Oligospermia | Male infertility
Oligospermia | Male Infertility: Symptoms, Causes & Treatment
About 13 out of every 100 couples who have sex without protection can’t get pregnant. There are many reasons why men and women can’t have children. Over a third of the time when a couple can’t have children, the problem is with the man. This is most often due to issues with sperm production or with sperm delivery.
Oligospermia is another word for a low number of sperm. A condition where there is no sperm at all in a man is called azoospermia. If you have less than 15 million sperm per millilitre of semen, your sperm count is below average.
Having a low sperm count decreases the odds that one of your sperm will fertilize your partner’s egg, resulting in pregnancy. Still, many men who have a low number of sperm can still have children.
Oligospermia: What is it and why does it happen?
To put it simply, a low sperm count is the defining feature of the male fertility problem known as oligospermia. The sexual health of males with this illness is standard in all other respects. The capacity to ejaculate during an orgasmic encounter, as well as the ability to sustain an erection, fall under this category.
The number of sperm in your ejaculate might change at different points in your life. You are having a sufficient number of viable sperm is often required for conception. More than 15 million sperm per millilitre (mL) of semen is considered an average number by the World Health Organization (WHO). That threshold marks the threshold below which a diagnosis of oligospermia can be made.
Symptoms of Oligospermia
The inability to have children is the most prominent indicator of a low sperm count in men. It is possible that there are no other noticeable indications or symptoms. In certain males, signs and symptoms may result from an underlying illness such as an inherited chromosomal defect, a hormonal imbalance, dilated testicular veins, or a condition that prevents sperm from moving freely through the reproductive tract.
Symptoms of a low sperm count could include the following:
- Problems with sexual function, such as a lack of sex drive or trouble keeping an erection for an extended period of time (erectile dysfunction)
- Symptoms include pain, swelling, or a lump in the area of the testicles
- Hair loss on the face or body, along with other signs that could point to an anomaly in chromosomes or hormones
Causes of male infertility
The factors that lead to male infertility include abnormal sperm production or function as a result of undescended testicles, genetic flaws, health problems such as diabetes, or infections such as chlamydia, gonorrhoea, mumps, or HIV.
Other possible causes include infertility owing to an undescended testicle. The presence of enlarged veins in the testicles, commonly known as varicoceles, can have an impact on the quality of the sperm.
Making sperm is a complicated process that depends on the testicles (testes) and the hypothalamus and pituitary glands in the brain. These glands make hormones that cause the testicles to make sperm. Once sperm are made in the testicles, they travel through tiny tubes to the penis, where they mix with sperm and are released. If any of these systems aren’t working right, it can affect how much sperm is made.
Also, there can be problems with how the sperm look, how they move, or how they work.
Treatment options for male infertility
Many couples who can’t have kids have more than one reason why they can’t, so it’s likely that both of you will need to see a doctor. It might take more than one test to figure out why someone can’t have children. In some situations, the cause is never found. Infertility tests can be expensive, and your insurance might not cover them. Find out ahead of time what your plan covers.
When trying to figure out why a man can’t have kids, doctors usually:
- General physical exam and a history of health. This means that your genitalia will be looked at and you will be asked about any genetic conditions, long-term health problems, illnesses, injuries, or surgeries that could affect your fertility. Your doctor might also ask you about your sexual habits and how they changed as you got older.
- Analysis of sperm. There are a few different ways to get a sample of sperm. At the doctor’s office, you can give a sample by masturbating and urinating into a special cup. Some men prefer a different way to collect their sperm because of their religious or cultural beliefs. In these situations, semen can be collected by using a special condom while making love.
Most of the time, it’s hard to find the exact cause of infertility. Even if you don’t know what the exact cause is, your doctor may be able to suggest treatments or procedures that will help you get pregnant.
When a couple can’t have children, it’s best to also check on the woman. There may be certain treatments that your partner needs. Or, you may find out that using assisted reproductive techniques is the right choice for you.
Some of the treatment options:
Surgical Operations: For example, a varicocele can usually be fixed with surgery, and a blocked vas deferens can be fixed. It is possible to undo a vasectomy. Using sperm retrieval techniques, sperm can often be taken directly from the testicles or epididymis when there is no sperm in the ejaculate.
Treating infections: When antibiotics are used to treat an infection in the reproductive system, the person may become fertile again, but this isn’t always the case.
Treatments for problems with sexual relationships. When things like erectile dysfunction or early ejaculation make it hard to get pregnant, medication or counselling can help.
Treatments and medicines for hormones: If your infertility is caused by too much or too little of a certain hormone or a problem with how your body uses hormones, your doctor may suggest hormone replacement or medicine.
Assisted reproductive technology (ART). ART treatments involve getting sperm from your normal ejaculation, a surgery, or a donor, depending on your situation and goals. The sperm are then put into the female reproductive system, used for in vitro fertilisation, or injected into the cytoplasm of the egg.
Infertility is usually treatable, which is good news. Erectile dysfunction, which is the inability to get or keep an erection long enough for sex, is not the same thing as male infertility. Erectile dysfunction is when a man can’t get or keep an erection long enough for sex.
Modern technology has made it possible for 90% of infertile men to have their own genetic child. There are treatments for the things that cause infertility, changes you can make to your lifestyle to prevent infertility, and surgeries and other procedures you can try.
Assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs) give people powerful new choices today. These high-tech and pricey treatments for male infertility give sperm a boost to help them get into an egg. ARTs have made it possible for men with very few or strange sperm to have children.
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