Stay away from "couch potatoes": Prolonged sitting on soft chairs can affect male fertility.

Xiao Zhou is an IT worker whose daily job involves programming on a computer. Like other office workers, he spends his days sitting in the office, and after get off work, he takes a bus home and lies on the sofa, not wanting to do anything. Over time, he felt his sex life was becoming increasingly disharmonious. Worried, he went to the hospital for a consultation and learned that prolonged sitting while working on the sofa put pressure on his scrotum, causing his testicles to heat up and affecting his sexual function. The doctor also told him that if he didn't take care of himself, it could even affect his fertility!

Later, after following the doctor's advice, Xiao Zhou consciously stopped sitting on the sofa. He replaced his usual sofa with a chair in the corner that had been unused for a long time. Also, every now and then, he would take a break to get water or go to the restroom to stretch his arms and legs. Even if it was only for a few minutes each time, he didn't feel tired at the end of the day. After persisting for a while, his condition improved significantly.

Xiao Zhou's situation is quite representative; many professional men have encountered or are currently experiencing this problem. This is because when sitting on a soft sofa, the entire buttocks sink into it. At this time, the scrotum is surrounded and compressed by the sofa's filling and surface material. Prolonged compression can lead to poor venous return, obstructing blood vessels near the testicles. Severe congestion can cause varicocele, ultimately affecting male sexual function and fertility. In a normal sitting posture, the two ischial tuberosities of the buttocks serve as support points, allowing the scrotum to hang freely between the thighs, providing protection without compression.

A study by Japanese scientists found that men who engage in mental labor and spend long hours sitting in offices with little physical exercise are more likely to experience premature menopause. As recorded in the *Huangdi Neijing* (Yellow Emperor's Inner Classic), "Prolonged staring injures the blood, prolonged lying down injures the qi, prolonged sitting injures the flesh, prolonged standing injures the bones, and prolonged walking injures the tendons." This means that prolonged use of the eyes, lying down, sitting, standing, or walking can all negatively impact health. Prolonged sitting, in particular, can easily lead to a state of complacency and neglect.

Furthermore, for working men, prolonged sitting on a sofa can lead to varicose veins and other forms of sexual dysfunction. Moreover, prolonged sitting is detrimental to muscle and bone development, easily affecting internal organ function and harming overall health. It reduces the body's workload on the heart, leading to myocardial weakness, decreased cardiac function, and slowed blood circulation, thus increasing the risk of hypertension, coronary artery embolism, and other diseases. Prolonged sitting also easily causes vein dilation, leading to hemorrhoids, muscle stiffness, and lower back pain. Simultaneously, a sedentary lifestyle is a significant contributing factor to the high incidence of prostatitis among young and middle-aged men...

In short, just as the saying goes, "A tailor who takes up needle and thread works himself to the bone," if you don't want to be tied down by the sofa or get sick because of it, you need to learn some preventative measures.

1. Office workers should not sit on the sofa for more than 1 hour at a time. If they must sit for a long time, they should stand up and move around for a few minutes every half hour or so.

2. Exercise is the "engine" of men's health. Regularly engaging in activities such as walking, jogging, and gymnastics can play a preventative role.

3. Men should avoid working while sitting on a sofa. If they must sit, they should place a firm cushion on the sofa to improve the temperature of the scrotum and testicles, regulate blood circulation, and thus protect their sexual and reproductive functions.

4. When sitting on a sofa, adjust the height and depth of the sofa. Generally speaking, the height should be about the same as your knee height; as for the depth, it should be such that when you are sitting as far back as possible on the sofa, your knee joints are still outside the sofa surface.

In short, while sofas are certainly appealing, excessive indulgence can lead to a "gentle trap." Therefore, every professional man should start now to sit on sofas as little as possible, or not at all. Even when sitting on a sofa, one should be mindful and resolutely avoid becoming a complacent "sofa man."

Many men, whether at work or in meetings, consciously or unconsciously cross their legs, finding it comfortable and making it a common working posture. However, this is a very unhealthy habit, and habitually crossing one's legs can cause various discomforts and illnesses.

Firstly, when men work with their legs crossed for extended periods, the temperature of the inner thighs and genital area rises due to the tightness of the legs, leading to increased scrotal temperature and potentially impairing sperm production. Prolonged periods of this can even affect male reproductive health and cause infertility. Therefore, men who habitually cross their legs are advised to consciously control this habit, avoiding crossing them too tightly and ideally not exceeding 10 minutes at a time. If sweat appears on the inner thighs, the legs should be opened immediately, and the man should walk around in a well-ventilated area to dissipate heat.

Secondly, crossing your legs can easily lead to bone problems or muscle strain. This is because the pelvis and hip joints maintain the same posture for a long time, causing them to be compressed or stretched, resulting in deformation, pain, and soreness. Over time, this can lead to bone problems or muscle strain.