10 Oct Should you consider treating Male Factor Fertility
When it comes to fertility, it often takes two to tango. While there’s been a lot of evidence showing fertility can be treated with acupuncture, herbal medicine, and dietary advice (1) in women, male fertility is often neglected and downplayed. For some reason, men are also more reluctant to seek help and find it difficult to talk about the subject.
Talking about Male infertility (MI) is very normal and evidence has shown that it can affect 20-30% (2) in infertile couples. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has been known to treat MI (3) for some time and can help improve total functional sperm fraction, percentage of viability, total motile spermatozoa per ejaculate.
What can be done?
When it comes to male fertility, there is a large number of things that can be done. Addressing the underlying problems such as genetic or structural issues that might prevent the passage of sperm such as:
- Erectile dysfunction
- Hormonal imbalance
- Lower sperm count
- Sperm volume
- Motility or morphology
Similarly, risk factors that may affect sperm quality include:
- Alcohol, tobacco, and certain illicit drugs
- Overweight
- Overheating of the testicles
- Congenital fertility disorder
- Medication that may be affecting fertility
How can Chinese Medicine help improve male fertility?
In Chinese Medicine, your kidneys play a vital role in creating sperm. In particular, a concept called Kidney Jing or essence. The kidneys play a role in reproductive health and are often inherited from birth from our parents and supported in life through our food. When we have a poor lifestyle and have a bad diet, it will often reflect negatively back in the sperm quality and quantity.
Much like the female counterpart, Chinese Medicine can address male infertility with herbs, acupuncture, diet, and lifestyle modifications. Because sperm takes roughly two months (spermatogenesis) to regenerate, it is a good idea to commit to implementing these changes, at least before expecting an improvement to be reflected in your new semen analysis.
To find out more visit our Male Fertility Page
About the Author
Dr. Tim Koo (TCM) is an Acupuncturist & Chinese Herbalist at Balanced Life Health Care. He has a specal interest in treating male factor fertility and men’s health. To find out more about Dr Tim visit his page HERE
Book an Appointment with Dr. Tim visit our online booking page HERE
References
- Agarwal, A., Mulgund, A., Hamada, A. and Chyatte, M., 2015. A unique view on male infertility around the globe.
- Zhu, J., 2018. Acupuncture Treatment for Fertility. [online] Available at: <https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6182526/> [Accessed 5 October 2021].
- Zhou, S., 2019. Fertility Acupuncture Chinese Medicine [online] NCBI. Available at: <https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6479084/> [Accessed 5 October 2021].
