Infertility is a critical condition when man and woman find difficulties or unable to conceive naturally. In such a situation, intervention of a fertility specialist is required.
Male factor infertility refers to the inability of a man being unable to fertile his female partner. There are several reasons of being infertile. A man may not be able to ejaculate and cannot produce any sperm. The absence of sperm will not be able to fertilise any egg. Another condition is when the semen through ejaculation contains sperm but the quality, quantity and motility of sperm is very low and fertility may not happen.
Reason of low sperm count
Men produce 15 million to over 200 million sperm per millimetre of semen. Low sperm does not mean the absence of sperm (azoospermia). It means that the person is producing less than 15 million sperm per millilitre of semen. There is more than one particular factor that can be responsible for low sperm, such as, stress, smoking, drinking alcohol, medications, exposure to toxin or even too much time in hot-tub. A low sperm count means you are unable to fertilise eggs. However, there are certain interventions that help sperm to fertilise eggs in the specific condition of the laboratory.
Symptoms of low sperm count
Low sperm count is something that remains hidden until the man and his partner try to conceive. A man may have inherited chromosomal abnormality, suffer from hormonal imbalance, a blockage or testicular vein dilation issue. Know about the signs of low sperm count:
- Pain or swelling of the testicles
- A lump in the area of the testicles
- Erectile dysfunction
- Difficulty ejaculating
- Low sex drive
Treatment for low sperm count
Hormonal Treatment
Hormones are responsible for the sperm production in men. In some patients, the secretion of stimulating hormone in the pituitary is very low in level and thus it produces less sperm. The treatment is quite similar to treating hormonal imbalance among females. The doctor may inject specific hormones to increase the level of hormonal stimulation and sperm count as well.
Antibiotics
In some cases (though comparatively small number) infection can prevent the sperm to move forward because of inflammation or scarring and thus lead to infertility. If the permanent is not that severe then certain antibiotic can help. However, if the damage is too severe then the doctor may need to retrieve the sperm surgically.
Surgical Treatment
In some cases male infertility occurs because of a blockage. Then the doctor needs to perform a surgery to remove the blockage. Apart from that surgery is also performed to extract sperm directly from the testicles by inserting needles under anaesthesia. Microsurgical epididymal sperm aspiration (MESA) and Testicular Sperm Extraction (TESE) are two methods used in IVF and ICSI treatment to extract sperm from the testicles.
IVF with ICSI
IVF with ICSI is by far the most successful fertility treatment and helps patients with low sperm count or other male factor infertility. Intracytoplasmic sperm injection or ICSI takes the strongest and healthiest sperm and inject it directly into the egg. IVF harvest eggs from the female partner and process then outside the body in the specific atmosphere of the lab. IVF with the combination of ICSI has created revolutionary opportunity for thousands of patients.
For more queries you can always consult with the best fertility expert in Siliguri.
