Oligospermia causes and symptoms

Oligospermia, a low sperm count, means that a man's ejaculate contains fewer sperm than normal less than 20 million per milliliter, and perhaps much less. A slightly lower sperm count makes it harder for a man to get his partner pregnant, while an extremely low sperm count makes conceiving almost impossible.

Some men who suffer from oligospermia will need to participate in fertility treatments, including IVF and Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI) to become biological fathers. This is especially likely if their partner also has a fertility problem. For lots of men, meanwhile, increasing sperm count naturally is a real possibility. What are the causes of oligospermia, and are there any symptoms?

Symptoms

You'd think that there would be no symptoms of a low sperm count, apart from (maybe) the lack of pregnancy in a partner. Not achieving pregnancy despite trying to conceive can have many different causes of course, so oligospermia may not be the first thing a couple thinks about. But many men with a low sperm count actually also have trouble getting or maintaining an erection or have a low libido.

Some men with a low sperm count, depending on the underlying cause, also have a swollen testicle or feel a lump in that area. This could include pain as well.

Causes

A man's sperm count is affected by many different factors, including hormone production, physical problems like a blocked vas deferens, or even vitamin or mineral deficiencies. When there's a zero sperm count, doctors have to examine whether that is due to a delivery problem or a production problem first. With oligospermia, there is at least a certain amount of sperm.

A varicocele, one of the more common causes of oligospermia, involves a swelling of the veins in the testicle. This can lead to overheating and can lead to a low sperm count as well as reduced quality of the sperm that do exist. Certain medical conditions, including diabetes, can cause sperm to go into the bladder. This can also be caused by injuries and some medications, and obviously results in a low presence of sperm in a man's semen.

If you have any concerns about sperm count, or general male fertility issues, we advise you to see a doctor as soon as possible. Sperm analysis is among the cheaper and less invasive fertility tests, and if you do have a low sperm count, it could potentially be easily curable.