Tight pants, laptops and male fertility

WHILE infertility is often seen as a woman’s issue, many times the problem lies with the male, says Dr Richard Mayhew, urologist.

It is believed that more than 90 per cent of male infertility cases are due to sperm abnormalities like low sperm count, poor sperm quality, or both.

“You can have a wide variety of things. You can have variation in the number of sperm… usually the concern is a low count – it can be low or the sperm can be completely absent,” Dr Mayhew said.

There are everyday activities that you may be doing that could be affecting your ability to have kids.

These include:

1. Wearing tight pants

Dr Leroy Harrison, president of the Jamaica Urological Society, said he would certainly advise men against wearing tight pants. He said the testes hang outside the body to keep them cool, as cool temperatures help in the production of sperm. So theoretically, wearing tight pants could heat up the scrotum and possibly contribute to low sperm count.

“Tight pants are probably not loose enough to allow proper circulation and keep the area cool. So theoretically, it is possible. Tight pants probably help to keep the area warm by not allowing the best circulation,” he said. “If it is going to be tight, it is supposed to be of a certain material. The material is supposed to be able to breathe.”

2. Wearing too many layers of clothing

“If people wear too many layers — if the guys have on underpants, shorts and pants, we think that it will increase the temperature in that area,” Dr Harrison said. “And that could result in excess heat.”

3. Holding laptop in lap

Since it is important for the scrotum to be kept cool, it is advised that men avoid using their laptops in their laps for long periods of time since laptops generate heat that could result in damage to the sperm.

4. Wearing jockey tights

For cyclists and other athletes who spend long hours in tight shorts or tights, their chances of developing low sperm count as a result of damaged sperm leading to infertility is greater than those wearing loose-fitting shorts.

5. Smoking

According to medical practitioner Dr Orlando Thomas, tobacco smoking has definitely been linked to impotence in Jamaican men, and if used heavily, eventually causes men to ‘fire blanks’.

“This is definitely true, because it contains nicotine which causes hardening of the arteries and results in less blood flow to the penis,” the doctor said.

Dr Thomas said while younger men may continue to smoke and boast that they are able to ‘rise to the occasion’, this is only for a time.

“They are not firing blanks yet — but 10 to 15 years down the line, that is when the damage will start to manifest itself. If you smoke long enough and hard enough, say 10 cigarettes per day, then you will definitely feel the effects.”

6. Heavy alcohol consumption

Doctors are suggesting that men keep their alcohol consumption levels in check as it can damage the quality, structure and movement of sperm by stopping the liver from properly metabolising vitamin A, which is needed for sperm development. Alcohol is toxic to the testes which can harm sperm when they are produced, and stop them from developing properly or reaching the egg.

7. Blow to the testicles

If a man receives a blow to the testicles during sport or during a fight, this can cause swelling of the testicles, or bleeding in or around them. This could cause the blood supply to the testicles to fail, resulting in permanent damage to the sperm production mechanism which in turn can lead to infertility.