Hello Finns,
I am asking this because I have nowhere else to go. Frequent sauna use weekly is uncommon in most of the world so I have no precedence for this.
Recently, I have began going to the sauna 4-5 times a week for 20-40 minutes a day at about 85 C. Since I am only 20, and most of the people I notice in the sauna (I am American) are quite older.
I am worried if frequent sauna use at my age can have lasting impacts on my sperm count/motility later in life.
[The study here](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23411620/) and [here](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdfdirect/10.1046/j.1365-2605.1998.00138.x) indicate that even a one time use can lead to a reduction that takes 3 months to regenerate. Other cohort studies have found similar results.
Please give me any perspective/thoughts you may have on this—perhaps I may need to carry an ice pack for my groin area. The idea of lasting damage is rather worrying, but I understand you folk have been rather fertile… so i may have nothing to fret over.
Thank you greatly
18 comments
I wouldn’t worry about that too much. Has likely similar “real life effect” like heated seats in your car etc.
There wouldn’t be people left in Finland if that was the case.
Ohh defenitely yes! We as finns just breed by witchcraft. Baby bears are sacrificed and fed our blood to make a baby. We can have safe sex everyday, because sauna has ruined our genitals, i mean we do not have genitals they just fell off like 400 years ago.
You should get out before they are fully cooked. I personally like it soft boiled with runny yolk. Yum 🤤
Sperm. There’s plenty more where that came from.
Yes, that’s actually why we have an aging population. Young men these days just sit in the sauna destroying their little swimmers. I personally have had to go get my boyfriends abroad for this very reason.
Buddy, microplastics are doing way worse things to your sperm count, I’d be looking into that way before having hot balls
Fertility is down globally, and mens sperm has deteriorated globally. AFAIK there’s no specific indication that Finns have worse quality sperm than people from any other country.
I would also argue that sauna use has declined over the decades, as now most Finns clean themselves in a shower daily rather than taking a Sauna.
I’ve seen those studies too, but if sauna was detrimental to sperm count you should definitely see it’s effects on a national level.
There is an effect on your swimmers but I truly doubt you would have issues with fertility just because of sauna. If you have to go to a fertility clinic, they recommend avoiding sauna while you try to conceive. They also recommend you to stop drinking alcohol, eating clean and physical activity (but no super hard).
my PP works ok even after a fairly excessive sauna use in the last 5 years or so.
Do what all of us do. Sit on the sauna and pour cold water on your balls every 15 mins. Your balls will shrink and withdraw inside your body and the heat from your body will protect them.
Jump naked in the snow for cancel effect.
Helps if you learn our ninja skills, suck em balls inside our body.
Also, cold makes pp small but only for a moment.
Sauna does not affect on sperm or breeding stuff
Why do you think there are only 5.5 million Finn’s? Hot balls making it harder to reproduce
I know what you mean, luckily I have children and I am old now, but I used to fall to sleep in saunas and steam rooms for hours, I lost many kilograms of water and had a big headache when I woke up 4 hours later – You put all that weight back on when you hydrate. I used to be in saunas with Jockeys when they were losing all their weight for horse racing – They used to wear bin bags to make it work better losing sweat weight. There are many affects on your body by long exposure in a Sauna – But you only die once and you have to die of something.
now I ensure I only fall to sleep 1 or 2 hours before the sauna closes so someone is there to turn it off and kick me out, I then have a long cold swim because my body will radiate heat for ~ 8 hours afterwards otherwise.
You really have nothing to worry about.
So rude answers for an honest doubt.
Yes, son, high temperatures can affect your sperm count, but won’t leave you never sterile. If you want to have a baby, I recommend to not going to sauna for 3 months, so your sperm count stays high, of course also you need to eat well and rest well not be stressed etc.
There are people, especially in the older generations, who bathe sauna atleast once a day, sometimes even twice.
A few decades ago it wasnt uncommon for people to even be born in saunas (saunas are quite sterile of bacteria).
Yet we are not extinct yet, and as far as I know we arent more infertile than anyone else.
I have never heard of it affecting your swimmers. That may be true, but not to the extent that you or anyone else but a microscope would notice.
Your body is very good at telling you its limits through pain. Your testicles automatically regulate their temperatures by how they hang and through blood circulation and sweat.
During your sauna session, your body (and therewith blood-) temperature will be virtually unchanged. Really, 30 minutes in 80C, which i as a finn couldnt manage, only raises your core temperature by less than 1C, your skin by about 3C.
Listen to your body and you will be fine. Sauna is supposed to sting a little bit every now and then, but else it should feel good. If you feel good, and you arent holding a syringe, then whatever you are doing is most likely not hurting your body. Nature gave you the ability to feel pleasure and pain for a reason.