Sex may help heal physical wounds, according to a new study published in JAMA Psychiatry. And if you don’t want to have sex, just exchanging compliments with your loved one can have a similar effect. Although the mechanisms behind these benefits are not completely clear, it has been suggested that loving interactions may somehow strengthen the immune system, resulting in longer lives.
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Previous research has highlighted the link between being in a romantic relationship and improved physical health, with lower all-cause mortality among people with a life partner.
The authors of a new study sought to understand how oxytocin, known as the “love hormone,” affects the body’s ability to heal itself. It is released during moments of parent-child interaction, such as romantic ecstasy or breastfeeding, and plays an important role in forming social bonds.
Researchers applied small bubbles to both forearms of 80 heterosexual couples, then divided them into four groups.
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One group was given oxytocin nasal spray, which was used twice a day for one week, and they completed a partner appreciation task (TAP) (consisting of saying affectionate things about each other) up to three times a week.
A second group received PAT but received a placebo instead of oxytocin, another group received oxytocin but did not participate in PAT, and a final group received a placebo but did not participate in the task.
As a result, the authors observed that oxytocin alone did not appear to affect the rate of wound healing, but that oxytocin in combination with placebo adjuvant therapy accelerated blister healing.
This phenomenon was even stronger among couples who received oxytocin and reported having sex during the study period.
“More daily sexual activity in the oxytocin group predicted improved wound healing,” the researchers wrote.
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Additional analysis revealed that people who had more sex also had lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol in their saliva. This suggests that the combination of oxytocin and reduced stress as a result of physical intimacy may be a winning formula in injury recovery.
“These findings help further our understanding of oxytocin’s role in immune function and show that while the hormone itself does not have the ability to promote health, it may somehow enhance the healing properties of physical touch. These findings suggest that oxytocin does not exert a direct effect, but rather amplifies the benefits of intimacy,” the researchers wrote.
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