Discover The Truth And
Myths On Male Fertility

Before an egg becomes fertilized, a sperm must make a long journey. A man must have a normal number of motile sperms a man can produce and of these, he transports them through the epididymus and vas deferens. He has an erection and ejaculation in order to deposit sperm in the vagina of a healthy fertile woman. A healthy sperm should be capable of swimming through the cervical mucus and travel through the Fallopian tubes at reaches a newly ovulated egg at the end. But work does not stop here. The sperm needs to recognize the egg and stick to the surface to release enzymes and penetrate into the shell of the egg and fertilize it. For the embryo to develop, the sperm DNA must be normal. That’s what a fertile male can do to ensure the right environment for a successful conception.

With a process so complex right from the start, anything can go wrong. Male infertility can result from any of the different stages from abnormal formation of sperm to failure of sperm – egg interactions. Medically, the definition of infertility is the inability to conceive a child after twelve months of active or regular unprotected sex.

Myths About Sex and the Sperm

Many myths surrounding male fertility included ‘if you have more sex, you will exhaust your sperm supply’ or ‘if men masturbate, they will have less sperm’. This is not true. The frequency of sex or number of times a man ejaculates does not decrease the amount of sperm, or sperm count. In fact, a man may lose all sensations and sexual functions due to a spinal cord injury but he still has a normal sperm count.

Other myths:

• ‘Rear entry position has better chances to get your partner pregnant’ - The position you select holds no ground on the ability to conceive. Positions merely add variety and better stimulation for the deed.
   
• ‘You can’t impregnate your partner if you have a low sperm count’ - This is contrary to popular believe as a low sperm count may have better quality sperms adequate for the final stage – getting through the egg. Some men with higher sperm counts may not fertilize an egg. Possibly the sperms may be found to have two heads or two tails; even a sperm that’s got a big head.
   
• ‘If a couple still hasn’t got a kid, the woman’s infertile' - You would have probably heard this more than often when couples can’t conceive. It is sometimes the man that is infertile. 30 percent of couples seeking help, at least 30 couples have a problem and its due to male causes for sub-fertility.
   
• ‘viagra increases sperm count’ - Viagra does not increase sperm count but helps a man maintain or get an erection.
   
• traditional Chinese medicine, Qigong and TongKat Ali makes a man more potent’ - Traditional Chinese medicine and other Asian fertility enhancing herbs may boost male fertility but may not be a complimentary treatment for some people.
   
• ‘the bigger your penis, the more sperms’ - Size of the penis has nothing to do with sperm count or fertility.
   
• ‘wear your pants too tight and you will kill the sperms' - This one is not a myth, so it is true. Temperature affects the sperm’s well being and it thrives in an environment that’s between 74 – 7 degrees cooler than our body temperature. Sperm motility declines when the environment is not conducive. Men in tropical climate, compared to their male counterparts in cooler climates, have a lower sperm count on average. A normal count is about 20 million sperms or more.

The truth

One sperm takes about 100 days to make and a poor health, diet or uncontrolled environment can easily damage the quality or itself.

Male infertility can be caused by any of the following:

• too much heat around the testicles (affecting sperm count)
• high levels of free radicals (example, men who smoke in excess)
• taking excessive alcohol
• too much smoking
• stress
• childhood infections like mumps that may affect the testes and sperm count
• undescended testes where the testes is in a abnormal position – stays too high in the groin area
• genetic abnormalities
• obesity, causing testosterone/ ostrogen imbalance
• impotence
• medical history with prolonged illness like liver or kidney failure
• some drugs and medication may affect the hormones and formation of sperm
• trauma to the groin due to accidents or sports injury
• varicceles – a congestions of veins on top of the testes (increases temperature of the testes, affecting sperm count)
• blocked epididymes caused by scarring like after infection with Chlamydia or gonorrhea
• untreated low grade infection with inflamed cells in the semen
• prostate cancer
• anti-cancer chemotherapy
• immoderacy sperm antibodies
• retrograde ejaculation where the sperm flow backwards into the bladder instead of being ejaculated from the penis during an orgasm and they would be lost of discharged next time the bladder is emptied

Men who are unable to conceive are usually found to have one or some of these problems that result a low sperm count, total absence of sperm, more male antibodies to sperm or lack of satisfactory sexual intercourse.

Hot tip: Look for normal semen that’s cloudy and sticky, usually with a particular smell and not runny and clear.

Next time you hear someone say that if you don’t wash your scrotum, your sperm will eat its way out of it and die, you know that its not exactly untrue but a little misinterpreted. Your scrotum just need to be cool to keep those little ‘dudes’ happy to encourage motility, count and quality. What are you waiting for, let your ‘balls’ hang out for that breath of fresh cooling air!

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