctors in California on the effects of estrogen on the skin in menopausal women. The effect of the hormone was obvious: normal estrogen levels slow down the breakdown of collagen in the skin, it retains elasticity longer, wrinkles form slower, the skin retains moisture better and looks smoother and firmer. However, these elevated estrogen levels require very frequent sex.

Sex and weight Loss

Finally, sex has been correlated with weight loss. However, there are scientists who approached the question with mathematical precision and calculated that the average orgasm in a healthy woman lasts about 20 seconds. During this time, the body burns 2 calories through muscle contraction. The average intercourse of 15 minutes burns another 114 calories. You can burn more depending on the intensity of movement, posture, and adrenaline, but the average maximum is 200 calories.

The researchers were very meticulous and took into account even such subtleties as 5 calories due to rapid breathing, 8 calories due to sweating, and 10 calories during foreplay.

But let's look at the maximum result differently: 200 calories is about a handful of nuts, 3 eggs, 50 grams of cheese, or a glass of apple juice. You can burn 200 calories by walking for about 40 minutes. If your average diet is around 2500 calories and to lose weight, as we know, you need to get it down to 1800 — you'll need at least three 15-minute sex sessions a day with an orgasm every time! That is just not realistic

Sex and health

Sex benefits pelvic organs: according to studies, regular muscle contractions prevent the development of urinary incontinence and the weakening of the vaginal walls. Sexual intercourse is like Kegel exercises, only much more pleasant.

Sex also has a psychological component. It is not a cure for depression or other biochemical disorders, and it can not become a therapy in itself, but if we talk about sex with a loved one, sex certainly gives joy, improves hormone levels, and can help prevent neurosis and depressive episodes.

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