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Does Hot Bath Effect The Sperm Count?
Question: My husband and I are trying to conceive and my fertile period starts in a couple of days. He absentmindedly took a hot bath last night. He rarely takes baths but did last night. Assuming he is normally fertile as we already have a 2 year old child together, is there an issue with trying to conceive this month after the hot bath fiasco? What is your informed guess about what happens to sperm after a hot bath. Did it hurt our chances of conceiving for the next 3 months? Thank you
Brief Answer:
detailed answer below.
Detailed Answer:
Hello and welcome,
Please do not worry so much. I understand your concern is due to the fact that you feel that exposure to heat will decrease sperm count. A single hot bath does not make any effect at all in most cases. If there is repeated exposure of the testis to hot environment [ furnace worker, too tight undergarments, factory workers etc.] then it hampers sperm production in the long run as it decreases the capacity of the testis to produce sperms. Sperms for the next 3 months are already prepared and stored in the male genital system. I am sure the hot bath was not so hot as to burn. Most of the time only warm water is used. It does not make any difference.
However if you are still in doubt, get a semen analysis after 3-4 ejaculation [ so that sperms exposed to the heat will come in the next ejaculates]. If it is normal then there is no need to worry.
Hope this satisfies your query.
Thanks for using HCM.
Feel free to ask any more questions that you may have.
Dr Madhuri Bagde
Consultant Obstetrician and Gynecologist
detailed answer below.
Detailed Answer:
Hello and welcome,
Please do not worry so much. I understand your concern is due to the fact that you feel that exposure to heat will decrease sperm count. A single hot bath does not make any effect at all in most cases. If there is repeated exposure of the testis to hot environment [ furnace worker, too tight undergarments, factory workers etc.] then it hampers sperm production in the long run as it decreases the capacity of the testis to produce sperms. Sperms for the next 3 months are already prepared and stored in the male genital system. I am sure the hot bath was not so hot as to burn. Most of the time only warm water is used. It does not make any difference.
However if you are still in doubt, get a semen analysis after 3-4 ejaculation [ so that sperms exposed to the heat will come in the next ejaculates]. If it is normal then there is no need to worry.
Hope this satisfies your query.
Thanks for using HCM.
Feel free to ask any more questions that you may have.
Dr Madhuri Bagde
Consultant Obstetrician and Gynecologist
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Thank you for your kind and gentle response. Just a follow up question my fertile days are beginning this Sunday through Thursday next week. My husband is 44 years old. Is there any issue with having sex every other day? Will that deplete his sperm too much or is that enough time to regenerate healthy spermatozoa assuming the hot bath didn't do too much damage? I was told with a man over 40 to have sex on day 10 and day 14 of my cycle to ensure plenty of sperm. Thank you again
Brief Answer:
detailed answer below.
Detailed Answer:
Hello and welcome back,
I understand the issue.
Your concern of better semen quality is valid. However one has to time sexual contact with ovulation. So if contact occurs at an interval of 4 days, the semen quality may be marginally better but it is more likely to miss ovulation and chances of pregnancy decline. So an alternate day regimen works best to catch the ovum.
I have already said that sperms for next three months are already formed and stored in the male genital system. The only issue is that some may have to travel a bit to reach the storage oragand and also the nutrients needed for them in the ejaculate need to be produced. Most of the time a delay of a day is enough to do this. So I do not feel there is a lot of need to worry.
Hoep this helps.
All my good wishes are with you.
Dr Madhuri
detailed answer below.
Detailed Answer:
Hello and welcome back,
I understand the issue.
Your concern of better semen quality is valid. However one has to time sexual contact with ovulation. So if contact occurs at an interval of 4 days, the semen quality may be marginally better but it is more likely to miss ovulation and chances of pregnancy decline. So an alternate day regimen works best to catch the ovum.
I have already said that sperms for next three months are already formed and stored in the male genital system. The only issue is that some may have to travel a bit to reach the storage oragand and also the nutrients needed for them in the ejaculate need to be produced. Most of the time a delay of a day is enough to do this. So I do not feel there is a lot of need to worry.
Hoep this helps.
All my good wishes are with you.
Dr Madhuri
Note: Revert back with your gynae reports to get a clear medical analysis by our expert Gynecologic Oncologist. Click here.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
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