What Are The Common Infertility Causes For Men?

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Statistics show us that around 10% of all US couples have problems getting pregnant. In 30% of cases it is the man that has a fertility problem. 30% of cases show women fertility problems and the rest are made out of multiple factors or unexplained causes.

In the event you’ve been having unprotected sex for over one year and you cannot conceive, it is a really good idea to go to fertility doctor. That is because there is a pretty good chance that there is a problem. Fortunately, most can be treated.

When referring to men, the urologist can identify the fertility problems, recommend various treatment options and help the couple in deciding what is best for them.

Let’s go through the common infertility causes so that you know what you may be faced with. Information is really important for all men that cannot have a baby.

Lifestyle Factors

You need to make healthy lifestyle choices in order to improve fertility. The risks that are associated with infertility include:

• drug use
• smoking
• drinking too much alcohol
• anabolic steroids use
• certain medications
• having a really poor nutrition
• going through cancer treatment
• being too under- or overweight
• being exposed to toxins like lead or pesticides

Ejaculatory Duct Blockage

Some men are faced with this condition that will prevent the sperm from reaching ejaculation fluid. When the tubes are damaged or blocked, sperm cannot reach the egg of the partner. Such blockage can appear because of congenital defects, injury, having a vasectomy done or infection. The problem is that no symptoms can be analyzed because none are visible.

Repairing such blockage is usually done through surgery. A doctor would reverse a vasectomy or would repair the obstruction. In other situations sperm is removed in order to use in vitro fertilization techniques.

Varicocele

This basically means having enlarged veins in the scrotum. It is similar to varicose veins. Testes temperature is raised and sperm production is affected. Potential symptoms of this include scrotal pain but there are many cases in which no symptoms are noticed. The possible solutions include artificial insemination and surgery.

Having Irregular Sperm

Some men have problems because they do not have much sperm, have no sperm, their sperm shows poor motility or abnormal speed or the sperm cannot fertilize an egg. Once again, no symptoms appear. The good news is that solutions exist, including artificial insemination (donor sperm is used), fertility drugs and ICSI (intracytoplasmic sperm injection).

Anti-Sperm Antibodies

The body can actually naturally develop antibodies that can kill sperm. This can happen after testicular torsion, trauma, infection or vasectomies. The doctor will usually recommend artificial insemination, ART (assisted reproductive technology), steroid drugs or ICSI.

Unexplained Problems

This is the diagnosis that you do not really want to have. When the doctor says “unexpected fertility”, the cause is not identified. In this case ART procedures are usually chosen and fertility drugs are taken at the same time.

Conclusions

These are the most common fertility problems for men at the moment but it is the doctor who need to tell you what your case is. As you can see, symptoms rarely exist so you have to go through the tests.