does masturbation cause vision pronlems with the eye

The valsalva manoeuvre is performed by forced expiration against a closed glottis. The relationship between sexual activity and retinal haemorrhage was first described in a case series of six patients by Friberg et al 6 who also noteworthily mentioned that none of the patients revealed the circumstances through which their vision loss occurred until specifically questioned about predisposing activities that led to the event. Reports of this belief date back hundreds of years with a causal relationship only being investigated in recent years. 5Īlthough medical practitioners do not regularly link sexual activity to ocular disease except for cases involving sexually transmitted infections, popular culture would suggest patients are more aware of sex-induced valsalva retinopathy than physicians with folklore stating that excess masturbation can lead to blindness.

It has been previously reported that clinicians who take sexual histories regularly are more likely to be comfortable with these issues and therefore less hesitant in taking such histories, but in certain clinical settings, such as the eye clinic, the need for a sexual history is unusual and this can lead it to be neglected or avoided. 1 Certain issues such as consultation time constraints, confidentiality, cultural and religious differences, fears of intrusion and apparent discrepancy between patient and clinician age and gender can all pose barriers to sexual history taking.

Obtaining a sexual history can be a source of discomfort and embarrassment to the patient as well as to the clinician. 2 However, for some presentations, sexual intercourse may not be immediately obvious as an aetiological factor and clinician reservations in taking a sexual history can lead to delayed diagnosis of relatively benign pathology which does not normally require extensive investigation. Most healthcare professionals are unlikely to initiate detailed discussion of a patient's sexual history unless they suspect direct clinical relevance to the patient's presenting symptom.

Does masturbation cause vision pronlems with the eye