Varicocele and Male Infertility

Male infertility can be caused by many things and often it creates many problems for a couple that is trying to conceive. Usually women check them selves with doctor first if there are problems while trying to get pregnant, and then come the men. This is a wrong thing to do. If there is a problem both partners should go together to doctor in order to find what is causing the problem.

Varicocele is the condition that is affection 15% of male population. People knew for this condition thousand years ago and the first one to describe it was Greek physicist Celcious, who described it as "Swollen and twisted veins over the testicle, which becomes smaller than its fellow in as much as its nutrition has become defective". To put it in simpler words Varicocele is an abnormal enlargement of the vein that is in the scrotum draining the testicles. Varicocel occurs when there is a blockage in spermatic vein that becomes defective and does not allow blood to flow away from the testicle. This can lead to male infertility. In many cases there are no visible sings of Varicocele and sometimes diagnosing it might be hard thing to do. If there is no visible sings of Varicocele on the outside of scrotum then a doctor should do an ultrasounds test to have an accurate diagnosis. Almost in 90% of cases Varicocele only affects the left scrotum; however there is a possibility for both testicles to be affected. Only theory why this is happening is because there is almost 40% fewer valves in left spermatic vein and the left vein is 2 - 4 inches longer.

When Varicocele is diagnosed there are several things that might be done in order to treat it. The methods depend on the severity of Varicocele and for mild cases it can include non surgical methods but for severe cases it is usually treated with surgery. Non-surgical method is performed by inserting a small catheter in side the vein witch helps to bring a normal blood flow; this method is called angiographic embolization. Other methods like intrauterine insemination or in-vitro fertilization are also good options for threatens and they help with fertility. There is also a medical therapy with Clomid.

For more severe cases surgery might be the only option. Surgery is the most accurate and most effective treatment for Varicocele. Varicocelectomy is a process where affected veins get tied and the blood flow gets rerouted to unaffected veins. The main result from surgical treatment is better quality of sperm and of course better pregnancy chances. The studies have showed the sperm quality improves up to 80% and pregnancy chances up to 60%. Main thing to remember is that Varicocele is very common thing in man and the sooner it is detected the easier it would be to treat it. If any symptoms of Varicocele are noticed doctor should be visited. If left untreated Varicocele can bring severe damage to testicles.