Female and Male Infertility Treatments (Natural Fertility Boosters)

For some people, getting pregnant is something that cannot be realized easily. In fact, there is about 10-15% of couples in the U.S who have infertility problems. The cause of this problem can be caused by a combination factors or a single cause in either male or female. Well … there are now many options for female and male infertility treatments to significantly improve the chance of achieving pregnancy!

You may also like to read about the crucial points you should concern when choosing fertility clinic, before continuing!

Some cases can be treated more easily than others. But generally for women who are over the age of 35, their chance of becoming pregnant go down, and even this group also have higher risk of miscarriage -- therefore doctors usually don’t choose regular steps like in younger couples.

In all cases of infertility, both female and male of a couple should be checked. This is not only important to find clearly diagnosis and cause! The treatment of the female partner can compensate for male fertility problems -- and vice versa!

What else you need to know? Take a few minutes to read the following pieces of helpful information!

Causes of infertility (fertility problems) in women and men

Once again, the infertility problems in a couple can involve only ‘male’ /‘female’ or both partners!

Causes of female fertility problems

There are some possible causes, some of these causes may include:

1. Ovulation problems! The disorders of ovulation can affect the mechanism of the ovary to release eggs. And there are many possible causes that can lead to ovulation disorders, such as; certain medications, tumors, starvation, certain injuries, or even having excessively exercise.
2. Scar tissue of pelvic adhesions that can bind certain organs after pelvic surgery, appendicitis, or pelvic infection.
3. You experience the phase of your perimenopause or even you may have an early menopause! This phase can be an indication that your hormone drastically decrease which eventually will lead to the absence of menstruation. Early menopause can occur in women before the age of 40, which usually in many cases caused by bad habits (like cigarette smoking), chemotherapy /radiation treatment, and immune system diseases.
4. Hyperprolactinemia. Women with hyperprolactinemia have elevated prolactin (a kind of hormone that has important function for the production of milk breast). And many doctors believe that having high level of this hormone in women who are not pregnant may affect the process of ovulation.
5. Women who are the age of 30-40s or more. This group have high likelihood of developing uterine fibroids! This problem is a kind of benign tumors in the uterus’s wall, which sometimes may also lead to infertility because it may cause blocked-fallopian tubes!
6. PCOS “Polycystic Ovary Syndrome”! It is a kind of condition that can be characterized by too much androgen produced by the body. Excessive androgen can cause ovulation problems. Furthermore, this condition is also associated with other health conditions, particularly such as obesity and insulin resistance.
7. Endometriosis! It can occur if there is a uterine tissue that grows outside of your uterus which then can affect the mechanism of fallopian tubes, egg, uterus, ovaries, and sperm to work.
8. Being overweight /underweight! Both conditions can increase the risk of having infertility problems in women, especially for those who have certain eating disorders (such as; bulimia or anorexia nervosa).
9. Other possible causes are; (a) certain medical conditions associated with amenorrhea or delayed puberty (such as; diabetes, Cushing’s disease, kidney disease, or sickle cell disease), (b) health problems associated with your thyroid, (c) the treatments of cancer & cancer itself, and (d) certain medications (there are some medications that can cause temporary infertility).

Causes of male fertility problems

Like in female, there are also many possible causes that can lead to infertility problems in men. In many cases, these causes may include:

1. How old you are?! ‘Yes’, the male fertility problems are also associated with the age. If compared with younger men, for those who are over the age of 40s will be less fertile.
2. Factors associated with your environment! Overexposure to pesticides, heat or other unfriendly environmental factors may impair the mechanism of your sperm production.
3. Sexual problems that can affect the delivery of sperm. For instances, certain health conditions (like retrograde ejaculation), epididymis (structural problems), cystic fibrosis (a kind of genetic disease), having premature ejaculation, etc.
4. Cancer & cancer’s treatment! Chemotherapy and radiation treatment can affect the amount and quality of your sperm production. The removal of testicles because of cancer also can impair the fertility.
5. Having certain genetic defects, repeated infections, or undescended-testicles which affect quality and amount of your sperm production.
6. The bad effect of using certain medicines, particularly like anti-seizure medicines or anabolic steroids!
7. Bad habits and lifestyle issues, such as; cigarette smoking, excessively drinking alcohol, unhealthy diet or poor nutrition, and even obesity may affect the male fertility.

Diagnosis and tests

The clearly diagnosis is the first step before going to decide the right treatments! This is usually more focused to find the causes of your infertility. To make a diagnosis, your doctor needs to perform several tests.

Diagnosis female infertility

In order to be pregnant, a woman should have healthy and functional reproductive organs. The ovary needs to regularly release healthy eggs. Furthermore, the reproductive tract must work properly to allow the sperm and eggs to pass into the tubes of fallopian which then eventually both egg and sperm will meet to create fertilization.

To make a diagnosis, first doctor usually ask about the health history, sexual habits, and cycles (menstrual periods). Then patient usually will be asked to perform several fertility tests if necessary! Some of these tests may include ovulation testing, a test to examine the condition of fallopian tubes & uterus (such as hysterosalpingography test), and laparoscopy (another kind of fertility test to analyze the condition of uterus, fallopian tubes, and ovaries).

Diagnosis male fertility problems

Healthy sperm in good quality is required to fertilize the egg. Therefore, it is so important for men to have healthy testicles to produce adequate amount of healthy sperm to be fertile. Moreover, the ejaculation of sperm into the vagina must be effectively! Male fertility tests are usually purposed to analyze whether any of these mechanisms are affected /impaired.

Some common male fertility tests may include; physical examination test, semen analysis, hormone testing, and even scrotal-ultrasound if necessary. See a doctor for more detailed information about these tests!

Additionally, there are also several cases of infertility (about 20 percent) in men and women that cannot be explained with the currently available tests.

Female infertility treatments

The treatment is usually closely associated with the cause of the infertility. Other factors that influence the right treatment that should be taken are the age, duration of infertility or how long patient has been infertile, and other personal preferences.

Some women may only require one /two treatments to get back their fertility, while other may need more therapies and treatments. 

Fertility drugs and therapies

Fertility drugs are common for women who have ovulation disorders. These drugs are usually designed to work as well as the mechanism of LH (luteinizing hormone) and FSH (follicle-stimulating hormone). Both LH and FSH have important contribution to trigger ovulation. There are some drugs to treat abnormal production of LH and FSH, some of them are:

1. Femara (letrozole)! This drug can be categorized into aromatase inhibitors. But the effect is not yet known on the early of pregnancy. Therefore, femara is not recommended as frequently as others. In addition, sometimes this drug is also involved to treat breast cancer.
2. Glucophage (metformin)! This fertility treatment is usually recommended by doctor if the cause of infertility is the insulin resistance or for women who are diagnosed with PCOS (one of ovulation disorders).
3. Gonadotropis! This treatment can directly stimulate the ovary. To treat infertility, it is usually combined with IUI (intrauterine insemination). IUI is a kind of procedure to inject sperm into uterus through a catheter (thin tube) which eventually will help raise the odds of a pregnancy.
4. Clomiphene citrate (a kind of orally fertility drug)! It can stimulate the body to release adequate LH and FSH which eventually will help stimulate ovulation. It is one of common choices to treat infertility problem at the early stage (for initial treatment). Furthermore, it is also common option for unexplained infertility!

Note: before taking any fertility drug, discuss first with your doctor for more advices in order to keep safe!

Infertility treatment with surgery

Sometimes surgery may be needed to make a woman to be fertile! Some common surgeries to treat infertility in women may include:

1. Infertility surgery for tissue removal! Sometimes there are unfriendly pelvic adhesions or endometrial tissues that can affect a woman’s fertility. In this surgery, this unfriendly endometrial tissue will be removed to improve the chance of getting pregnant.
2. Microscopic surgery (tubal reversal surgery). It is usually used for tubal ligation problem (permanent contraception). Discuss more with a doctor for more in-depth information.
3. Infertility also can be caused by the blocked fallopian tubes (this problem is also called as hydrosalpinx). For this case, tubal surgery can be recommended by a doctor to improve the chance of becoming pregnant.

Other treatments

1. Artificial insemination, which is IUI (intrauterine insemination) for the most common form! This option is pretty common to treat infertility because the artificial insemination cost is affordable enough for anyone, particularly if compared with another treatment like ‘in-vitro fertilization’! Artificial insemination uses special method in which semen is gathered and then rinsed by using a special solution, and at the time of ovulation then this semen will be placed into the right place of uterus. This technique will help sperm to get the trip shorter to meet the egg.
2. IVF (In-vitro fertilization)! This method is one of currently available options for reproductive assistance. It usually requires more advance procedures than the procedures in artificial insemination. IVF uses the external fertilization procedure -- in other words, embryo is created in the outside the body. Once embryo form, then it will be placed back into the uterus. Unfortunately the cost of IVF is expensive, and therefore there are only about 5 percent of couples with fertility problems who choose it.
3. ICSI! It is a procedure for case of infertility when the cause or one of causes is sperm-related infertility. In this procedure, a single sperm is (via a tinny needle) directly injected to meet the egg.
4. Using ‘egg donation’! This option is usually considered for a woman who has normal uterus but also has abnormally functioning ovaries. Therefore, there are needed donor’s eggs from another woman. Egg donation procedure usually uses IVF procedure to create embryo, and then this embryo will be placed to the uterus of patient.

Male infertility treatments

Like in female infertility treatment, the treatment for male fertility problems is also dependent to the cause, age, the duration of patient has been infertile, and other individual preferences. The following are some common male infertility treatments:

1. Counseling or medication to treat problems associated with sexual intercourse (like erectile dysfunction)!
2. For problems associated with the level of certain hormones or abnormally hormones, doctor can recommend certain medications and hormone treatments, or even certain procedures of surgery if necessary!
3. Treating infection! This is needed if patient have high level of white blood cells that can raise the risk of developing a reproductive tract infection.
4. If there is certain obstruction in the patient’s sperm transport plumbing, then surgery is usually recommended to correct this problem. Surgery is also common to repair varicoceles.
5. ART (Assisted Reproductive Technology)! ART involves IVF procedure. The sperm of patient is directly taken from his testicle and then will be injected into the egg with IVF procedure. ART is new method, and effective enough for the case when patient has problems associated with the delivery of sperm!

Natural fertility boosters

Along with your fertility treatments, your doctor may also recommend several ways to naturally boost your fertility. Some of these ways may include:

Keep your healthy weight

As mentioned before, underweight /overweight is not good for women who want to get pregnant -- even both conditions can raise the risk of developing ovulation disorders. If you want to get back your ideal weight, don’t forget to do your exercise properly and moderately, because excessive exercise may also lead to decreased-ovulation.

Avoid smoking!

We all agree that cigarette smoking is bad for the health, including for the fertility! This bad habit can bring multiple negative effects for your health. So if you are smoker and you seriously want to success your fertility treatment, you need to stop smoking as soon as possible!

Watch ‘what you eat’ and ‘what you drink’!

There are many factors that can lead to ovulatory dysfunction, and one of them may be your diet. Below are some dietary tenets for naturally fertility booster:

1. You can try consuming high-fat dairy product moderately! Some of high-fat dairy products may include cheese and whole milk.
2. Don’t forget to eat adequate fiber per day -- such as fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grains.
3. Reduce also the intake of refined sugars & carbohydrates!
4. Limit your intake of trans-fat (like fast foods baked goods) or avoid it if necessary! It’s much better to choose monounsaturated fats (such as; olive oil) instead of trans-fat foods.
5. Choose more vegetable protein instead of animal protein! For instance, soy is good vegetable protein.
6. Limit from coffee (caffeine)! Some studies found that caffeine may affect the fertility, especially if we consume it excessively or too much! Some experts believe that 500 mg of caffeine (about 5 cups a day) is linked to lower fertility. If you love drinking tea or green tea, don’t forget that tea also contains caffeine -- therefore you should also drinking tea in moderation! You may also be interested to know how much caffeine in green tea!
7. Limit from alcohol! A Swedish study found that women who consume 2 alcoholic beverages /day in this study experienced lower fertility by about 60 percent of their previous fertility level. Many experts believe that excessively consumption of alcohol can give contribution to impair men’s sperm production and women’s ovulation.
8. Though there are many foods that good for your fertility boosters, always remember that moderation is the key. Furthermore, you still be allowed to drink tea and coffee (depending on your health condition), but remember that once again drink them in moderation!
9. Don’t forget to talk with a dietitian for more in-depth information.

Control your stress!

You are not able to avoid stress in this modern living, but you can control it! Many studies have found that stress can contribute in causing infertility. Stress also can give bad effect to the success rate of your fertility treatments that you take. Therefore, it is so important to control your stress as well, or avoid it if you can! Read also stress can complicate pregnancy!

Avoid using lubricants!

For men, the use of lubricants should be avoided if the goal is to get fertilization. Some lubricants (like K-Y Jelly or lotions) can restrict the movement of sperm. If you need to use lubricants, ask to your health-provider or doctor for the recommendation of safely lubricants!

What else you should know?

There are also many supplements for fertility boosters! These supplements usually contain B-12 vitamin, selenium, vitamin E, vitamin C, zinc, and even ginseng. But be careful, to keep safe you should discuss first with your doctor before taking any supplements. Furthermore, there is limited evidence for the effectiveness of these supplements. But if you have a deficiency, these supplements may be effective to boost your fertility!
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Reference: MayoClinic and WebMD
Image credit to ‘shutterstock’ for illustration