Men are solely responsible for 20-30% of couples infertility but contribute to 50% of cases overall. In less than 40 years sperm quality has declined by 50%.
Sperm tests are vastly inadequate and more needs to be done to educate men on the growing problem of Sperm DNA Fragmentation.
Acupuncture to improve male infertility
Male infertility is a common problem and one that often seems difficult to address. By using dietary and lifestyle advice along with acupuncture, sperm production, sperm transit and sexual performance can be improved to further enhance the chances of conception. Low morphology rates can also be addressed with acupuncture, supplementation and lifestyle changes and we have been able to improve the general quality of sperm samples taken after a course of acupuncture treatment.
I would encourage men with a slightly lower than average sperm result to read my blog article Could it be Sperm DNA Fragmentation? All the information is extracted from the most up to date medical textbook on the subject. Sperm DNA Fragmentation is becoming a hot topic in America and is an emerging new form of diagnostic that can help patients understand why they have been struggling to conceive and what can be done.
Men are often put off seeking help to improve their sperm or sexual function. Of course, it can be an embarrassing topic to talk about for any man however it is not necessary to need to go into the finer details and I can assure you, there will be nothing you tell us that we've not already heard. I'm also asked which parts of the body would an acupuncturist place the needles in order to treat male infertility and I can thankfully assure patients that we use points on the arms and legs to enhance sperm quality and sexual performance.
Male Infertility Full Report
Male infertility is of particular interest to me because I am deeply concerned at how rapidly the quality of sperm is declining in the Western world. I also feel that the focus is disproportionately aimed at women when it comes to IVF and infertility and we must turn our attentions more adequately to paternal factors. If your partner has suffered a miscarriage, you have a poorer than average sperm test, or you and your partner have never conceived and have unexplained infertility please read this detailed report explaining everything you need to know about male infertility.
Some clinical trials suggest that acupuncture improves sperm motility (Dieterle 2009), increases sperm count (Siterman 2009, Siterman 2001), improves sperm quality (Pei 2005; Gurfinkel 2003) and has a beneficial effect on psychogenic erectile dysfunction (Engelhardt 2003) (see Table overleaf). The research results are promising but still at a preliminary stage in terms of numbers and quality of studies.
Acupuncture may help in the treatment of male infertility (Stener-Victorin 2010), by:
lowering scrotal temperature (Siterman 2009);
enhancing local microcirculation, by increasing the diameter and blood flow velocity of peripheral arterioles (Komori 2009);
reducing inflammation, by promoting release of vascular and immunomodulatory factors (Zijlstra 2003)
by improving sperm maturation in the epididymis, increasing testosterone levels, and reducing liquid peroxidation of sperm (Crimmel 2001)