12 Causes of Low Sperm Count, Treatment

Low sperm count is a common cause for concern among several married men with infertility problems. It can be very frustrating to be married for long and not be able to get your wife pregnant and have the joy of being a father.

A normal man produces about 1,500 sperm per second and over 2 million Sperm per day. (SOURCE HEALTHLINE)

Masturbation has NOT been known to reduce sperm quality, sperm production, or sperm count. Hence, it is not a cause of low sperm count.

What is Low Sperm Count

Low sperm count is a medical condition when a man ejaculates less Sperm than expected. It covers a decrease in both the quality and quantity of the Sperm.

Factors that are considered when accessing Sperm include;

• Semen Volume refers to the total amount of semen that the man ejaculated. It is expected that a man without any problems should be able to produce at least 1.5ml with each ejaculation. If it is less than 1ml, then we have a problem.
• Sperm Concentration in the Semen: The fact that a man is ejaculating does not mean that ejaculation is useful. The man might ejaculate, but there would be no Sperm (the main thing that is needed) in the ejaculate. This is what is called “Shooting blank.” Just imagine shooting a gun, but no bullet is coming out. You would just be hearing ta! as if it’s knockout that you are blowing. For a normal man, there are expected to be about 15 million sperms in each ml of semen that are ejaculated. Plenty right?
  Yes! That is the number of Sperm that would go and hustle one egg. If it’s below 12 million, then there is a problem somewhere.
• Vitality (Live Sperm): Oga has produced 15 million Sperm in 1 ml of ejaculate, which does not mean all the sperm are alive. All the sperms there could be dead. It would now be checked to ensure that the number of live Sperm is enough to get a woman pregnant, requiring at least 58% of the Sperm to be alive. That is, over half of the 15 million sperms should be alive. You would wonder why the Sperm would be dead in the first place. We will tell you later.
• Morphology of the Sperm: you would say what this one is again. This means the shape of the sperms to know if they are OK. That they are alive does not mean they are not deformed. So, this refers to the number of living sperms that are OK. It should be at least 4%.
• Amount of Motile Sperm: Now that the sperms are OK does not mean that they can move & you know that the sperms have to move to meet the egg. If they cannot swim, they would stay there in the vagina after you have deposited them, and if you trust women now, the egg will not go anywhere to come and meet the Sperm. So the egg must move. You need at least 31% of the sperms to be moving.
• PH: this one is just the condition around the Sperm. It doesn’t need to be acidic or too basic. It just needs to be about normal—just around 7.2. Don’t bother your head with this one.

Before submitting your semen for testing, we would recommend that you do not have sex or masturbate for between 2-4 days.

Semen analysis should be done only once in 3 months. That means,
If the initial one is abnormal, you must wait at least three months before you try again. This would allow enough time for the regeneration of Sperm. Also, an abnormal result can be caused by a viral infection. It needs to be given time for recovery.

What is the Cause of Low Sperm Count

Several reasons can lead to a decrease in the number & quality of your Sperm. Some could be due to underlying medical problems the man has, some due to environmental factors, and others due to lifestyle and diet.

• Some medical causes include
• Varicocele:
• Infections like STDs, gonorrhoea, and HIV: Spermatogonial cells that produce the Sperm can be damaged by these Infections.
• Sometimes, sperm production may be normal, but there are erectile difficulties or problems with ejaculation. Some men ejaculate into the bladder.
• Cancers and cancer treatment: Chemotherapy used in cancer treatment also affects sperm production. An example is Prostate cancer.
• Having undescended testicles: pelvic radiotherapy or surgery for this can damage the cells producing Sperm or block the pathway where the Sperm passes through.
• The epididymis that stores the Sperm can also be damaged.
• Hormone problems
• Some medications
• Conditions such as diabetes also affect sperm production.
• Genetic causes have also been implicated. E.g., Klinefelter’s syndrome.

All these can cause low sperm count.

Environmental causes include

• Radiation
• Heavy metal exposure
• Heat: around the scrotum and testicles, like when you stay too long in hot baths too often, wear tight underwear as a man, sit for too long (like long-distance drivers), or work on a laptop for too long.

All these can ruin sperm count.

How to know you have a low sperm count

The commonest sign is difficulty getting a woman pregnant. Other signs are:
• low sex drive
• difficulty maintaining an erection (erectile dysfunction)
• Pain, swelling, or a lump in the testicle
• Decreased facial hair
• Reduced body hair too.

What to do about it?

Anyone with infertility problems in their marriage should see a doctor, especially a urologist. He or she will examine your testicles, will also test your semen, and based on the findings, will work out a treatment plan for you.

Treatment depends on the cause:
It could be surgery, hormone treatments, or otherwise.
See available options in the treatment of infertility here.

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