I’ve read about it and saw a little bit on some channel a while back. Apparently, putting the testicles in hot water for a couple weeks will cause a man to shoot blanks for 3 months.
Is this for real? How how must the water be? How many weeks before the sperm counts goes to zero (or close to it)? Is any long term damage being done to the testicles? Will the sperm count eventually be back to the regular amount?
How hot must the water be?*
It makes sense, kind of - the testicles are hanging outside the body because they don’t like getting warm, but I really don’t think dipping them in hot water (unless it is hot enough to cook them, which would make it a less than temporary measure, as well as diminishing the sex drive for all kinds of comfort reasons) is going to work all that well; it might result in a transient reduction in sperm count, but I can’t imagine this would be significant enough to make it any kind of workable contraceptive method, or that recovery would take anything like weeks.
An MD will be along shortly, no doubt, with a definitive answer. In the meantime, my unqualified opinion is ‘flawed extrapolation’.
/bump
The heat may kill of some of the sperm, but it’s unlikely to get them all. In any case, new ones will be produced relatively quickly.
Now, this indicates that it could reduce the sperm count, and could be a factor in infertility cases where the male is not producing enough. But it says that things return to normal within a week of exposure.
Jockey style briefs vs. shorts have been cited as a gereral reason for reduced fertility in the male population due to testes being kept warmer.
Taking a hot bath every night before bedtime might be an opition. Real hot, as hot as is comfortable.
Tempurature does affect sperm count, viability, and motility. This knowlege is not new.
This answer comes from www.tiscali.co.uk/lifestyle/healthfitness/menshealth/part1_4-1.html
“Even taking a hot bath (43-45°C/110-115°F) for half an hour per day can significantly lower sperm counts as can wearing tight underpants or athletic scrotal supports. This was shown in a recent experiment where the fit of a man’s underwear and its effect on spermatogenesis was investigated.”
According to the site above, sperm counts returned to normal. How long it takes depends on many factors - anywhere from 2 weeks to about 6 months.
I have not found any cite that shows hot baths will get the sperm count to zero, or even close to it. It will lower the sperm count and for a man with borderline fertility it can cause problems with conception.
I would imagine that the medical term for couples who use this method exclusively is “parents”.