We guys are a simple group. It’s probably why we hold onto many habits for a lifetime. One of the biggest, yet most debated, is our choice of underwear.
Whether it’s boxers or “tighty whities” (briefs), we tend to go with what is the most comfortable and stick with it. Some of us have underwear older than the current White House regime.
(Yes, ladies reading this, we know Ick. For the record, some experts say you should have a monthly purge, discarding underwear that has holes or is faded, and replacing them with new ones. Good luck convincing your man.)
Our choice of underpants may have greater ramifications, though.
Briefs, likely a habitual holdover from younger days, have the benefit of offering more support while the boxers you may have adopted during your college days allow for more freedom. But if you’re trying to start a family, doctors suggest you put more thought into your choice of skivvies.
Your briefs may be more comfortable, but they may also be keeping you from becoming a father, endocrinologists advise. It’s not the tightness of briefs, though, it’s the temperature. Briefs hold your testes close to your body. Unfortunately, for normal sperm production, your testes should ideally be a few degrees lower than your body temperature. That’s why they’re located outside the body.
Higher temperatures “even just a few degrees” lead to lower sperm count. According to the National Institutes of Health, in around half of couples struggling to conceive, poor sperm counts are the culprit.
A tip, though: If you’re making a switch from briefs for fertility reasons, be patient. It takes up to three months for healthy sperm to produce, so the results won’t be immediate.
Boxers are the best option for fellas worrying about their “fellas,” and are more comfortable for some. Their lack of support bothers others, so that’s when hybrid boxer briefs came into play.
The vast majority of today’s underwear market belongs to boxer briefs, which lay claim to around 40 percent of men’s underwear sales, according to industry experts. Popularized since the early 1990s, they’ve largely ended the great boxer-brief debate. (Boxers, which debuted in the 1920s, gained huge popularity after World War II, while briefs had been around since 1935. The two battled for skinny supremacy until the fashion world struck back with Calvin Klein’s ads featuring stars like rapper Marky Mark.)
Boxer briefs are stylish and offer support, but as fertility doctors point out, they suffer the same heating problem as the simple “y-front” jockey shorts Arthur Kneibler first introduced 80 years ago and can be a big problem as far as fertility goes
Of course, there is another solution for guys: “going commando,” or not wearing underwear at all.
For most guys and most of the time, it’s just not right for many reasons including hygiene. (And it’s certainly not a good idea for a night out on the town dancing or other sweaty activities, doctors say.)
The bottom line, docs say, is to wear what’s comfortable for you. If you are trying to start a family, though, consult your doctor and get advice on the contents of your underwear drawer.
