Infertility In Men

When people and couples think of fertility, they tend to think of females. They stereotypically see the problems that women face in terms of fertility. These people fail to realize that the process of fertilization takes two. Men are just as likely to have fertility problems as women have. While some men have health and medical issues that can cause their infertility, they can often have outside factors that can affect their own fertility. While these outside factors do affect fertility, they can be changed so that they do not affect fertility anymore.

Are you stressed? If you are a male, and you are stressed out, you may be affecting your fertility. As many already realize, stress can have an affect on your entire body; when someone is stressed, their muscles tend to tense up, and they may even get a stress headache. It makes sense to put two and two together and realize that the effect that stress has on your body can affect your fertilization.

Are you overweight? If you are a male, and you are overweight or obese, you can be severely hampering your ability to conceive a child. Those who are considered obese, due to their body mass index can be increasing the amount of time it will take their couple to have a child. Being overweight can easily affect fertility; in the same breath, losing weight can increase fertility in males (and females).

If you smoke, and are a male, you are doing more damage than you realize. Even if you fail to heed the Surgeon General’s warning, but completely understand the effects that smoking can have on your body, you still may not realize it all. Smoking, especially in heavy amounts, can severely affect fertility and the man’s ability to have a child. In that same category, if a male drinks too much alcohol, or does drugs, he can also be severely hampering his fertility as well as his chances to have a child.

In two related and interesting facts, males have two factors that can cause infertility. If a male works out too much, this can lead to infertility. Because of the excessive working out, it can release too many steroid hormones. The large amount of steroid hormones can lead to infertility.

If you’ve heard of the myth that tight underwear can lead to infertility…it’s true. While temporary at best, high amounts of heat in the genital region can cause a man to be infertile. The heat kills sperm; this can come from clothing that is too tight, as well as an incredibly hot shower or sauna session.

While the last two examples may give a chuckle or two, it is important to realize that all of these examples show how males can have infertility problems as common as females can. It also shows that simple choices can affect fertility, and that fertility can be increased simply by a few lifestyle changes.