Hi guys, I'm 23 and have been suffering with acne since I was 13/14 years of age. I currently go to University and I still have acne. It is quite hard for me to go to class and sometimes be the only person with zits on their face. When I see someone else with it, I really feel for them.

It's not as simple as some people say. "Ohh, stop eating chocolate and start washing your face."
Ok.....thanks. I guess I was so STUPID that I haven't tried that in the past 10 years.

My acne is quite odd, once I get rid of a zit, another one will pop up. It's like there has to be one on my face at all times or they'll get pissed off and pop 3 of them up just to spite me.

Anyways, for the past 3 years, I've pretty much just given up. I'll wash and just put some cream on here and there, but I have stopped actively fighting it. Then a few weeks ago something happened and I decided that enough was enough.

I went to bed one day and right before I went to sleep, I could feel it. Something was brewing on the tip of my nose. This was going to be bad, I thought. I slapped cream on like a mad man, anything to prevent it. But to no avail. I woke up with the BIGGEST zit known to man on the tip of my nose. It was there, like a beacon. This wasn't one of them pimples you can just pop. It was red and underneath the skin, in a protective bunker, not willing to move an inch.
Worst part of the story? I had classes all day that morning with a room of 30 people. 30 people that I know and would see me the moment I walked on. 300 people I could blend in and hide; 30 people? No such luck.
23 years old, University student, going into law, and having the nose of Rudolph. I can't live like this anymore.

So I was browsing around and I saw someone say that not masturbating helped them. I thought what could it hurt. So I decided to try it. I lasted about 1 day. Let me tell you something, on a BAD day, I masturbate ATLEAST once. On a good day, probably 3 times a day. Its just something to do and relaxes me. So I decided to put some really willpower into this.

As of this writing I have not masturbated for 7 days. In these 7 days, I have not gotten ONE pimple. Not one! Trust me, everyday I would wake up from bed and expect to see a fresh new friend to greet me. Not having one is remarkable for someone like me, especially within a week. MAYBE its a coincidence, but it would have to be the hugest coincidence in the world. No, I'm not taking a new drug, not using a new soap, not drinking more water. I have been just staying on my same routine.

But I have to take into account that maybe it's a coincidence. I can't blow it off, so I plan on sticking to this for a month. A month. How I am going to do it for a whole month is mind boggling but I have to do it.

I know people here will say "Ohh, there is no correlation between acne and masturbation."
Maybe this is true, but I also believe everyone is different, thats why there is no one cure for acne. That's why this probably won't work for everyone either. But honestly, if you're like me and you've tried everything EXCEPT this, then honestly, what do you have to lose? If you have the willpower, just try it for one week. If you don't see results by the seventh day, then it probably won't work for you, but I hope it works atleast for another person like it did for me.

Thanks everyone and I will update this thread in 3 weeks and tell you guys everything. Writing this post has made me very happy and I just hope to God after a few more weeks time, I have some positive results to post!

Glad to know it works for you, cause I've tried it 2 times and with no results, only worsened for me. Must be a hard cure though...

I'm 29, and have oily skin now. I don't get much acne, but I notice if I only masturbate once a week, my acne is pretty much non existent. I used to do it like 3-4 times a week and I would get acne all over. Its the same thing with sex. My last girlfriend and I used to have sex everyday, and I had mild acne, even on my back. I think my hormones need to be balanced, but how? How can a male balance his hormone level?

Interesting.

Like with lots of things relating to Acne im never sure whether I am clear or have spots by doing some things or not doing otehrs is directly affected by things as there are so many factors why your skin could be clear or not.

I even think stress might play the biggest part in my problem. I havent tried the masturbation thing but it is possible.

I suppose at least a month would be the only way to find out for sure as I do find my skin is quite random and is up and down from week to week anyway regardless of any changes I make or things I do differently.

Let us know your results it would be interesting.

dude masturbation has nothing to do with getting acne or not this is getting a liltte out of hand dont you think?.well maybe merry fist and her 5 sisters anyway.rofl

Although it sounds funny, i do believe there is a correlation between masturbation and breakouts. It's all related to your hormones.

This thread DID make me giggle a little, though

yeah, i'v noticed that wanking the noodle aggravates my acne (i noticed it over several years)...but i tstill get acne if i cut down on the wankin lol..so its not a root cause, at least not for me. what i do is pop a gram of omega 3 right after i do it. it seems to prevent the breakout/aggravation.

Put BP 5% on your zit over night. Do it for a few days. Zit will be history. Using BP won't stop them coming - but you can at least get rid of them when they do. Believe me - BP is the thing (cheap and effective anti bacterial).

you know what, I think the same thing!

A while ago, like a year ago or so, I would notice that the more I masturbate, the more I break out the next morning. So, I went on a few weeks of no-masturbation and didn't break out, but these kind of um routine... is quite impossible.

I guess once a week instead of 1-2 times a day is still okay...

but yes, I do think masturbation has something to do with how much one breaks out.

Maybe it's because you feel guilty about masturbating and when you haven't been doing it, you don't break out?

I might as well add some of my observations to this thread as well... so here goes:

I'm one of those people who has tried literally EVERYTHING there is to try to treat my mild inflammatory acne. Let's also add to that and say that almost everything I tried (that I reckoned was good for me) - has actually worked to some degree or another and lessened and/or temporarily 'cured' my acne.

However, a reoccurring problem seemed to persist - and that was the fact that no matter how strictly and how well I would follow a particular regime that seemed to have been working for me at the time - my acne would never FULLY really go away. I felt the the root cause somehow always persisted deep inside of me regardless of what I tried.

I tried the no masturbation challenge many times; I'm really good at it now. I can EASILY go a month without wanking it. I've gone up to almost THREE months on my one of my previous tries. Did my acne go away? No. It lessened but it never FULLY went away... and I figured that whatever my root cause is - it is definitely not completely hormones related, and there was still something left to figure out (although don't get me wrong - even I noticed that hormones definitely play a role in acne... so there's NO DOUBT about that!). But I'm actually comfortable not stroking my dolphin for weeks at a time now, however, I don't believe that it's really the right thing to do either... cause as opposed to what anyone might think or say - it is sometimes actually a good thing to let go of all those built up fluids, hormones, and emotions inside of us. You can only harness the energy within you and suppress your emotions for so long... until your body becomes desperate and FORCES you to transfer that energy and those emotions to another source (or completely expel them from your body altogether).

So I'm not going to say that not masturbating doesn't help, cause it DOES actually lessen most peoples' acne - but I will tell you all to please not get too excited at this stage and put all your hopes on just that one aspect of acne. Cause after a while... if the root cause is still present, then even the masturbation challenge ceases to work after a while (which was also the case with me). Yes, acne is definitely aggravated by hormones, but who knows why your hormones are out of whack? Your lifestyle and stress could be causing you a hormonal imbalance, and no matter how hard you try NOT to masturbate - you may still be left with an imbalance that directly affects your breakouts. It could be that you're not exercising on a daily basis (that's a huge one for me and for many people). It could be your diet too - who knows! (I'm a BIG believer in diet actually, and have corrected my diet to the point that there is no flippin' way that my diet could be causing me acne - there are still some hidden root causes inside of me that I haven't figured out just yet).

I just want to say that no matter what you all think is THE cause and THE cure of acne out there - it is still all f@#kn' immanent (which means it's all in your head and what you make of it).

I think that the only way to fully cure it is to become that successful person you dream of becoming. Achieving all your goals and becoming a happy and thankful person on a daily basis will improve your overall condition. Go for what REALLY matters to you... your dreams. Not your acne. I noticed when I focus on my acne, I get more of it. But when I'm completely focused and motivated to do what I LOVE doing in life - the acne seems to settle down a bit. There are still many things I want to achieve and accomplish in life, and until I reach those goals - I just don't see how my acne can go fully away. There will still be all that stress and all those lifestyle factors that I will have to face while trying to reach my goals, that no matter how much I try to prevent stress and lifestyle related breakouts - I will still get breakouts. It will only stop once my life is satisfied.

So please keep in mind that all this knowledge is completely arbitrary and none of it is definite. Keep that knowledge in mind, and have it in your arsenal... but focus on living your life. Stop focusing on your disease and focus on living - your condition WILL improve with a positive state of mind.

And guys, if you really start living your dreams - the girls will come along the way as well. And with sex, acne seems to settle down even more than just doing the masturbation challenge alone. I noticed that for whatever reason, sex seems to dry the pores and calm our oil production glands, and if you have sex regularly - your oily skin issues will self-correct...

Hope some of my insight will help someone.

Masturbation/sex relieves stress. If anything, that will improve acne. I don't care if it is scientifically proven that masturbation worsens acne. It's going to take a lot more than acne to stop me from masturbating/having sex/reproducing

Is acne so much of a big deal for you that you're willing to eliminate one of the greatest pleasures of mankind that is also designed to prolong our species?

YES! YES IT DOES!

lol, I will try this myself. I had very bad acne that i wrote about. Aloe Vora works wonders, has helped to reduce it big time and new onces from getting bigger.

Maybe one day it will be cool to have a pimple on your face.

good luck. I'm hoping things dont get worst next summer as summer is the worst.....

I've got to say I've seen similar results to crisis54. Abstaining from masturbating doesn't totally clear me up but it does help. (I'm a 27 year old male)

Let us know how you get on crisis54.

LISTEN EVERYONE MY MATE,JUST FINSHED ROACCUTANE AND HE HAD NO OIL ON HIS SKIN FOR LIKE 2 WEEKS AND ALL OF A SUDDEN HE STARTED MASTERBATING LIKE EVRYDAY AND THE OIL CAME BACK ON HIS SKIN AND POSSIBLY BREAK OUT!!! NO LIE BUT HE HAD A FEW PACKETS OF ACCUTANE LEFT SO,HES TAKING THEM CAPSULES AGAIN AND OIL IS VANISHING AS LONG AS HE DONT MASTERBATE! TRUST I DONT CARE MASTERBATE DEFFO LINKED WITH ACNE AND OILY SKIN THIS AS BEEN TRIED AND TESTED METHOD!! SO KEEP AWAY FROM MASTERBATION AND U HAVE CLEAR SKIN SIMPLE,!!!

I thought so too, and not jerking off has always seemed to help.

But two years in a row, I got two weeks vacations, and I completely cleared up during my vacations even tho I jerked off a plenty, sometimes twice a day. By the end of my vacations I hadn't been that clear since a year ago (after my other vacations).

What I think helped me was sleep. Full long nights of sleep.

That's all I can think of. I'm not often stressed, so I don't think it was "less stress".

So recently I was on vacation and all cleared up, two weeks later it's back to my acne old self, and this time I actually have a bunch of pimples on my neck for some reason.

I'm gonna use sleeping pills and go to bed earlier when I feel I can't get a full night of sleep. It's always worst by the end of the week, so I'm guessing the good nights of sleep on the weekend help.

I'm 26, had acne since I was 12 or 13 or so. Was cleared up for a year when I was in my early 20s, I think it was because back then I had a regular sleeping pattern I never had again; I'd be asleep by 11:30, and wake up the next day at 7:30.

I've always had a lot of trouble falling asleep except during that year.

Anyway I am so sick of it it's not even funny, almost 30 soon:(

Im 21 i have really bad acne all over my face arms neck and back..... and guess what i masturbate usually two times a day (when i wake up and be for bed) i always do it laying down on my bed lol ..then i thought to my self i masturbate very often and i get alot of pimples so they must be related so i searched it on yahoo and i found this website , i realize now that i have to stop masturbating im gunna try to get into video games and weight lifting more and stay away from sites like rude.com and 247booty.com cuz they give u free porn/strippers/girls shaking and dancing and thats the last thing I need to watch rite now

Like i said im 21 and this is a age where i should be having alot of sex safe sex by the way but the problem is with acne its hard to attract alot of girls

so im gunna go play my ps2 and try not to think of girls or sex and make sure to watch my face twice a day .

good to see this old wives tale is alive and well.

No, no, no! Masturbation doesn't cause acne, it makes you go blind.

The only possible way masturbation causes acne is if you don't shower for like a week, wank it, and then rub your hands all over your face.

how is the experiement going??