5 ms·

Immersing the testicles in 116 F water for 45 minutes a day for three weeks is significantly cheaper, and gives an undetectable sperm count for 6 months. It's h

Immersing the testicles in 116 F water for 45 minutes a day for three weeks is significantly cheaper, and gives an undetectable sperm count for 6 months. It's honestly likely the best avenue for male birth control, the only problem is that it's impossible for a corporation to monetize so it's unlikely to get any sort of traction.

untog 7y ago
Something that involves 45 minutes of your time every day for three weeks, every six months... I don’t know if I would describe that as “the best avenue”. It’s not as if it’s something I can do while sat as my desk at work.
- analognoise 7y ago
  You need more accommodating coworkers. If you can't take your testicles out and dip them into nearly-scalding water at your desk in the open-plan office, you need to do some trust falls at the next morale event.
  - untog 7y ago
    "How dare you disrespect my reproductive autonomy!"
- fsiefken 7y ago
  you can work with an oculus go or quest and voice control if you keep your head above the water
- taneq 7y ago
  If that's the only reason you're taking a bath, then sure. If you enjoy a good soak every now and then anyway, though, it can be a nice side effect (or an unwanted one, depending on your goals).
  - glass_of_water 7y ago
    I think a 116F tub is above what most anyone could tolerate for 45 minutes.
- twic 7y ago
  So what you're saying is that there's a market for devices that would let you do it while sat at your desk at work?
  - twic 7y ago
    As foretold by prophecy: https://testicuzzi.com/ https://testicuzzi.com/
sdrothrock 7y ago
This blew my mind, because baths around 45-50 C (113-122 F) aren't uncommon at all in Japan, and bathing for a long time (relaxing, sleeping, reading, watching tv) every day is also not uncommon here... I wonder if that's been a factor leading to reduced birth rates in Japan. I don't have time to search a lot for this, but I did find one study that pointed at reduced sperm quality in young men: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3641477/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3641477/
- nosianu 7y ago
  > baths around 45-50 C How do you endure that? When I was still young and lived with my parents we had a thermometer in the bath tub. Anything over 40 °C was torture. I don't think I ever managed anything above 42°C.
  - ekianjo 7y ago
    You don't endure that because his claim is unsubstantiated.
  - viraptor 7y ago
    It seems to depend on a person. I was ok with over 40 C in winter in Iceland, but that involved moving between geo hot tubs and freezing air a few times - starting from 30C and going up. There was lots of warning signs around that pool though and not many people were happy to try. I'd be afraid to do it regularly though... felt interesting / nice, but also "this is extreme, maybe I shouldn't be doing this".
- ekianjo 7y ago
  > because baths around 45-50 C (113-122 F) aren't uncommon at all in Japan You are stretching it. Most hot onsen are above 40C but certainly not above 45 or close to 50. At 50 you feel like you are boiling. And even if the source is at 45 C you never sit right next to the source, a few meters away the temperature loses several degrees. ANd people in Japan don't go to onsen every single day either. At home the usual temperature is rather 40~41.
sideshowb 7y ago
I call bllcks I like my baths regular and hot. While I don't doubt this affects sperm count somehow, when we started trying for a child I didn't dial back the baths and we were pregnant in about 6 weeks.
- dgoldstein0 7y ago
  water starts feeling warm enough to swim comfortably around 80F and probably hot over ~90 (I've heard skin temp quoted around 93F, so warmer than that probably would start feeling hot). So your hot bath might be 100F, give or take a few degrees. Definitely not even 110 - that would feel extreme; hot tubs are typically 100-102 degrees, and max out at 104. In principle it's not a lot different than thinking about what would happen if you had a 100 degree fever vs 110 - 100 you'd feel only a little unwell, and 110... I'm not sure if that's even survivable for a few hours; usual concern is how your brain cells fair in such conditions. (Let's try not to find out through personal experience?). Of course, none of these numbers really matter if you just measure the temperature of your water, to get an idea what it actually is. But the difference between <104 and >110 is a pretty big one, in terms of how it'll affect you.
  - sideshowb 7y ago
    True I haven't measured them exactly but they're somewhere over 40 degrees and my other half finds them too hot to get into. I can't see anyone regularly immersing "themselves" in anything hotter.
    - MertsA 7y ago
      120 degrees fahrenheit is around what your hot water heater is probably set as. Run the tap all the way hot and see how long you can leave your hand in that and then imagine putting your genitals in that for 45 minutes every day for three weeks and then repeating that every 4 months to avoid a gap in efficacy. That's just a terrible idea for practical contraception.
  - mrep 7y ago
    116 is absolutely nuts. I went to some hot springs this summer in colorado and even there hottest tub topped out at 113 and while I was able to work my way up to that one, I was uncomfortable and left after 5 minutes. I cannot imagine trying to spend 45 minutes straight in a tub 3 degrees hotter!
jwilk 7y ago
For metric units users: 116 °F ≈ 47 °C
dillonmckay 7y ago
A hot tub is supposed to be max 104 F, and I shower at most at 110 F (get overheated fairly quickly), usually do 108 F. Not sure how I would even keep water at 116F that long... Sous vide?
- ThrustVectoring 7y ago
  Coffee mug warmer works, or just a large bucket for thermal mass
gruez 7y ago
Source?
- ThrustVectoring 7y ago
  http://www.puzzlepiece.org/bcontrol/voegeli1956.txt http://www.puzzlepiece.org/bcontrol/voegeli1956.txt
NateEag 7y ago
I researched that when my wife and I were about to get married. I no longer have the link, but I found a study saying that birth defect rates were higher in mouse offspring from fathers that experienced the treatment than in ones whose fathers did not. Not great evidence to go on, but I decided not to go that route.

untog 7y ago

Something that involves 45 minutes of your time every day for three weeks, every six months... I don’t know if I would describe that as “the best avenue”. It’s not as if it’s something I can do while sat as my desk at work.

analognoise 7y ago
You need more accommodating coworkers. If you can't take your testicles out and dip them into nearly-scalding water at your desk in the open-plan office, you need to do some trust falls at the next morale event.
- untog 7y ago
  "How dare you disrespect my reproductive autonomy!"
fsiefken 7y ago
you can work with an oculus go or quest and voice control if you keep your head above the water
taneq 7y ago
If that's the only reason you're taking a bath, then sure. If you enjoy a good soak every now and then anyway, though, it can be a nice side effect (or an unwanted one, depending on your goals).
- glass_of_water 7y ago
  I think a 116F tub is above what most anyone could tolerate for 45 minutes.
twic 7y ago
So what you're saying is that there's a market for devices that would let you do it while sat at your desk at work?
- twic 7y ago
  As foretold by prophecy: https://testicuzzi.com/ https://testicuzzi.com/

sdrothrock 7y ago

This blew my mind, because baths around 45-50 C (113-122 F) aren't uncommon at all in Japan, and bathing for a long time (relaxing, sleeping, reading, watching tv) every day is also not uncommon here... I wonder if that's been a factor leading to reduced birth rates in Japan. I don't have time to search a lot for this, but I did find one study that pointed at reduced sperm quality in young men: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3641477/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3641477/

nosianu 7y ago
> baths around 45-50 C How do you endure that? When I was still young and lived with my parents we had a thermometer in the bath tub. Anything over 40 °C was torture. I don't think I ever managed anything above 42°C.
- ekianjo 7y ago
  You don't endure that because his claim is unsubstantiated.
- viraptor 7y ago
  It seems to depend on a person. I was ok with over 40 C in winter in Iceland, but that involved moving between geo hot tubs and freezing air a few times - starting from 30C and going up. There was lots of warning signs around that pool though and not many people were happy to try. I'd be afraid to do it regularly though... felt interesting / nice, but also "this is extreme, maybe I shouldn't be doing this".
ekianjo 7y ago
> because baths around 45-50 C (113-122 F) aren't uncommon at all in Japan You are stretching it. Most hot onsen are above 40C but certainly not above 45 or close to 50. At 50 you feel like you are boiling. And even if the source is at 45 C you never sit right next to the source, a few meters away the temperature loses several degrees. ANd people in Japan don't go to onsen every single day either. At home the usual temperature is rather 40~41.

sideshowb 7y ago

I call bllcks I like my baths regular and hot. While I don't doubt this affects sperm count somehow, when we started trying for a child I didn't dial back the baths and we were pregnant in about 6 weeks.

dgoldstein0 7y ago
water starts feeling warm enough to swim comfortably around 80F and probably hot over ~90 (I've heard skin temp quoted around 93F, so warmer than that probably would start feeling hot). So your hot bath might be 100F, give or take a few degrees. Definitely not even 110 - that would feel extreme; hot tubs are typically 100-102 degrees, and max out at 104. In principle it's not a lot different than thinking about what would happen if you had a 100 degree fever vs 110 - 100 you'd feel only a little unwell, and 110... I'm not sure if that's even survivable for a few hours; usual concern is how your brain cells fair in such conditions. (Let's try not to find out through personal experience?). Of course, none of these numbers really matter if you just measure the temperature of your water, to get an idea what it actually is. But the difference between <104 and >110 is a pretty big one, in terms of how it'll affect you.
- sideshowb 7y ago
  True I haven't measured them exactly but they're somewhere over 40 degrees and my other half finds them too hot to get into. I can't see anyone regularly immersing "themselves" in anything hotter.
  - MertsA 7y ago
    120 degrees fahrenheit is around what your hot water heater is probably set as. Run the tap all the way hot and see how long you can leave your hand in that and then imagine putting your genitals in that for 45 minutes every day for three weeks and then repeating that every 4 months to avoid a gap in efficacy. That's just a terrible idea for practical contraception.
- mrep 7y ago
  116 is absolutely nuts. I went to some hot springs this summer in colorado and even there hottest tub topped out at 113 and while I was able to work my way up to that one, I was uncomfortable and left after 5 minutes. I cannot imagine trying to spend 45 minutes straight in a tub 3 degrees hotter!

jwilk 7y ago

For metric units users: 116 °F ≈ 47 °C

dillonmckay 7y ago

A hot tub is supposed to be max 104 F, and I shower at most at 110 F (get overheated fairly quickly), usually do 108 F. Not sure how I would even keep water at 116F that long... Sous vide?

ThrustVectoring 7y ago
Coffee mug warmer works, or just a large bucket for thermal mass

gruez 7y ago

Source?

ThrustVectoring 7y ago
http://www.puzzlepiece.org/bcontrol/voegeli1956.txt http://www.puzzlepiece.org/bcontrol/voegeli1956.txt

NateEag 7y ago

I researched that when my wife and I were about to get married. I no longer have the link, but I found a study saying that birth defect rates were higher in mouse offspring from fathers that experienced the treatment than in ones whose fathers did not. Not great evidence to go on, but I decided not to go that route.