Is Going Commando Actually Healthy for Men?

Skipping underwear can offer genuine benefits for some men, particularly when it comes to groin temperature, moisture control, and skin irritation. But the picture is not a simple “commando good, underwear bad” situation. Whether ditching your boxers or briefs helps or hurts depends on what you are doing, what health concerns apply to you, and what you are wearing over them. The research that exists touches on fertility, fungal infections, chronic pain, and skin reactions, and the answers point in different directions depending on the context.

Scrotal Temperature and Sperm Quality

The strongest case for going commando, or at least switching to looser underwear, involves scrotal temperature and its effect on sperm production. The testes sit outside the body for a reason: they need to stay slightly cooler than core body temperature for healthy sperm development. Anything that pushes scrotal temperature up, even modestly, can impair that process. Controlled measurements have shown that tight-fitting undergarments raise scrotal temperature by roughly 1°C, and more extreme conditions where the testes are held close to the body can push that increase to 1–2°C.

A study of 656 men attending a fertility center found that those who primarily wore boxers had about 25% higher sperm concentration and 17% higher total sperm count compared to men who did not wear boxers. The boxer-wearing group also had lower levels of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), a hormone the body ramps up when it detects that sperm production is lagging. The researchers interpreted this as evidence that tighter underwear styles may impair sperm production, triggering a compensatory hormonal response as the body tries to keep up.

That said, there is an important distinction between semen parameters measured in a lab and actual pregnancy outcomes. Observational studies have described modest differences in semen parameters between men wearing briefs and those wearing boxers, but prospective data have not demonstrated differences in pregnancy outcomes.

For men who are actively trying to conceive or dealing with borderline fertility, going commando or switching to loose-fitting boxers is a low-cost, low-risk change that aligns with the temperature evidence. For men who are not concerned about fertility, the sperm quality argument is largely irrelevant to their daily comfort and health decisions.

Fungal Infections and the Moisture Problem

Jock itch (tinea cruris) is a fungal infection that thrives in warm, moist skin folds, and the groin is its favorite neighborhood. Tight-fitting clothing is a recognized predisposing factor, alongside high humidity, obesity, summer heat, and corticosteroid use.

The logic for going commando here is straightforward: less fabric pressed against the skin means better airflow and less trapped moisture. If you are prone to jock itch or have dealt with recurrent groin fungal infections, wearing nothing underneath loose-fitting pants allows the area to stay drier. This is especially relevant in hot weather or during activities that produce heavy sweating.

But the flip side matters too. Underwear made from moisture-wicking synthetic blends or natural fibers like cotton can actually help by absorbing sweat before it pools against the skin. Going commando under tight jeans or non-breathable trousers might not improve the moisture situation at all, since the outer fabric now sits directly against the skin without any absorbent buffer. The benefit of skipping underwear depends entirely on what your outer layer is doing. Loose linen pants with no underwear? Probably the best airflow you can get. Skinny jeans with no underwear? You have just replaced one tight layer with another.

When You Should Probably Keep Your Underwear On

There are scenarios where underwear actively helps, and going commando could make things worse. Men who experience chronic scrotal pain, a condition that affects a meaningful number of men and can stem from varicoceles, prior surgery, or inflammation, often benefit from snug-fitting underwear or scrotal support. Treatment guidelines for chronic scrotal content pain syndrome list the use of tighter-fitting underwear and scrotal support as first-line lifestyle modifications alongside ice, compression, and avoiding pain-triggering activities.

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The principle is mechanical: when the testicles and spermatic cord are dealing with swelling, enlarged veins, or inflammation, unsupported movement through the day adds to the discomfort. Going commando in this situation can increase the pulling, bouncing, and gravitational stress that makes the pain worse. If your doctor has ever told you to wear supportive underwear, that advice outranks the general airflow argument.

Similarly, during exercise and physical activity, going without underwear increases the risk of chafing and mechanical irritation. The inner thighs, the crease where the leg meets the groin, and the perineal area are all susceptible to friction-related skin damage when bare skin rubs against fabric for extended periods. Athletic underwear with flat seams and moisture-wicking material exists specifically to solve this problem. Runners and cyclists who skip underwear under athletic shorts sometimes learn this the hard way during longer sessions.

The Chafing Trade-Off

One of the underappreciated realities of going commando is that underwear does not only cause friction. It also prevents it. The seams, zippers, and coarser fabrics of many trousers can be more abrasive to skin than a well-fitted pair of boxers or briefs. Denim in particular is a rough fabric that most men would not choose to rub directly against sensitive skin for eight hours.

The men who report that going commando feels more comfortable are usually wearing loose-fitting pants made of softer materials, like joggers, linen trousers, or athletic shorts with built-in liners. In those cases, you get the airflow benefit without much friction cost. The men who report irritation from going commando are often wearing structured trousers with inseam stitching, belt hardware, or zip flies that sit directly against skin that used to have a buffer layer.

If you want to try going commando, what you wear over nothing matters more than the decision to skip underwear. Soft, loose fabrics with flat seams make it work. Stiff or structured pants with prominent stitching make it a problem.

Allergic Reactions to Underwear Materials

Some men discover they are better off without underwear not because of temperature or moisture, but because of skin reactions to the materials in their underwear. Elastic waistbands are a surprisingly common source of contact dermatitis. Research has documented cases where men developed allergic reactions not to the rubber in their underwear elastic, but to chemical changes that happened when the elastic was washed with chlorine bleach. In one investigation, six men who were allergic to their underwear elastic tested negative when exposed to new, unwashed elastic and its rubber components. But after the elastic was treated with sodium hypochlorite (household bleach), every sensitized subject developed an allergic response. The bleach had chemically altered a rubber accelerator in the elastic, producing a compound that triggered the reaction.

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This is the kind of irritation that can be baffling because new underwear feels fine, but after several washes it starts causing redness, itching, or a rash along the waistband. Men who experience recurrent waistband dermatitis and have tried switching brands without improvement might benefit from going commando, or at least switching to underwear with fabric waistbands rather than rubber-containing elastic. Switching laundry detergent to a bleach-free formula is another option worth trying before abandoning underwear entirely.

Beyond elastic, dyes, formaldehyde finishing agents, and fabric softener residues in synthetic underwear can all provoke contact dermatitis in sensitive individuals. If you have sensitive skin and are experiencing unexplained groin rashes, the underwear itself is worth investigating as a cause before concluding it is a fungal infection or hygiene issue.

Hygiene Without a Barrier Layer

One practical downside of going commando that rarely makes it into health discussions is the hygiene question. Underwear serves as a barrier layer that catches sweat, skin cells, residual urine, and fecal bacteria before they reach your outer clothing. Without that layer, your trousers absorb everything directly, and most people wash trousers far less frequently than they wash underwear.

The groin area is one of the main sites where the body generates bio-effluents, which are the volatile compounds that contribute to body odor. Sweat itself is mostly odorless, but skin bacteria metabolize it into volatile compounds that produce the characteristic smell associated with the groin. Urine residue adds to the picture.

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For older men dealing with post-micturition dribble, which is the involuntary loss of a small amount of urine after finishing at the toilet, going commando means that residual urine goes directly into the trousers. This is a common condition that affects a significant portion of men as they age, and absorbent underwear or textile products are a recognized management approach for it.

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If you go commando regularly, plan on washing your outer clothing more frequently, especially in warm weather. Dark-colored, washable fabrics that you are willing to launder after every wear are a better match for the commando lifestyle than dry-clean-only dress pants you hope to wear three times between cleanings.

Going Commando at Night

Sleeping without underwear is a different situation from going commando during the day, and it has fewer downsides. During sleep, you are not walking, sitting on shared surfaces, or generating heavy friction between your skin and clothing. The main consideration is temperature regulation, and sleeping in fewer layers generally helps the body cool down, which is associated with better sleep quality across a range of research.

From a fertility standpoint, sleeping without underwear is one of the easiest ways to give the scrotal area prolonged hours of unrestricted temperature regulation. Since sperm production happens continuously and is sensitive to cumulative heat exposure, the overnight hours offer a long stretch where removing a tight, insulating layer could make a meaningful difference. Men who wear briefs or boxer-briefs all day and then sleep in the same style are giving their testes very few hours of unimpeded cooling.

For skin health, nighttime is also when you are least likely to be sweating heavily (assuming reasonable room temperature), so the fungal infection and moisture concerns are lower. And without the friction of walking or the seams of trousers, chafing is a non-issue. If there is one context where going commando has the most benefit and the fewest drawbacks, sleeping is probably it.

What About Underwear Fabric Choices

For men who are not ready to go fully commando but want the health benefits associated with it, fabric and fit choices can split the difference. The research on scrotal temperature and sperm quality consistently distinguishes between tight and loose styles rather than between underwear and no underwear.

Boxers, by this evidence, get you most of the thermal benefit of going commando while still providing a barrier layer for hygiene and some protection against chafing.

Cotton breathes well and absorbs moisture, but it also holds that moisture against the skin once saturated, which is why cotton underwear in a long workout can feel soggy. Moisture-wicking synthetics like polyester blends or merino wool pull sweat away from the skin surface and dry faster, which can reduce the fungal-friendly environment in the groin. The tradeoff is that some synthetic fabrics hold onto odor more stubbornly than cotton does.

Fit matters at least as much as fabric. A well-fitted pair of boxers made from a breathable material offers airflow, light support, and a hygiene barrier all at once. An undersized pair of synthetic briefs does the opposite on every count. If your goal is groin health, the first step is not necessarily to throw out all your underwear. It might just be to throw out the wrong underwear.

The Fertility Question in Context

It is worth noting that the fertility angle, which dominates most health discussions of going commando, applies to a relatively small slice of men at any given time. The majority of men are not actively trying to conceive, and for those who are not, semen parameter differences between underwear types have no practical health consequence. Sperm concentration and total count are clinical measurements that matter in a fertility context but do not affect how you feel, your disease risk, or your general health.

Even within the fertility context, underwear choice is one variable among many. Diet, body weight, alcohol consumption, medications, environmental exposures, and underlying medical conditions all influence semen quality, often to a much larger degree than whether you wear boxers or briefs. A man eating well, sleeping well, and maintaining a healthy weight in briefs is likely in better reproductive shape than a man going commando while dealing with obesity and heavy drinking. Underwear choice is a reasonable optimization once the bigger variables are addressed, not a substitute for addressing them.

The cross-sectional data showing differences in sperm concentration by underwear type are also drawn from men already attending fertility clinics, a population that may not be representative of men in general.

The temperature-biology link is plausible and well-supported as a mechanism, but the jump from “tight underwear raises scrotal temperature by about a degree” to “going commando will meaningfully improve your chances of conceiving” involves more assumptions than the current evidence can fully confirm.

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PubMed Central. Garment fit, scrotal thermoregulation, and male fertility outcomes: a narrative review
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PubMed Central. Type of underwear worn and markers of testicular function among men attending a fertility center
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The Journal for Nurse Practitioners. Tinea cruris in men: bothersome but treatable
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PubMed Central. A simplified treatment algorithm for chronic scrotal content pain syndrome
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PubMed. Allergic contact dermatitis to underwear elastic. Chemically transformed by laundry bleach
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Building and Environment. Effect of airflow interaction in the breathing zone on exposure to bio-effluents
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Textile Research Journal. Efficacy of absorbent textiles in managing post-voiding dribble in older men: a systematic review