For a few months before you want to conceive, you can help keep your testicles cool by avoiding very hot baths or spas, not putting your laptop on your lap, and wearing loose-fitting underwear. If you are planning on a baby, check if you have any sexually transmitted infection (STIs), as they can lead to infertility.
Top tips for planning a pregnancy for men
Cut down your alcohol intake to no more than 3-4 units a day. Quit smoking, even passive smoking affects female fertility and pregnancy. Get tested for STIs if there is any reason you think you are at risk of having one. Lose weight if you have a high BMI.
Avoid alcohol and other substances
Eliminate alcohol, tobacco, marijuana and any illicit drugs. Too much alcohol may reduce zinc levels, and drugs decrease sperm quality. There is some research that may link smoking and certain rare heart defects, but further studies must be done to make an accurate conclusion.
You ejaculate into a cup, and your sperm will be analyzed under a microscope. To get the best results, do not ejaculate for two to five days before your visit. Some providers will do two semen analyses on different days to get a better picture of your sperm production.
It may seem obvious, but you need to have regular sex (2 or 3 times a week) if you want to become a dad. Having sex around the time your partner ovulates (when an egg is released from the ovary) will increase your chances of conceiving.
Age and Male Fertility
Peak male fertility is around 25-29 years old. Sperm quality begins to decline at 30. At 45, men begin to experience a significant decrease in semen volume. Older men can also take longer to conceive a child.
Use of cocaine or marijuana may temporarily reduce the number and quality of your sperm as well. Alcohol use. Drinking alcohol can lower testosterone levels, cause erectile dysfunction and decrease sperm production. Liver disease caused by excessive drinking also may lead to fertility problems.
A healthy sperm count is about 15 million or more for every milliliter (mL) of semen. The more you have, the more likely one of them will make it through the female reproductive system to an egg. Movement (motility). Not every sperm moves effectively or even at all, but this is normal.
Even if everything does appear normal and healthy on the surface, you can't really tell whether your sperm is healthy just by looking at it. Scheduling an appointment with your healthcare provider to perform a semen analysis is the only way to find out for sure.
Other causes of low sperm numbers include long-term sickness (such as kidney failure), childhood infections (such as mumps), and chromosome or hormone problems (such as low testosterone). Damage to the reproductive system can cause low or no sperm.
It's a misconception that men have to save up sperm when it's baby-making time. In fact, frequent sexual activity is important for sperm health. “If the body isn't getting the message to produce sperm, it won't produce as much,” says Baratz.
Vitamin C has been shown to increase sperm count, motility, and morphology. Men with low fertilization rates who took vitamin E supplements for three months showed a significant improvement in fertilization rate. Vitamin E supplementation in infertility men resulted in increased pregnancy rates.
Healthy semen is a cloudy white color with a jelly consistency similar to a raw egg. Slight changes in semen color, texture, and even smell might be normal and should no pose concern. In some cases, semen color changes could be a sign of an underlying issue.
For men with normal sperm counts, studies find that semen volume and sperm count/concentration increase after two days of abstinence. However, sperm quality—the motility (movement) and morphology (shape) of sperm—decrease after two days of abstinence, with a significant impact seen after 7–10 days.
Fruits and veggies
A study of 250 men who had sperm analyzed at a fertility clinic showed that men who ate higher amounts of fruits and veggies, particularly green leafy vegetables and beans (legumes), had higher sperm concentrations and better sperm motility compared to men who ate less of these foods.
There is no specific frequency with which a man should ejaculate. There is no solid evidence that failure to ejaculate causes health problems. However, ejaculating frequently can reduce the man's risk of getting prostate cancer. Ejacu-lation can be through having sex or masturbating a few times a day.
It takes just one sperm to fertilize a woman's egg. Keep in mind, though, for each sperm that reaches the egg, there are millions that don't. On average, each time men ejaculate they release nearly 100 million sperm.
Some types of vitamins, including vitamins D, C, E, and CoQ10, are important for sperm health. One study showed that taking 1,000 mg of vitamin C every day can help men's sperm concentration and mobility.
excessive alcohol consumption, smoking and using drugs such as marijuana or cocaine. certain medications, including testosterone replacement therapy, long-term anabolic steroid use, cancer medications (chemotherapy), some antibiotics and some antidepressants. being overweight or obese.
For a home sperm test, you collect a semen sample by ejaculating into a small cup. A home sperm test may be appealing because you can do it in the privacy of your own home. Results are often ready within a few minutes.
Male infertility is caused by multiple factors such as abnormal sperm production, blockage of delivery of sperm or low sperm production. Roughly 15 percent of couples in the United States have trouble conceiving, and over 50 percent of the time, there is a male infertility issue.
One of the most common causes of watery semen is low sperm count. This is also known as oligospermia. If you have low sperm count, it means your semen contains fewer sperm than normal. A sperm count of fewer than 15 million sperm per milliliter of semen is considered below normal.
Semen is typically whitish-gray in color with a jelly-like texture. This can vary slightly depending on your genes, lifestyle, and overall health. Unless you're experiencing other symptoms, temporary changes in color usually aren't cause for concern.
For healthy semen samples collected between 5:00am and 7:30am were found to exhibit a statistically higher sperm concentration, total sperm count and a higher percentage of normally shaped sperm, compared to samples produced later in the day.