Post Date December, 02 2023
Among the causes of infertility, male factors account for 40%. Male infertility is most commonly characterized by abnormalities in sperm and semen, testicular dysplasia, endocrine disorders, and sexual dysfunction. So what are the common examination items? Can I test myself?
Common examination items for male infertility
Collecting medical history: Doctors should be serious and responsible, and keep patients confidential; Patients should also cooperate and truthfully report the situation. For example, occupation and type of work, past medical history, marital and sexual status, past examination and treatment status, family medical history, etc.
Physical examination: including general and genital examination. A full body examination should pay special attention to development, nutrition, and mental condition, but the focus is on the examination of the reproductive organs, including the penis, urethra, prostate, testicles, and spermatic cord.
Semen examination: mandatory items for male infertility, including color, volume, liquefaction time, pH, sperm count, motility, survival rate, and morphology. The rest will be selected based on the patient's situation. For example, prostatic fluid examination, in vitro xenofertilization experiment, etc.
Examination of prostatic fluid: normal condition is thin, colorless or light milky white liquid, with protein luster, weakly acidic, and pH value is about 6-7. When inflammation occurs, the texture becomes thicker, the color turns yellow or becomes light red turbid, or contains flocculent substances and sticky threads.
Endocrine examination: Endocrine is a general term for the substances secreted by various endocrine gland and the nervous system to regulate the metabolism and physiological functions of the human body. Endocrine examination is actually to check whether these hormone levels are secreted normally.
Testicular biopsy: Testicular biopsy is a clinical technique with dual functions of diagnosis and treatment. It involves observing a small piece of live testicular tissue through pathological sections 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 can be selected according to local conditions.
How to self detect male infertility? If any of the following abnormal symptoms are found, early treatment is necessary.
1. Touching the scrotum
If you gently touch along the spermatic cord from top to bottom and find large, worm like, soft, and convoluted masses inside the scrotum, then be careful, this may be varicocele. It will increase the temperature of the testis, and the stagnation of venous blood will affect the metabolism of the testis, thus interfering with spermatogenesis, resulting in the decline of semen quality.
2. Observing semen
Observing semen can also partially reflect fertility. Normal semen is gray white or slightly yellow. If pink or red appears, it is bloody semen. The normal semen volume is 2-6 milliliters, and if it exceeds 7 milliliters, it is considered excessive. Not only will the sperm density decrease, but it is also easy to flow out of the female vagina, resulting in a decrease in the total number of sperm. If the total amount of semen is less than 2 milliliters, it means that the semen volume is low. Less than 1 milliliter is considered too low and 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 called non liquefaction of semen in clinical practice 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 spermatid. If the testicles fail to descend into the scrotum and remain 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.
