Hot bath and male fertile: Here's how hot temperatures kill sperm health

Men need large numbers of good-quality sperm that move well, to fertilise the woman's egg.

Sperm and the male sex hormone testosterone, are made in the testes.

Testes need to be a few degrees cooler than the rest of the body to make good quality sperm.

How heat affects male fertility

Sperm cells tend to die when exposed to too much heat. Continuous exposure to higher temperatures can cause sperm production to be lower, or cause the production of abnormally shaped sperm cells resulting in infertility.

Several experimental studies show that an artiﬁcial increase in scrotum or testicle temperature can reduce both sperm count and quality.

A 2015 study showed that increased temperature reduced sperm concentration and sperm motility to about half of the initial values.

Hot water bath and male fertility

A 2007 study showed that exposure to wet heat has been associated with decreased semen parameters in men.

After analyzing data from infertile men who had been repeatedly exposed to high water temperatures from hot baths for about 30 minutes a week, they found a strong link to their infertility.

In fact, all of the men had signs of infertility, including impaired sperm production and motility.

However, this damage appears to be reversible.

What to do

Below are some precautions that may help the sperm: