Fortunately for Americans’ collective skin health, the ubiquity of indoor tanning peaked in the early aughts. But while the genitals were often spared the indignity of being zapped by bright light in the name of melanin, a new practice called “testicle tanning” has entered the zeitgeist.
TV host Tucker Carlson went viral this spring when promoting testicle tanning---a form of red light therapy in which someone exposes their scrotum to infrared light to allegedly boost their testosterone levels---as a way to combat dwindling testosterone levels in America in his documentary The End of Men. (FWIW, he’s not the first; former Major League Baseball player Gabe Kapler touted testicle tanning as a solution to deficiencies in vitamin D---which can be associated with infertility and decreased sex drive---back in 2015.)
Testosterone levels have, in fact, been declining from 1999 to 2016, according to research published in the journal European Urology Focus. Some of that is natural; after a man turns 30, the amount of testosterone his body produces gradually drops by about one percent per year, according to The Cleveland Clinic%20throughout%20his%20life.). Other potential causes include increased obesity, diet, decreased physical activity, marijuana use, and environmental toxins. You can test your testosterone levels with Base to see if your levels are in the normal range.
Is “testicle tanning” a legitimate quick fix? Can blasting your balls with red light actually increase your testosterone levels? Here’s what you need to know about this wacky --- and controversial --- practice.
What exactly is red light therapy?
Red light therapy, which exposes your body to low levels of red or near-infrared light, isn’t new---it was actually used by NASA to grow plants in space back in the ’90s before scientists and researchers started exploring more medical applications.
What does growing plants have to do with human medicine? Well, the light used in red light therapy penetrates just below the skin’s surface (minus the heat or UV rays that come with natural light), and is thought to work by strengthening the mitochondria, AKA the “powerhouse” of your cells, where all energy is created, The Cleveland Clinic reports. With more powerful mitochondria, your cells can make more energy---and use that energy to function more efficiently.
As a noninvasive treatment with minimal side effects, there’s a ton of hype around red light therapy and its benefits. It’s most commonly used in beauty treatments to reduce wrinkles, scars, redness, and acne, or in exercise recovery to stimulate, heal, and regenerate damaged tissue. It was shown to improve acne, psoriasis, wound healing, and more in a 2018 review in The Journal of Clinical and Aesthetic Dermatology, and to increase sports performance in a 2016 review published in the Journal of Biophotonics. It can also be effective for treating pattern hair loss in both men and women, a 2020 review in Skin Apendage Disorders determined.
Still, “the full effectiveness of red light therapy has yet to be determined,” The Cleveland Clinic says. There just haven’t been enough studies to determine all the possible applications of red light therapy---including when it comes to your junk.
Does red light therapy work on your balls?
The premise behind testicle tanning is that exposing the scrotum to red light could boost testosterone levels. But…while the hormone testosterone is produced in the testicles (which are, in fact, located within the scrotum), how much testosterone the testicles produce is controlled by the hypothalamus and pituitary gland. Both of those, by the way, are located in your brain.
The one study testicle tanning advocates tend to promote is from 2016, and claims that “bright light increases testosterone levels and leads to greater sexual satisfaction in men with low sexual desire.” But there are a few big caveats here: Bright light (via a light box similar to those used to combat Seasonal Affective Disorder) is not the same as red light therapy. Also, this study involved just 38 men (a very small sample size), and it was not published in a peer-reviewed journal (the gold standard for scientific research). The study authors even wrote that they couldn’t “recommend this as a clinical treatment.”
To be super clear, “THERE IS NO DATA ON TESTICLE TANNING,” Ashley Winter, a board-certified urologist wrote on Twitter in response to the headlines Carlson’s claims generated. So maybe don’t zap your scrotum with any kind of light simply based on the recommendations of a TV talking head.
Are your testosterone levels low, though?
Just because “testicle tanning” isn’t legit doesn’t mean fears about your testosterone levels aren’t worth taking seriously. Low testosterone affects almost 40 percent of men aged 45 and older, according to The Cleveland Clinic.
Symptoms of low testosterone levels include a low sex drive, problems having an erection, a low sperm count. But low levels don’t just affect your sex drive. For instance, they can be the hidden culprit behind sleep problems (such as insomnia), a decrease in muscle size and strength, bone loss, an increase in body fat, depression, and trouble concentrating, reports the National Library of Medicine. Any one of those is worth getting checked out; two or more can be downright debilitating.
To check your testosterone levels, you’ll need a blood test---but you don’t need to go to a doctor to start addressing your concerns. Base’s Sex Drive Testing Plan includes a starter test (that can be done at home or at a Quest Diagnositics lab) that measures DHEA, a sex hormone that’s a precursor of testosterone and associated with a lot of anti-aging properties, and testosterone, which affects bone and muscle mass, how fat is stored, and the production of red blood cells..
There are natural ways to boost your testosterone
Exposing your testicles to red light therapy seems like an extreme (and misguided) way to boost testosterone---especially when there are so many easy lifestyle changes you can make to do that naturally. For starters, based on the results of your Sex Drive Testing Plan, Base will generate personalized nutrition, supplements, and lifestyle suggestions that can help you get testosterone levels back to normal.
But even while you’re waiting for those results, you can embrace healthier habits that are actually proven to have an effect on testosterone production. Any kind of exercise can help, but resistance training---like weight lifting---is the best type of exercise to boost testosterone in both the short- and long-term, according to older research published in the European Journal of Applied Physiology. Taking vitamin D (or getting enough via natural sunlight), which works as a natural testosterone booster, can help according to research published in the journal Hormone and Metabolic Research; so can zinc, another supplement that was shown to boost testosterone in a study published in Neuroendocrinology Letters.
One of the easiest things you can do, though, is get enough quality shuteye. Sleeping only five hours a night was linked to a 15 percent reduction in testosterone levels in a JAMA study. Testosterone levels are actually replenished during sleep, and tend to peak during the REM sleep cycle. To avoid disrupting that key sleep phase (which is when dreaming occurs), avoid things like caffeine, alcohol, and marijuana before bed.
Per usual, there’s no “quick fix” when it comes to improving your health, whether that means losing weight or boosting hormone levels. But starting with a blood test can help you answer any nagging questions you have---and figure out where you can start making changes that’ll last.
