Summary
Sperm are men’s eggs, the ‘swimmers’ with tails found in ejaculation fluid.
Sperm tests are a way of checking sperm to see if they are present and normal. Some men will want to check out the health of their sperm prior to trying to have a baby with their partner or if the couple are having trouble getting pregnant.
Sperm rely on good health to be formed; if the body is not functioning well due to underlying disease, a poor state of health or lifestyle, missing vitamins or stress on the body, taking too many drugs etc. this can impact how healthy the sperm are.
What is sperm and how is it made?
Sperm are men’s eggs, the ‘swimmers’ with tails. The semen is simply the fluid
that accompanies it out. Sperm is made in the testicles (the ‘balls’) whilst semen is made in the seminal vesicles, glands either side of the prostate further up inside the body at the bottom of the bladder.
Reference: https://www.sexualhealthaustralia.com.au/page/male_anatomy.html
There is a tube connecting the testicles to the seminal vesicles (called the vas deferens) to bring the sperm up to where the semen is made. During ejaculation, sperm travels up this tube, joins the semen and the combined fluid comes out during ejaculation.
In men who have had a vasectomy, this tube (vas deferens) is cut so that the sperm stays in the testicles and only semen comes out in the ejaculation. Semen alone cannot cause pregnancy.
In men who have had their testicles removed (because of cancer or sporting accident) there will be no sperm, but the semen will still come out in ejaculation.
It takes 70 days for sperm to form and the testicles make millions of them. The average amount of semen in the ejaculation is 3-5mL.
What are sperm studies?
Sperm studies are a way that medical scientists can look at the ejaculation fluid and count the sperm, look at how healthy they are and see if there is anything wrong.
Sometimes, sperm studies are also called semen analysis or semenalysis but they are the same thing.
How does the test work and what does it measure?
Typically the instructions are given for a man to not ejaculate for 3-5 days (depending on the lab) and then provide a sample to be transported quickly, and at body temperature, to the lab. There, the sperm are analysed for key characteristics, by comparison to a group of normal health male sperm from other samples.
Typical values used as a reference guide include:
- 2-5mL volume,
- concentration of 36-172 million sperm per mL,
- the estimated total number (100-700 million sperm),
- above 50% motility, this means how the sperm move
- above 10% being normal form, this means the shape of them
Are sperm studies useful?
There is a poor relationship between sperm tests and fertility. This means that even men with abnormal sperm numbers and shape can still be fertile and men with perfectly normal sperm can be infertile. Many causes of infertility lie inside a normal looking sperm, such as genetic abnormalities, and so are invisible to a microscope.
Sperm studies should be taken with a pinch of salt. They are often repeated and should be interpreted in light of the total health of somebody and their own individual health history.
However, a sperm test could be useful in simply confirming the presence of sperm. This is important for men who have had a vasectomy, or have a reason to suspect testicular failure.
Why do men undertake sperm studies?
Most men tend to seek sperm studies once they suspect they are finding it difficult to achieve pregnancy with their partners. This is typically after one year of trying to conceive a baby naturally; at which point fertility is investigated and IVF (in vitro fertilization) is on the horizon.
Men undertaking testosterone optimisation therapy should have regular sperm tests. This is because taking testosterone will shut down the body’s own production of sperm after a while.
When should men seek sperm studies?
About 5% of men will ultimately be identified as infertile. This is quite a high proportion and comes into play when couples are having trouble conceiving naturally.
Given this prevalence, some men with risk factors of infertility will be proactively
tested and screened. These include
- If a man has used anabolic steroids for a period of time; with or without fertility preserving treatment (HCG, Clomiphene)
- If a man has a history of testicular trauma, mumps, radiation therapy, cancers where there may be testicular damage
- If a man has a history of significant testicular infection that may impact fertility
- If a man has been in a relationship with unprotected sex for over a year without a pregnancy
- If a man has a particularly poor state of health, medical or holistic/natural medicine perspective
- If a man is about to have surgery or a medical treatment that threatens the health of their testicles or fertility and wants to preserve sperm for the future
- If a man is going to donate sperm to a sperm bank
Of course the final reason it may be done, and a very good reason, is simply that
a man would like to know more about his sperm.
