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Everyone’s heard of brewer’s droop (though few men admit to having experienced it). But the long-term effects of alcohol on your sexual organs are less well known – and much more serious.

Take testicular atrophy for example which is common among people who become dependent on alcohol, and for want of a better expression, is a condition that shrinks your balls.

A shrinking problem

Shrinking testicles can make you impotent, sterile and can even lead to something called feminisation. Effects include losing your facial and body hair and starting to grow breasts – not very manly.

Before you start furtively checking your cup size, it’s worth pointing out that this is an extreme condition. You won’t develop testicular atrophy if you drink at sensible levels.

Three-quarters of alcohol dependent people with liver disease have testicular atrophy. Among the alcohol dependent who haven’t yet got serious liver damage, around half have low sperm counts or poor sperm quality.

Ball control

You don’t need to be dependent on alcohol for it to affect your sexual performance and fertility. Alcohol reduces the amount of testosterone your body produces. This lowers your libido and your sperm count.

Alcohol is also directly toxic to your testes, and can stop you producing healthy sperm.

The short-term effects of alcohol can also have embarrassing results in the bedroom. Because it’s a depressant, alcohol lowers your inhibitions and your sexual performance.

Soft goals

If you’re hogging the TV or disappearing to the pub every night to watch the football, you owe your partner a good time. Make sure you’re fit to put in a star performance by alternating your alcoholic drinks with, er, soft ones.

And to avoid long-term damage to your sexual functioning and fertility, keep within the recommended daily guidelines.

The guidelines recommend that that men should not regularly exceed 3-4 units daily and that women should not regularly exceed 2-3 units daily. A large glass of wine or a pint of strong beer are both 3 units. To find out how many units are in your favourite drinks – try our online unit calculator.

 

Drinkaware advises men not to regularly drink more than 3–4 units of alcohol a day.