Infertility in men is about as common as infertility in women. Infertility is described as the inability to conceive after about one year of sexual intercourse without the use of contraceptives. If age is a factor, then you may want to consult a doctor or infertility specialist after about six months of trying, as fertility decreases with age. Some causes for infertility can be harder to treat the longer they are left without intervention, so don’t hesitate to seek advice early if you suspect that infertility may be a factor for you.

Many things can cause infertility in men. Illness, disease, injury, obstruction in the tubes of the testes, diet, weight and activity levels are only some of the causes of male infertility. Common causes of infertility are low sperm count, dysfunctional or immobile sperm, and impaired sperm delivery. Men can be born with some of these conditions, or they can develop them later in life.

When determining the cause of infertility in a couple, the man and woman should be examined. The procedures for examining male infertility are generally simple and non-invasive. Your doctor will check for sperm production, irregularities in the testes, and hormonal imbalances among other possible causes. A semen analysis will tell if the ejaculate has adequate seminal fluid to allow for sperm movement. The sperm will be checked for number of sperm, the shape and structure of the sperm, mobility, seminal fluid and total volume or amount of ejaculate.

If there is no sperm present in the seminal fluid, then it is termed azoospermia. This can be caused by a malformation in the testes or a possible obstruction in one of the ducts necessary to deliver the sperm effectively into the ejaculate. If sperm is present in the fluid, then it will be tested for abnormalities. If a significant number of sperm are abnormal, then they can be a cause for infertility. Your infertility specialist may wish to perform a sperm-mucus interaction test. This test will determine if the sperm are able to live within and move through cervical mucus and thus, through the female reproductive system.

Your doctor may also wish to conduct a sperm penetration assay. This will determine your sperm’s ability to latch on and penetrate an egg’s outer layer. Infection, disease and illness will be looked for. These things can affect your testosterone and sperm production.

About half of all male infertility cases can be treated through assisted reproduction. Your infertility specialist will determine which treatments will be best for you depending on your situation. If there is a neurological reason that ejaculate can not be obtained, such as spinal cord injury, then you may be a candidate for electroejaculation. This process stimulates the body to excrete semen. If an obstruction, injury or deformity is present, then a surgeon can sometimes retrieve sperm surgically from the sperm duct. Sometimes this procedure can be conducted with a needle and surgery isn’t required. Sperm washing refers to the method that mixes sperm with a washing medium, and concentrates the healthiest sperm into an inert buffered fluid that can be used for intrauterine insemination, increasing your chances of conception.

Talk with your doctor and infertility specialist about possible causes and treatments of male infertility. Remember that about half of all infertile men can be treated and conception can be possible for you.



Thanks to Dr. Eric Daiter for contributing this article to our Infertility blog:

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Acupuncture is part of the oriental medicine healing system that has been in practice for over 2000 years. Developed in the Chinese, the practice of acupuncture is based on the belief that a interference in the energy flow in the body can cause energy imbalances, which is considered to be the root cause of most of the ailments suffered by human beings. These blockages can be cleared and the energy flow of the body can be stimulated by the insertion of tiny needles into specific acupoints of the body. There are over 2000 different acupuncture insertion points on the human body and the disease determines which insertion points should be used. Acupuncture is now used all over the world to treat a variety of conditions, such as bronchitis, gingivitis, sinusitis, myopia, infertility and Meniere’s disease.

How Does Acupuncture Help Infertility?

The use of acupuncture to cure infertility is a comparatively new concept for western countries. The theory behind acupuncture for infertility is that acupuncture will increase the amount of blood flow to the sexual organs and readjust the hormones present in the body. This practice is confirmed to be effective by increasing ovarian effectiveness in women and assisting in sperm creation for men.

Using acupuncture for infertility treatment is most commonly used when a couple is having functional issues, such as infrequent ovulation or erectile dysfunction. In some scenarios, acupuncture is used as additional procedure for in vitro fertilization, helping women to relax their uteruses during the embryo transfer process. A study conducted in 2002 by German researchers found that acupuncture increased the success rate of in vitro fertilization by up to 16% and reduced the amount of miscarriages in women receiving in vitro fertilization by 12%.

What’s It Like To Go Through an Acupuncture Treatment?

Acupuncture is a rather painless procedure and side effects are very uncommon. The most common negative events reported include the transmission of infectious agents, minor bleeding at the insertion point and needles broken beneath the skin. These risks will be greatly reduced if the acupuncturist is a licensed and accomplished professional that has gone through the required 2000 to 3000 hours of training and has passed the required board exam.

Acupuncture for infertility treatment can be a long-winded process. On average, acupuncture therapy requires 12 individual sessions, each about an hour in length and occurring weekly. During this hour long appointment, a physical test will be given and any complications or issues that have arisen since the last appointment will be discussed.

Using acupuncture to treat infertility is quickly gaining acceptance in the USA. Although whether the procedure is useful is intensely argued among researchers, the fact of the matter is that it seems to work and it certainly doesn’t hurt to try. For couples who have been trying to conceive a child without success, using acupuncture therapy to aid in infertility treatment may give them the breakthrough they need to finally have a baby.



Thanks to Natalie Williams for contributing this article to our Infertility blog:

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Can you answer Victoria’s question about Infertility?:

Ok, well we have been trying to conceived since last september. We were lucky and on our first try we got pregnant I was 5 weeks along in October and had a miscarriage. Since then we have continued to try and haven’t been successful thus far. Is it possible to be infertile after a miscarriage? Check up with doctor suggested everything was fine, just this whole process is so frustrating. Also my husband is a little overweight could thing hinder his ability to produce good quality sperm? Also is our foreplay before hand (with saliva) killing the sperm? Are there any herbs or anything natural that might help the process along? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Male Infertility Testing

Approximately two thirds of all couples that seek help for infertility are able to have a baby at some point in time. In an estimated 80 to 85 percent of cases, infertility is treated by way of surgery or drugs, but other methods are available.

Infertility can be treated in a variety of ways. Conventional medicine, surgery, assisted reproductive technology (ART) or artificial inseminations are all valid and current methods for treating infertility. Sometimes one treatment will be tried and if it does not prove successful, another will be attempted. In other cases, more than one treatment is combined for optimum results.

A doctor decides on what treatment to use based on a number of different factors which include the results of diagnostic tests, the length of time which a couple has been attempting to conceive, the age of both partners, the overall general health of both partners, and whether or not the partners have a preference for having a boy or a girl baby.

The main causes of infertility in men are sexual problems or too few sperm. A sexual problem could be either impotency or premature ejaculation; in most instances, either medicine or behavioural therapy or both is used to treat these problems. If a lack of sperm is the problem (or if the sperm are not good swimmers), then surgery can be undertaken to correct this situation. In some cases, physicians can surgically remove sperm from the man’s reproductive tract to use for the purposes of impregnating a woman. In a few cases, low sperm count can be attributed to an infection. If this is the case then antibiotics can be prescribed to clear up the infection.

A variety of different treatments are often employed to treat women who are infertile. If ovulation occurs sporadically or not at all then it is essential for the woman to speak with her doctor about both the pros as well as the cons of taking medicine to improve the situation and get her ovulation back to normal. It is extremely important that a woman understands all of the risks and benefits as well as the side effects that could accompany these medications.

Surgery is sometimes a viable method of treating some instances of infertility in women, depending on where the problem lies. If a woman’s has a blockage in her fallopian tubes then surgery could be effective and surgery could also be effective if the problem lies with the ovaries or the uterus.

Another type of treatment for infertility is intrauterine insemination (IUI). Intrauterine insemination is more commonly known as artificial insemination. In IUI, a woman is injected with sperm that has been specially prepared in a laboratory. In some cases, before artificial insemination is undertaken the female patient is instructed to take medication that is meant to stimulate ovulation. IUI is most often a viable means of treating females who have problems with their amount of cervical mucus. In fewer cases, the cause can be what is known as

“a mild male factor” causing the infertility. In some cases, infertility problems have no apparent cause.



Thanks to Scott Meyers for contributing this article to our Infertility blog:

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Can you answer Gunjan V’s question about Infertility?:

I am 30,trying for conception for last 3.5 years. Got HSG done, seems problem with tubes. My cycle is of 30 days. I also had hypothyroidism but is controlled by pills. My husband’s test are normal. Want to have child desperately. Shud I go for laproscopy or IVF? Please suggest. What is the best way out?

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