Post Date December, 02 2023
Male factors account for 40% of the causes of infertility. Male infertility is most commonly seen with abnormalities in sperm and semen, testicular dysplasia, endocrine disorders, and sexual dysfunction. What are the common inspection items? Can I detect myself?
Common examination items for male infertility
Collecting medical history: Doctors should be conscientious and responsible, and keep confidentiality for patients; Patients should also cooperate and truthfully reflect the situation. For example, occupation and type of work, past medical history, marital and sexual life, past examination and treatment, family medical history, etc.
Physical examination: including examination of the whole body and reproductive organs. The general examination should pay special attention to development, nutrition, and mental status, but the focus is on the examination of the reproductive organs, including the penis, urethra, prostate, testicles, and spermatic cord.
Semen examination: Required items for male infertility, including color, volume, liquefaction time, pH, sperm count, motility, survival rate, and morphology. The rest are selected according to the patient's situation. For example, prostate fluid testing, in vitro xenofertilization experiments, and so on.
Prostate fluid examination: Under normal conditions, it is thin, colorless or light milky white liquid, with protein luster, weak acidity, and a pH value of around 6-7. During inflammation, the texture becomes thickened, the color becomes yellow or shows a light red turbidity, or contains flocculent substances, and is sticky.
Endocrine examination: Endocrine is a general term for substances secreted by various endocrine glands in the human body that together with the nervous system regulate the metabolism and physiological functions of the human body. An endocrine test is actually a test to see if these hormone levels are secreted normally.
Testicular biopsy: Testicular biopsy is a clinical technique with dual functions of diagnosis and treatment. A small piece of living testicular tissue is used for pathological section and histological observation to understand the status of testicular spermatogenesis and diagnose testicular diseases.
Doppler ultrasound examination: Varicocele is mostly seen in young and middle-aged men, with a incidence rate of about 20% and about 40% in infertile men. Examination is helpful to confirm the disease.
Immunological test: detect sperm agglutination antibodies or immobilization antibodies in serum or seminal plasma through sperm agglutination test or immobilization test. There are various detection methods that are selected according to local conditions.
How to self detect male infertility? If you find any of the following abnormal symptoms, you need to go to the hospital for early diagnosis.
1. Touch the scrotum
If you gently touch along the spermatic cord from top to bottom and find large, wormlike, soft, and tortuous masses within the scrotum, it is important to note that this may be a varicocele. It can cause testicular temperature to rise, and stagnation of venous blood affects testicular metabolism, thereby interfering with spermatogenesis and causing a decline in semen quality.
2. Observe semen
Observing semen can also partially reflect fertility. Normal semen is grayish white or slightly yellow. If pink or red appears, it is bloody semen. The normal semen volume is 2-6 milliliters, and if it is more than 7 milliliters, it is excessive. Not only will the sperm density become low, but it is also easy to flow out of the female vagina, resulting in a decrease in the total sperm count. "If the total amount of semen is less than 2 milliliters, it means that the amount of semen is low. If the total amount of semen is less than 1 milliliter, it means that there is too little, which can easily lead to infertility.". After ejaculation, semen generally turns into liquid within 15 to 30 minutes. If it cannot change its shape after more than 30 minutes, it is clinically called non liquefaction of semen and is also a cause of infertility.
3. Testicular examination
If there is testicular swelling and pain, and the testicles gradually shrink after relief, it may be testicular torsion or traumatic atrophy after orchitis. This is often accompanied by irreversible damage to spermatogenic cells. If the testicle fails to descend into the scrotum and remains in the abdominal cavity, it is called cryptorchidism. Excessive temperature in the abdominal cavity is not conducive to sperm production, and the risk of testicular malignancy is greatly increased.
