Facts Related to Male Infertility: Symptoms, Diagnosis, and Treatment

Facts Related to Male Infertility: Symptoms, Diagnosis, and Treatment

Male infertility can be caused by numerous factors, including low sperm production, male functioning defects, and any blockage preventing sperm from traveling. This may give birth to multiple distresses and frustrations, but several male infertility treatments are available to cure it.

What is male infertility?

Male infertility concerns any health issue in a man that affects his reproductive system and creates obstacles in the chances of his female partner getting pregnant. Hence it affects both a man and his partner mentally and physically. Fortunately, there are treatments and procedures for male infertility that can increase the chances of conception to start a family.

What are the common symptoms of male infertility?

You may have possibilities of male infertility if your female partner has not become pregnant after you have tried to conceive for almost one year. This condition includes one year of unprotected intercourse. If your female partner has no fertility issues, you might have.

There may be no other signs of male infertility when a couple cannot conceive. There may be some common signs, such as genetic or inherited disorders, hormonal imbalances, dilation of veins around the testicles, or blockage of sperm. Some other symptoms of male infertility may include:

• Difficulty in ejaculation or low volume of fluid
• Reduced sexual desire
• Pain, swelling, or a lump in the testicle area
• Respiratory infection
• Gynecomastia or abnormal breast growth
• Lower sperm count

In normal conditions, men ejaculate around 15 million sperm per millimeter of semen; if it is lesser, this may result in some issues that affect male fertility.

What are the possible causes of Male infertility?

Making healthy and mature sperm that travels to the partner’s egg to fertilize depends n many conditions. Many reasons, including health issues and medical treatments, may cause infertility in males. These may stop cells from growing into sperm and keep sperm from reaching the egg. The leading causes of male infertility are

Medical causes that affect male fertility:

• Sperm Disorder: Oddly or not fully shaped sperm may leave you in big trouble. A lower count of sperm also tends to cause male fertility problems.
• Varicoceles: Swelling of the veins results in draining the testicle. This affects sperm quantity and quality.
• Infection: Some infections may inflame the testicles, which results in blockage of the passage of sperm. This also includes sexually transmitted infections and HIV.
• Retrograde Ejaculation: When semen enters the bladder during ejaculation, not the tip of the penis. This may result from diabetes, spinal injuries, and surgery of the bladder, prostate, or urethra.
• Tumors: Cancer or serious tumors can directly affect the male reproductive system. Chemotherapies or surgeries to treat cancer can affect male infertility.
• Hormone Imbalances: Abnormal hormones that affect the reproductive system or hypothalamus, pituitary, thyroid, and adrenal glands.
• Chromosome Defects: Klinefelter's syndrome, in which a male is born with two X chromosomes and one Y chromosome, results in abnormal reproductive system development.
• Sexual Intercourse issues: Intercourse issues include various factors like premature ejaculation, painful intercourse, or psychological and relationship imbalance that interfere with sex.
• Celiac Disease: Gluten digestive disorder may affect male fertility, but that may improve if you shift to a gluten-free diet.
• Puberty disorder:Early or late puberty in men can also impact their reproductive system and may lead to infertility.

Environmental causes that affect Male Fertility:

• Industrial chemicals: Exposure to certain chemicals, painting material, and organic solvents may cause low sperm counts.
• Radiation or X-rays: Low radiation may temporarily affect the reproductive system, but the high effect may leave you with permanent fertility problems.
• Overheating the testicles: Temperature may affect your sperm count temporarily where some causes may be considered to frequent use of saunas or hot tubs.

Lifestyle causes that affect male fertility:

• Use of Steroids: Consumption of steroids to stimulate muscle strength and growth can cause the testicles to shrink.
• Over-consumption of Alcohol: Drinking alcohol may lower testosterone levels and decrease sperm production.
• Weight: Being overweight or obese may leave you with some serious male reproductive system issues.

What are the ways to diagnose male infertility?

Being the best male infertility treatment provider, we thoroughly review your health history and perform a series of diagnostic tests to know the factors to cause male infertility. Some tests may include-

• Semen Analysis: We check your semen quality and sperm count based on different parameters. Some may be highlighted as how much semen you make, to check the acidic nature and behavior of semen, how regular is the sperm count, etc. Our examining team will critically observe the sperm's behavior, shape, and function.
• Blood Tests: We perform several tests to check hormone levels and examine for hormonal imbalance.
• Ultrasounds: Our specialists will perform an ultrasound to critically observe your blood vessels, testicles, and inside structures for any functional issues.
• Testicular Biopsy: If the results of semen analysis indicate that you have a low sperm count or no sperm, then our professional urologists may remove a small piece of tissue from each testicle.

How to prevent male infertility?

Male infertility is not always preventable, but your healthcare provider may suggest you make some lifestyle changes to lower your risks of male infertility. Like-

• Saying no to smoking
• Limiting or avoiding alcohol consumption
• Stopping taking illicit drugs
• Maintaining a healthy weight
• Avoiding prolonged heating of testicles
• Reducing stress

If lifestyle changes don’t result in positive results, you need to visit male infertility specialists for treatments at the right time.

What are the most effective treatments for male infertility?

Treatments of male infertility differ as per the causes. No treatments can improve the quality of sperm, but many treatments may increase sperm count, and hormonal treatments balance your hormone. You may require some surgical procedures in major cases. The couple may require assisted reproductive technologies(ART). Some may be referred to as

• Artificial insemination: Our experts will collect your semen, wash and concentrate healthy sperm then put them at the entrance of the cervix or into the partner’s uterus. So that the sperm can travel to the fallopian tube to fertilize the egg.
• Hormonal therapy to cure male infertility: Gonadotropins are responsible for stimulating testicles to produce sperm. If gonadotropins are not in enough quantity, then males may tend to have infertility issues. Hence taking these hormones as medication may boost your sperm production.
• Surgery performed to treat male infertility: The blockage of testicles may remove with the help of a biopsy, and tubes can be repaired. If this surgery doesn’t work, the fertility experts may perform another surgery called percutaneous epididymal sperm aspiration (PESA). In this procedure, a slender needle is inserted into the epididymis under local anesthetic to remove the sperm. These sperms are either used immediately for ICSI or frozen to use later.
• In Vitro Fertilisation for male infertility: This procedure is performed outside the human body. Sperms from man are collected and placed in a special incubator. With the help of ovulation induction, the female partner’s eggs are collected and mixed with the sperm. After fertilization, the embryo is now ready to transfer into the uterus.
• Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) for male infertility: This treatment can treat severe male infertility cases. Where our fertility expert will inject a single sperm into an egg, fertilization is then critically observed under the microscope, and later the embryo is transferred to your partner’s uterus.

How common is male infertility, and when to see a fertility specialist?

Infertility is a common male problem due to the heavily stressful or sedentary lifestyle or genetic issues. As per the research conducted by Mayoclinic, nearly 1 in 7 couples face infertility, and in up to half of these couples, male infertility plays a partial role. So male infertility is not rare anymore, and with the available treatment options, fertility issues can be diagnosed on time and successfully solved.

A male should visit a fertility clinic if he continuously fails to get pregnant with her partner or face ejaculation issues that lead to serious mental and physical trauma. If you feel a low sex drive or suffer from sexual problems that induce pain or discomfort, and if your partner is over 35, you should consult a fertility specialist.

Male infertility care at Juhi Fertility Clinic

Our highly experienced infertility specialists at Juhi Fertility Clinic understand that it is not easy for everyone to discuss their infertility issues openly. Hence our personalized conversations and care will leave you in no doubt from the very first appointment.

Our male fertility team excels in treating difficult infertility cases and successfully treated them with positive results that led the couple to start their happy family. Different treatments and expert procedures are performed after making you fully comfortable in the clinic.

You will never feel like you are being questioned, but the trained staff and members at Juhi Fertility Clinic will listen to your issues and come up with the best solutions. If you have any questions remaining in your mind to get answered, just give us a call, and we will connect with you in no time to solve your concerns.