The inability in males to impregnate a fertile female partner is referred to as male infertility. It commonly happens due to inadequate quality of semen. Irrespective of the causes there are treatment options available to counter this issue, but you must be aware of the following:
Watch for any Sexual Dysfunction
Sexual dysfunction and infertility are two different subjects. Men who are troubled due to sexual dysfunction would face issues like erectile dysfunction, premature ejaculation, or others. On the other hand, men with infertility issues struggle to impregnate their woman partner.
Sexual dysfunction, such as erectile problems, could be the leading cause behind infertility. Any certain disease, diabetes, spinal cord injury, prostate gland surgery, or medications that alter with the sexual functions are some of the common reasons listed behind erectile dysfunction. Erectile Dysfunction can also be related to psychological issues such as stress, relationship conflicts, financial problems, anxiety, depression, or boredom with sex. They are termed as Psychological Erectile Dysfunction.
Once you or your doctor have figured out the cause behind sexual dysfunction, you can be put on a treatment like oral medications, hormonal replacements, psychological therapies, counseling, etc. to treat sexual dysfunctions, causing infertility.
Regular semen analysis
Experts say that 40-300 million should be the average count of sperm per milliliter for a healthy and fertile man. Sperm quality is significantly important to derive the reason behind infertility issues. Low sperm count or inadequate quality of semen is the primary infertility cause among about 20% of couples. Although your doctor will recommend semen analysis as the first test as the preliminary assessment. This analysis includes physical characteristics of the ejaculate like volume, pH, levels of fructose, and time taken to liquify. They are tested under microscopic examination to check sperm mortality, size, shape, and concentration of the white blood cells. Remember, your semen analysis is important to understand the root cause behind the problem.
Enhance your lifestyle
It is recommended that before starting on any treatment, you work on eliminating all possible causes born out of your bad lifestyle. Smoking, chewing tobacco, alcohol, etc. are some of the factors that might be adding on to your trouble, which you or your partner cannot overlook. If you lead a busy and stressful life, you need to cut-out stress as it is a proven fact that stress affects your sexual functions as well as infertility. Bring a little change in your lifestyle along with the treatment if you want to have a better chance of curing the problem.
Know the procedures and treatment options
Thanks to the advance medical science discoveries, there are multiple ways to treat almost every health issue. Therefore, you must understand what the treatments available for you are, what will be the procedure, how long the treatment will take, what will be the outcome, and how effective will that be for you. These are some questions you must seek answers for before getting on a treatment plan.
Be a supportive partner
This condition can be embarrassing and may even trouble your mental peace, but you must remember that your partner who is wanting to conceive is equally stressed. The medications or injections bring hormonal changes and may even impact your physical or emotional wellbeing. You and your partner both need to support each other for tackling the adversity of the situation as a team.
Medically reviewed by Rishabh Verma, RP