Experts long believed that the health of sperm varies on the underwear men use and their positions as they sleep. A new study warns that tight underwear could potentially damage sperm and negatively affect reproduction. The study suggests that wearing loose underwear or boxer shorts during the day and sleeping naked at night could significantly boost reproductive success.

The researchers found that loose boxers and being naked at night reduce the risk of damaged DNA in the sperm by 25 per cent compared to men who commonly use tight briefs day and night. The result indicates that for the general male population attempting pregnancy, the type of underwear used during the day and to bed is linked with semen quality, the researchers say.

The researchers, from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Maryland and Stanford University, observed 500 men for about 12 months, monitoring their choices of underwear and its effect on the quality of their sperm.

Experts have earlier determined those men who tend to increase the temperature of their testicles, either by the heat exposure at work or wearing tight briefs, tend to have semen with poorer quality than those who wear loose underwear and experience cooler testicles, according to fertility expert Allan Pacey, a professor of andrology at the University of Sheffield.

In fact, the new study backs the findings of another research in 2012 that first suggests that men would benefit from sleeping naked at night in improving the chances of conception. Aside from switching underwear, the researchers suggest that using some looser pants could also promote benefits for men.

The current study has been presented at the annual meeting of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine in Baltimore.

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