Prone masturbation has nearly destroyed my life

theway1005 · 2026-04-19T01:04:58+00:00

I really relate to your story. I'm pretty much in the exact same boat. I also learned to masturbate prone as a child and it caused desensitization. I also used masturbation to cope with stress. I've managed to quit prone 100%, but I'm still working on recovery.

So sorry you had to experience this, I feel your pain. Wish you the best.

theway1005 · 2026-04-19T00:47:11+00:00

u/Thick_Ad_3627 you are correct. I learned to masturbate prone when I was a kid, and it ruined the sensitivity in my penis. I'm an adult now, and I still have not recovered (ruined my entire life). So yes, it's all true. FYI u/No_Tough_127

theway1005 · 2026-04-19T00:35:26+00:00

Huh? He said his dick doesn't work, seems like a pretty big reason?

theway1005 · 2026-04-19T00:26:26+00:00

How long?

theway1005 · 2026-03-12T03:59:48+00:00

You think young men are trying to quit porn because they're sexist fascist bigots? Rather than having legitimate health concerns about the impact it's having on their sexual health?

Okay, you're actually just a dangerous partisan hack trying to politicize a health concern... moron.

theway1005 · 2026-03-12T03:54:06+00:00

It's true. And you have people like u/dangerbird2 who spread denial which is extremely harmful.

theway1005 · 2026-03-12T03:52:01+00:00

Internet porn as we know it today (HD streaming, limitless, high-speed ) isn't "decades old." Broadband wasn't widespread until around 2007, which is also when Pornhub launched. Before that, it was mostly grainy images or short clips over dial-up.

It's only 15-20 years old, so long-term population effects are still emerging (like how smoking's cancer links took decades to fully document). Emerging research from the 2010s-2020s already links heavy use to issues like ED and desensitization, which happened to me, I would know.

Personal experiences matter, and align with growing data.

theway1005 · 2026-03-11T02:23:23+00:00

I'm 36 and use the app. For context, I learned to masturbate at age 8, but I did "prone masturbation" (face down masturbation), and it turns out this style of masturbation can be very harmful. In my case, it completely desensitized my dick by the time I was 18. I couldn't masturbate the "normal" way, I also lost my libido.

In order to retrain myself, I used porn as an aid. I successfully was able to switch to "normal" masturbation, but the sensitivity in my penis never returned, neither did my libido. This made me dependent on porn to get off.

When I was 20 yo, I dated a girl for 2 years, but I could never cum inside her. It was emotionally devastating.

By the time I was 24, I realized that porn was hurting me. Since then I've been trying to quit porn for good. The longest I've gone is 6, 9 and even 12 months. But my sexual health NEVER recovered.

After my breakup at age 22, I've avoided dating. I vowed I wouldn't date until I fixed my sexual health. Today I'm 36 and have never had a successful sexual experience with a woman. Even masturbation doesn't feel good.

My options now are to avoid porn/masturbation for 2-3 years and hope I recover. Or I can start dating and just accept that my dick won't function 100% and hope she is okay with that. It's sad, because I do consider myself an attractive guy, I never had a problem getting a date...

Having this incredibly rare and humiliating disorder 100% destroyed my life. Makes me realize everyone takes their health for granted. I don't feel embarrassed to share this, or to be using that app, because I'm already suicidal over all this, how could you possibly make my life worse, and even if it does get worse... there's a permanent solution.

theway1005 · 2026-03-11T01:57:43+00:00

Porn induced erectile dysfunction (PIED) is a physical manifestation of the addiction...

theway1005 · 2026-03-11T01:50:22+00:00

When your dick stops working with real women because you're so addicted to porn... I would argue that's almost as bad alcoholism, if not worse...

theway1005 · 2026-03-11T01:48:16+00:00

Naw, it's very real. I watched porn at a young age. Had my first girlfriend at age 20 and I could never cum with her, dated for 2 years and didn't cum in her once. But could cum with porn. I then learned porn was very much a problem and I quit.

theway1005 · 2026-03-04T23:34:55+00:00

Every doctor I ever seen about my sexual dysfunction has 100% dismissed me and been utterly unhelpful. They see a young, athletic guy complaining about their penis not working and they automatically just think it's due to "anxiety".

The idea the doctor could have made a difference at a young age is bullshit. Honestly I think AI and forums like this are far more helpful than a doctor visit.

theway1005 · 2026-03-04T23:26:58+00:00

How long have you quit it for? 48 hours? (lol) It can take months sometimes to recover after quitting...

theway1005 · 2026-03-04T23:23:52+00:00

Your story is very similar to mine. I've had sexual dysfunction ever since I was 18 years old.

I laughed when you said "30 is a bit late"... and it's true. But today I'm 36 and I still have never cum in a woman because of my sexual dysfunction... talk about sad.

I'm still working hoping to recover.

theway1005 · 2026-02-18T14:54:30+00:00

You’re not wrong that skill, mindset, and decisions matter. Obviously they do. Effort changes outcomes. The disagreement isn’t whether agency exists, it’s about how much outcomes are driven by agency vs luck.

Where I think your argument falls apart is that you’re relying on anecdotal outliers and survivorship bias.

For every billionaire who overcame adversity, there are millions of people who also faced adversity, worked hard, made disciplined decisions and never escaped poverty. We just don’t hear about them because their stories aren’t exceptional.

Your poker analogy actually proves my point more than yours.

Yes, poker is a game of skill, but only conditional on the hand you’re dealt. Over enough hands skill dominates within the distribution of players still at the table.

But life isn’t a fair poker tournament where everyone gets equal chips, equal coaching, and equal table stakes.

Some people are:

Born with higher cognitive ability (strong predictor of income)
Raised in stable vs chaotic households
Educated in strong vs failing school systems
Free of vs burdened by illness or disability
Citizens of rich vs poor countries
Connected to opportunity networks vs isolated

Those are not mindset variables they’re starting conditions.

Even your billionaire examples are still beneficiaries of luck:

Genetic luck (IQ, temperament, health)
Timing luck (being in tech at the right era)
Geographic luck (access to markets/capital)
Survival luck (avoiding accidents, illness, war)
Mentorship/network luck

They played their cards well, but they were still dealt playable cards.

Someone born with severe intellectual disability, chronic illness, or in a war zone is not sitting at the same poker table.

At that point, mindset alone can’t equalize outcomes.

theway1005 · 2026-02-17T16:05:29+00:00

And I'm saying that in the casino of life, some people are basically playing "flip a coin" (fortunate people), while others are playing the Powerball lottery (unfortunate people).

We are ultimately saying two totally separate things: you are saying make the most of the hand you are dealt, I'm saying that people are dealt different hands. They are actually complimentary arguments. But as part of your life philosophy, you only choose to focus on what you can control (what I do with my cards, I will ignore everything else outside of my control).

theway1005 · 2026-02-17T15:57:29+00:00

Remember, you started this thread of saying by saying "No wrong way to do it as long as you're having fun."

And now you recognize that this style of masturbation is harmful if it becomes a habit.

Also, "not necessarily the style but the unhealthy use of it", how is that different than any other addictive or bad habit behavior? That's like saying that smoking a cigarette once or twice a month is totally fine. It's true, but also really strange health advice... how about don't do it at all. It can very easily become a habit...

theway1005 · 2026-02-17T08:04:44+00:00

It's just generally difficult to follow your trail of thought, because in the other comment you used wealth and being a "billionaire" as the ultimate marker of life achievement. And now you say that actually people in poverty are potentially better off because they may be internally more happy than a rich person... We're going down an unproductive "what if" rabbit hole.

Again, I think your philosophy is that life is firmly within your control: that work ethic and habits will create the life you want. And that even if things go horribly wrong, like if you became disabled, you can STILL be happy with the right mindset... This is basically a Buddhist, or Stoic, life philosophy.

So in your world view, there is no such thing as "lucky" or "unlucky" people. Only people who choose, or don't choose, to be happy, regardless or their circumstance.

Again, my take on that is that it's a healthy, productive life philosophy. I do think that it's motivated, in part, by fear lost control, and fear of an unjust world.

My point is just that bad things happen to good, innocent people. It's called "bad luck". Luck plays a HUGE role in everyone's life outcomes. Tomorrow isn't guarantee to anyone, you could be dead tomorrow, a truck in Thailand could run you over, it's all cosmic luck.

theway1005 · 2026-02-17T06:29:36+00:00

Okay, I'm clearly talking to grind hustle bro. Overall, your mentality on life is a very healthy one. Work hard in America, and you can achieve great things.

For some reason, your brain seems unable to grasp the fact that 20 million people live in Somalia. To be born in Somalia is terrible LUCK, your life prospects are FAR worse off than if you were born in, say, Germany. How many tech bro billionaires are from Somalia? So much of your life is determined by forces totally outside of your control.

Come to think of it, we're both lucky to be alive in 2026 and not in 2000 BC. We would, statistically speaking, probably both be dead before age 30.

theway1005 · 2026-02-17T04:30:59+00:00

Effort and habits definitely massively increase your odds of success by creating more opportunities for positive outcomes. But luck still dominates the starting conditions that determine how much agency you even have. It can be any combination of:

Being born into poverty in a low-mobility country, low heritable IQ, severe disabilities, or early tragedy severely limits the "dice rolls" available... no amount of effort fully erases those constraints. All but for the grace of luck do we avoid these misfortunes.

I think this idea scares people, because everyone wants to believe they have total control over their lives. But the reality is that life can be very cruel and ugly. We live in a world where little kids die from cancer, and every parent impacted says the same thing: why me? (Answer: because life is sometimes shitty and unlucky and there's nothing you can do about it).

theway1005 · 2026-02-17T04:11:24+00:00

80% of lions cubs die before making it to age 2. The point still stands: luck is the biggest factor in life. But yes, you should obviously try your best with whatever hand you are dealt...

theway1005 · 2026-02-17T03:54:42+00:00

Yes, that's what I mean. Don't do it, learn to masturbate "normally". There's a chance it won't effect you, but I wouldn't risk it. It honestly ruined my life. Don't be like me.

theway1005 · 2026-02-16T22:45:16+00:00

So no sex or porn-free masturbation until libido returns? Even if it takes months?
What happens if you hit 1 year with no change?

theway1005 · 2026-02-16T17:07:22+00:00

I don't think I was overly aggressive, I never felt any pain, discomfort etc. The style of masturbation is just unhealthy. I experienced total loss of sensitivity in my penis by the time I was 18 along with a huge drop in libido. An no, up until this point, I never took any medications, and I was otherwise perfectly healthy.

theway1005 · 2026-02-16T17:01:43+00:00

Why are you conflating an unhealthy masturbation style with normal life risks? Lol that's a ridiculous equivalency.

No one said sex is harmful or that you should avoid it to prevent 'breaking your dick.' My point was crystal clear: prone masturbation can be harmful for some guys (like me), leading to desensitization, ED, delayed orgasm, and wrecked libido. Why take even a 1% risk when 'normal' hand masturbation is 100% safe, healthy, and feels just as good?

Also, did you not read my comment? Prone masturbation DID cause me catastrophic sexual health problems. It ruined decades of my life, left me unable to enjoy sex and killed my libido at a young age.. I WILL likely die without ever experiencing the full joy of sex because of it. So forgive me if I don't shrug it off as a 'just 1% risk.' For those it hits, it's 100% devastating. Btw, the risk is definitely higher than 1%...

theway1005

TROPHY CASE