Why You Should Cool Your Balls. Men have at some points in their lives heard that wearing boxers were a better option than briefs. They’ve also been advised to take more cold showers, and to avoid hot baths as much as possible. Is there a reason behind this? It is a well known fact that scrotal temperature should ideally be lower than core body temperature (by about 2°c), in order to ensure optimal sperm production. In most mammals, sperm cells will not mature at the core body temperature, which is why nature designed for your testes to be located outside your body. Besides placing your testes outside your body, several other mechanisms have been put in place to ensure that your intra-scrotal temperature remains lower than that of your body: The lack of scrotal subcutaneous fat and the abundance of sweat glands to allow easy dissipation of heat. A 2-muscle system (Tunica Dartos and Cremaster) which lower and lift your testes in raised and reduced body temperatures respectively. A complex network of testicular arteries and veins which ensure that warm arterial blood entering your testes is cooled by venous blood. Inspite of mother nature’s good intentions, civilisation and its associated lifestyle changes have in a significant way contributed to a noticeable decline in male fertility. Scientists over the past few decades have observed a gradual fall in the sperm count and motility of men in the western world, and this is thought to be largely contributed by lifestyle factors which include increased scrotal temperatures, alcohol intake, obesity, smoking, and free radical damage. Some of the lifestyle factors leading to increased scrotal temperature include: Sitting for prolonged periods especially with legs crossed or close together Driving Long duration of sedentary work Reduced physical activity Wearing underwear especially form-fitting briefs Hot baths Saunas Use of laptops while placed on the lap Occupational exposures to heat and radiation, etc. Approximately 1/3rd of cases of in-vitro fertilisation are as a result of male factor infertility. With increasing awareness of this, men are gradually looking towards a range of alternative treatments to improve their quality of sperm production some of which include vitamins, dietary supplements, counselling for stress, acupuncture, and of course scrotal cooling. The practice of cooling the balls for improved fertility and testosterone production goes way back. Hot tubs baths have been documented in history as a means of male contraception. Also documented are the ice bathing rituals of Scandinavians, the icing rituals done by Russian weightlifters, among others. Recognising the importance of having cooler balls, men have tried to achieve this using different DIY methods like applying bags of ice or frozen peas to the balls, sleeping in the nude, taking frequent cold showers, etc. Over time, various scrotal cooling devices have been used, their major drawback being the lack of practicability for daily use. More recently however, newer, more practical devices have been developed that are much easier to use. Is Scrotal Cooling Beneficial For Improved Male Fertility? Research on scrotal cooling as a potential treatment for male subfertility started as far back as the mid 1960’s, as scientists found a significant correlation between increased scrotal temperature and abnormal semen production. In infertile men, scrotal temperature is about 0.4 – 0.5°C higher than in their fertile counterparts. Also, an average increase of 1°C in scrotal temperature leads to as much as a 40% fall in sperm concentration. These findings were followed by a quest to determine the benefits if any, of scrotal cooling in improving male fertility. In a series of studies, infertile men with abnormal semen parameters and raised scrotal temperatures were treated with scrotal cooling for a duration of 8-20 weeks. In 64-83% of them, there was improvement in sperm parameters and in 14-50% of couples, pregnancy was achieved. In another study carried out in men with reduced sperm count who had testicular maldescent, there was demonstrated improvement in sperm morphology and motility after nocturnal scrotal cooling for 12 weeks. Spermatogenesis, the process of sperm cell development in the human male, comprises 6 stages per cycle, and requiring four 16-day cycles to be completed. The whole process of spermatogenesis from start to finish takes an average of 74 days, though it may be shorter or longer in some. Due to the duration and complexity of the process, it is important that optimal conditions are maintained, notably ideal temperature to ensure superior quality of the formed sperm cells.
