What Happens When You Stop Having Sex

Been a while since you’ve since you’ve done the deed? This is what’s happening to happening to your body.

Portrait of Tammy Strobel

Been a while since you’ve since you’ve done the deed? This is what’s happening to happening to your body. your body. 

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We’ve all heard the jokes: “Har har, your hymen is going to grow back”, “Har har, there are cobwebs in your vagina.” Yes, there will be some changes to your body when you haven’t done it in a while, but none of them are life-threatening.

People stop having sex for a multitude of reasons, so the first thing you should know is that this is completely fine and normal. And if you find that this situation isn’t ideal for you, the good news is it isn’t all bad. Here’s what happens when you stop having sex.

1. Weaker bladder control

When you have sex, you’re actually working out your pelvic floor muscles and strengthening them. This means your pelvic floor may become weaker when you stop having sex, which can result in incontinence issues. According to WebMD.com, about 25 to 45 percent of women suffer from incontinence, which is defined as leakage at least once in the past year. But don’t worry – you can still work out your pelvic floor by doing kegel exercises (or masturbating).

2. You lower your chances of getting a UTI

One obvious benefit of staying away from the D is that your risk of getting a sexually transmitted infection plummets because… duh. But you also lower your chances of getting a urinary tract infection, which is often caused by the transfer of bacteria to the urinary tract during sex. Sleep in peace, sis, knowing that you won’t have to worry about it burning when you pee.

3. Your sex drive might dip

Ever had someone tell you that if you don’t use it, you lose it? While you’ll most likely experience a lower libido if you haven’t had sex in a while, this is simply because your body has adjusted to this new normal.

Your libido should pick right back up once you start having sex again. If it doesn’t, head to the gynae first to determine if there’s a medical problem, like a hormone imbalance. Low libidos can also be caused by external stressors, so therapy is also an option to get your sex drive back up again. 

Images TPG/Click Photos Text Sophie Hong.