According to an Australian study, daily sex or ejaculating daily for seven days in a row helped improve men’s sperm quality by reducing the amount of DNA damage.

The study findings were presented June 30 to the 25th annual meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology in Amsterdam. In his report, titled "Keep the River Flowing" David Greening, MD, an obstetrician and gynecologist with sub specialist training in reproductive endocrinology and infertility at Sydney IVF in Wollongong, Australia said, "It seems safe to conclude that couples with relatively normal semen parameters should have sex daily for up to a week before the ovulation date."

Till now there was no specific data on whether or not men should abstain from sex for a few days before attempting to conceive with their partner, either spontaneously or via assisted reproduction. “All that we knew was that intercourse on the day of ovulation offered the highest chance of pregnancy, but we did not know what was the best advice for the period leading up to ovulation or egg retrieval for IVF. “I thought that frequent ejaculation might be a physiological mechanism to improve sperm DNA damage, while maintaining semen levels within the normal, fertile range,” said Dr. Greening. 

In the study Greening studied 118 men who had a history of infertility, recurrent miscarriage, or repeated in vitro fertilization (IVF) failure and DNA damage as indicated by a DNA Fragmentation Index (DFI) in more than 15% of their sperm from sperm samples.

The men were told to ejaculate daily for seven consecutive days, and no other treatment or lifestyle changes were suggested. On the seventh day the men’s sperm was re-assessed and it showed 81% of the men had a reduction in DNA sperm damage.

At the start when measured after three days’ abstinence levels of DNA damage ranged between 15% and 98% DFI, with an average 34% DFI. On the seventh day, Dr Greening found that 96 men (81%) had an average 12% decrease in their sperm DNA damage, while 22 men (19%) and an average increase in damage of nearly 10%. The average for the whole group dropped to 26% DFI. Frequent ejaculation was also linked to a slight increase in sperm motility (motion).

Greening said this could be as the sperm spent less time in the male reproductive system. The results of 19% of the men who showed an increase in the percentage of DNA damaged sperm could be due to a problem that was "not amenable" to the ejaculation strategy he tested.

Greening said, “Further research is required to see whether the improvement in these men’s sperm quality translates into better pregnancy rates, but other, previous studies have shown the relationship between sperm DNA damage and pregnancy rates.

“It seems safe to conclude that couples with relatively normal semen parameters should have sex daily for up to a week before the ovulation date. In the context of assisted reproduction, this simple treatment may assist in improving sperm quality and ultimately achieving a pregnancy. In addition, these results may mean that men play a greater role in infertility than previously suspected, and that ejaculatory frequency is important for improving sperm quality, especially as men age and during assisted reproduction cycles.”