While the quality of the sperm has been decreasing for several decades in developed countries, many causes are pointed out: pollution, endocrine disruptors, lifestyle … and even the cut of our underwear. Is the famous tight slip really guilty or is it a tenacious myth? Between received ideas and scientific data, True Medical takes stock of what science really says about the link between underwear and male fertility.
Male fertility: is the tight pantyy really to ban?
Forty-five years of silent alert. Since the 1980s, researchers have observed a disturbing phenomenon : In developed countries, spermatic concentration has halved.
Enough to feed all theories, from the most credible to the most eccentric. If endocrine pollutants and disruptors remain the usual suspects, other everyday elements such as hot baths, laptops posed on the knees … And the too adjusted briefs are regularly pointed out. But is this textile obsession scientifically justified?
It is to this question that Flore Cherry, a book, answers “The microscope in the panties“, Published by Alisio Sciences editions. According to him, tight underwear is not the absolute danger that one believes, especially for men in good health. She notably quotes Doctor Marc Galiano, Andrologist-Urologist in Paris and author of All about the sex of menpublished by Marabout editions.
What science really says about underwear and fertility
In 2018, an American study led by Lidia Mínguez-Alarcón and published in the journal Human Reproduction sowed doubt: by comparing different underwear cuts in men followed in a fertility center, the researchers noted an improvement of 25 % of the quality of the sperm in those who wore ample underwear. The information has largely circulated in the media, creating a climate of distrust of too tight briefs and boxers.
But caution remains in order. The study focused only on a population already affected by fertility disorders, which strongly limits its scope. And Doctor Galiano wishes to recall an essential point:
“A man without problem of fertility cannot become sterile because of a pants, a boxer or a underpants, even too tight.”
On a healthy population, the Andrologist goes even further:
“To choose between a underpants or a boxer, on a healthy population, I would recommend the boxer which offers good maintenance of the testicles during physical activities or on a daily basis. In the most extreme cases, it can slow spermatogenesis over a short duration, but we do not wear your boxer H24 and we can perfectly sleep.”
Beyond the cut, it is above all the material that should guide the choice: favor natural fibers such as cotton or organic matter. Doctor Galiano also alerts the effects of inexpensive fabrics, often full of irritating components:
“Above all, avoid dyes and cheap stuff on the Internet, 100 % in synthetic fiber. This increases the temperature and the risks of developing eczema, pruritus (itching) and a bad smell”
The real problem is not the panties but what we do with it
The debate around the tight Slip was sometimes confused with a little -known contraceptive method: the heating panties. Nothing to do with everyday boxers. This device uses body heat to go up the testicles in the abdomen, slowing down the production of sperm. A means of male contraception still marginal, but deemed reliable by certain professionals.
“When I recommend wearing a heated underwear for my patients, I must be very didactic. This contraceptive means requires medical consultation to eliminate contraindication or anatomical anomaly, and monitoring of the spermogram”explains Doctor Galiano.
Despite its potential, this technique is struggling to convince:
“The heated panties also suffers much of ignorance and distrust, in particular on the part of the medical profession because of the absence of marking this”.
For the majority of men, the real enemies of fertility are elsewhere: tobacco, alcohol, chronic stress, sedentary lifestyle, urban pollution … Textiles are not out of cause, but far from being at the top of the list.
A book that answers (really) to all the questions that we dare not ask
This article is extracted from the book All about the sex of men Doctor Marc Galiano, published in the collective work The sex from A to Zled by journalist Flore Cherry. The author brought together 40 scientific experts – researchers, doctors, journalists – to answer all the questions we ask ourselves, and especially those that we never dare ask. An instructive work, without taboo or jargon, to be published on May 16, 2025 at Alisio Sciences, 250 pages, € 19.90.