A Surprising Health Benefit of Doing It

Have a bad headache? Or really any kind of ache, for that matter? Have some sex! No seriously, sex can actually help cure that annoying headache, among other ailments.

OB-GYN Dr. Lauren Streitcher, author of Love Sex Again, tells #OWNSHOW, a digital series for Oprah.com, that sex does, in fact qualify as an aid for headaches. But not just headaches. Dr. Streitcher explains that sex can also help with stomach aches, muscle aches, and (as she so wonderfully puts it) "you-name-it aches." But why, you ask, can sex help fix all of these issues?

Because endorphins.

Yes, endorphins. Dr. Streitcher describes how endorphins come into play when curing headaches with sex for #OWNSHOW (and practically quotes Elle Woods):

"We know that when people have sex, they release endorphins, and endorphins can help decrease pain," Streicher says. "And in fact, there was one study out of Southern Illinois University that showed that women suffering from migraine headaches who had sex had a 50 percent decrease in their headache."

Not convinced yet, are you? Well, according to CBSNews, a study conducted at the University of Munster in Germany found that sex helped treat 60 percent of people with migraines, and a third of those who suffered from cluster headaches (key words being: migraines and cluster headaches). One of the study's researchers, neurologist Stefan Evers, also came to the conclusion that endorphins were to blame (to thank?), and that they serve as "natural painkillers."

I know what you're thinking: "What if I don't, um, don't have regular access to someone with whom I can have intercourse with every time I get a headache?" Evers explains that, when it comes to getting rid of headaches, any kind of sexual activity counts, even masturbation.

So next time you have a headache, or cramps, or really any pain (that doesn't require immediate medical attention), instead of going through the whole ibuprofen + more ibuprofen + even more ibuprofen routine, try out getting in some sexual activity. Endorphins are, after all, "natural painkillers."