By TIM CHAN
According to sex toy manufacturer TENGA’s 2020 Self Pleasure Report, Americans say masturbating is one of the most “stress-relieving activities” they can do. The report found that more than 80 percent of respondents use masturbation as a form of self-care — up from just 54 percent five years ago — with 71 percent saying they found that sexual pleasure (whether solo or not) helped them “feel better” during the quarantine.
Studies say a little self-pleasure could also benefit us in other areas as well. Research has shown that the release of oxytocin could help to strengthen our immune systems. We already know that masturbation can help increase libido and energy, but according to documents published on the NIH website, a study by German researchers found that men who masturbated to orgasm were also able to increase their white-blood-cell count. Conclusions remain to be drawn, but the study does offer a little more incentive to do a little corona-related caressing.
For Chris Cicchinelli, CEO and President of Pure Romance (a direct seller of “relationship enhancement” and intimacy products), sales of the brand’s sex toys are up 88 percent since the first week of March 2020, with even the “bondage” category seeing a small uptick in sales. “Statistically, it is not uncommon for couples to turn to sex for comfort and advancing their relationships,” he says. “Who says there’s no sunshine after the rain?”
Now, even as Covid restrictions lessen in some areas and singles cautiously begin dating again, sex toy sales continue to grow. In other words, people are keeping their sex toys and continuing to buy more.
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