Male Infertility Care

After a year of trying to conceive, we recommend seeing a fertility specialist. Some of the more common causes of male infertility include:

• Chemotherapy and radiation: Cancer treatments, either as a child or adult, can result in low sperm count or even sterility.
• Congenital absence of the vas deferens (CAVD): In this condition, the tubes that carry sperm out of the testicles are absent from birth.
• Heat: Prolonged exposure to extreme heat, from hot tubs and saunas, for example, can lower your sperm count.
• Infection: Certain infections, such as mumps, epididymitis and infections of the prostate, have the potential to lower your sperm count and cause scarring of the sperm duct, creating a blockage of sperm and a rise in inflammatory cells.
• Medications: Certain medications are known to lower sperm counts. The decision to stop or change a medication should be made after careful consideration of the possible effects on your health.
• Varicocele: When normal blood flow doesn’t occur, the blood in your testicles backs up, causing the veins to dilate. If left untreated, these enlarged veins can cause infertility and sexual dysfunction.

Your comprehensive fertility evaluation may include a physical examination, genetic testing and semen analysis.

Because male infertility often doesn’t have any visible symptoms, it can be difficult to diagnose until you’ve actively begun trying to grow your family. And while there are some infertility risk factors you can’t change, like family history, there are other ways to reduce your risks. These areas include:

• Alcohol: While you and your partner try to conceive, consider abstaining or limiting your alcohol intake to lower your risk of sperm abnormalities. If you choose to consume alcoholic beverages, limit yourself to just one to two drinks per day.
• Body weight: High body fat percentages can interfere with your reproductive hormones and contribute to the production of abnormal sperm. Maintaining a healthy body weight can lead to healthier and higher sperm counts.
• Diet: Antioxidants play an important role in sperm health. An antioxidant-rich diet, including berries, avocados, spinach and broccoli, can help improve the health of your sperm.
• Exercise: Repeated instances of certain types of exercise, such as long-distance cycling, can decrease sperm count and increase the number of abnormal sperm. The reduced blood flow you experience while sitting on a bike for long periods may damage your nerves and blood supply to your penis and scrotum.
• Temperature: Your body’s temperature can play a major role in sperm production. High temperatures for long periods, such as in a sauna, hot bath or hot tub, can impair sperm production, leading to a decreased sperm count.

Smoking: Like alcohol, tobacco can interfere with your sperm’s DNA and lead to abnormal sperm cells and reduced sperm quality.