Infertility may be a couples’ helplessness to conceive a baby despite trying. About one third of each couple having unprotected sexual activity faces this problem. When the matter lies with the male because of insufficiency in semen, it's referred to as male infertility. The probabilities of infertility affecting men are 33% whereas women are at almost 66% risk of affected by one.
In a healthy male and feminine couple, a human body ejaculates sperm during sexual activity during a female’s body that initiate to fertilization of egg (cell produced by woman body) and pregnancy. But this doesn't happen every time! There are certain environmental and health factors that highly affect sperm production. Let’s first explore the symptoms that indicates infertility in men.
Infertility Symptoms in Men
The most obvious symptom of barrenness is no pregnancy despite having unprotected sexual activity for over a year. As compared to men, the symptoms of infertility are easily noticeable in women like irregular menstrual cycle, heavy or light bleeding, weight gain or loss etc. But in man the symptoms are observed on paying close attention as they depend upon the cause. Below are a number of the common symptoms of an arid man as suggested by andrologists:
Erectile dysfunction may be a problem on its own for male reproductive system but it also can be an indicator of barrenness because men who are infertile may find it difficult to urge erection or maybe sustain it for long.
Unusual pain during sexual intercourse and variations within the amount of semen points towards problems in male reproductive system.
Low libido also can mean low levels of testosterone and hence are often an indicator of male infertility.
Any unusual inflammation or uneven mass in testicles should not be ignored because they also point towards something grave.
Hair growth pattern is additionally affected in an unproductive man as many patients report less than usual hair growth on face and other body parts to andrologists.
Any different changes within the appearance of testicles is additionally one symptom.
Men affected by respiratory infections frequently also can be unproductive.
A low sperm count (< 15million per milliliter) is additionally a red signal.
Having discussed the symptoms related to male infertility, allow us to have a glance at what are the causes that initiate thereto. A person should have a healthy semen with a minimum of 15 million sperms per milliliter so as to make his partner conceive. Also the sperms must be in good physical shape and energetic since the fertilization of the egg within the women’s body highly depends on the power of the sperm to maneuver and reach the fallopian tubes (women’s reproductive system). Hence if there's a problem with sperm production or the quality of sperms being produced, then conception is very impossible. Consistent with andrologists, there are certain medical reasons that are accountable for infertility disorder in men.
One source is infections that interfere with sperm production or sperm quality. These infections can cause inflammation of the testicles and henceforth cause blockage in sperm production. Although most of the infections are treatable but some can cause permanent testicle damage. As seen from the above statistic, idiopathic accounts for nearly 25% of all infertility disorders.
The leading reason behind infertility in men is basically a lump formation within the veins that carry semen from the testicles. The swelling might be because of irregulation of temperature within the testicles as that's very crucial not just for sperms but also for a male reproductive system’s anatomy. This condition leads to poor quality of sperms. It accounts for 37% of infertility disorder in men.
The 3rd leading explanation for male infertility is ailment in semen whereby the semen isn't healthy enough to permit sperms to survive and hence sperms either don't survive or don't seem to be of fine quality. It can be because of a number of factors like medicine side effects, diabetes, groin area injuries, substance abuse, alcohol, smoking etc.
Another reason is when the testicles cannot produce male hormone testosterone and sperm. It affects about 9% of infertile males.
In some males testicles do not descend from the abdomen into the scrotum during fetal development and hence it's one among the explanations of decreased fertility in men.
Obstruction can also cause infertility. It occurs when the tubes that carry sperm are blocked due to many causes like surgery, accident, infections or abnormal development.
There are often many other causes of unfruitfulness like genetic disorders, hormonal fluctuations, instabilities in chromosomes and certain drugs etc. Several times environmental factors like chemical and radiation exposure, overheating of testicles can also effect fertility in men. Emotional stress, tobacco smoking and chronic depression can also be one of the reasons of infertility.
When the Red light blinks?
A couple should consult a doctor if they experience any one or more of the above mentioned warning signs and are unable to bear children despite trying for more than a year. One can find best andrologists in Dubai (doctors that deal with male health especially male reproductive system and urological systems). An andrologist will run a few basic diagnostic tests on the patient to determine the cause of aridity in order to prescribe medications depending on the finding. The doctor will first inspect the testicles, penis and prostate physically to look for any unusual bulge and then take a small penis secretion and test it for infections. Followed by the culture will be a semen examination to determine the number and quality of sperm. A blood test is also done for determining hormone levels and any bacteria or virus in the system.
Male Infertility Diagnosis
On analyzing the semen, the healthcare provider will access fertility grounded on the semen volume produced, sperm count, size and shape and also the movement. The semen volume less than 2 milliliters, sperm count fewer than 15 million per milliliter and abnormal sperm size is suggestive of an underlying problem
Next follows the cures necessary to treat the condition based on the diagnosis. The encouraging part is that male infertility is curable provided that you're lucky enough to seek out a renowned andrologist and fortunately there are many expert andrologists in Dubai.
How can Male Infertility be cured?
A good news for all suffering from male infertility is that it can be cured. Yes you read it right! It can easily be treated by one or more of the following methods depending on the cause:
In case of an infection, antibiotics is recommended for treatment.
If a male suffers from discrepancy of hormones, then medicines treating such will be given.
For low sperm count, supplements are easily available that can increase not only the sperm count but also the sperm quality.
Some food items are also healthy for increasing the sperm count like oysters, dark chocolate, salmon, citrus fruits, almonds, walnuts and many more.
When the sperm is insufficient one other method is to accumulate sperm manually and place it in a women’s’ uterus that can lead up to fertilization.
Then there is the method of In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) when the sperm quantity is not increasing, whereby sperm and egg are fertilized in laboratory and then the fertilized egg is implanted in female’s uterus.
Hence the call to actions vary depending on the requirements of the patient but the key lies in choosing the best doctor for oneself. Lucky for the people living in United Arab Emirates that there are many good andrologists to choose from and excellent hospital care available. It is just about making the right choice.
There are certain measures that can also be taken to avoid male infertility like avoiding exposure to lethal chemicals and radiation, wearing loose clothing, quit smoking and alcohol consumption and avoiding- warm showers. Though these precautions does not guarantee that male infertility will not occur but at least they can prevent it to some extent.