Infertility Causes: Mens Health

There are many possible infertility causes contributing to low sperm count. The good news is that a lot of them are reversible. The most common causes of low sperm count are:

• Infection. While having an infection could cause your sperm count to be low, other infections, such as mumps, could have a permanent effect on fertility.

• Injury. An injury to the vas deferens, the tube that leads from the testicles to the penis, can get blocked by an injury. If this happens, few to no sperm may get through.

• Smoking. Excessive smoking has been shown to lower sperm count. It’s best if you don’t smoke at all while you’re trying to conceive.

• Alcohol and illegal drugs. Drinking too many alcoholic beverages or using certain illegal drugs can also lower your sperm count.

• Too much sexual activity. Yes, when you’re trying to conceive, there’s such a thing as too much sex. Your body needs three days to get back up to its highest levels.

• Heat. The reason the testicles are not inside the body is that it’s too warm and sperm need to be cool to survive. Avoid activities that will cause your testicles to get too hot.

• Varicocele. A varicose vein that cuts off or restricts the flow of sperm. This can easily be corrected with surgery.

• Age. A man’s sperm count naturally decreases as he ages.

While some men have low sperm count, others don’t produce sperm at all. This could be due to reasons listed above such as injury or previous infection. It can also occur if there is a hormone imbalance or testicular failure. In the case of testicular failure, there is usually nothing that can be done to correct the problem.

Other infertility causes are issues with semen production. In some cases, there is not enough semen produced or it isn’t the right chemical consistency.

Semen is not only the vehicle that transports sperm; it also helps protect it on its journey to the egg. If semen isn’t the right pH, or if there isn’t enough of it, most of the sperm will be destroyed before ever reaching the egg. This can generally be overcome by using artificial insemination.

In addition to not having enough sperm, it’s possible the sperm that are there are not “fit” enough to produce pregnancy. Some sperm are oddly shaped and cannot penetrate the egg, while others have low motility and just don’t get there. This can be due to age or health factors. Often, the only fertility option in this case is in-vitro fertilization.

While there are many causes of infertility, there are also many modern solutions to help you get past them. The first step if you think you have a problem, is to go get tested.

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