Epididymitis Only Brings About Urinary Problems? Beware of Male Infertility!
Date:2022-06-24 click:0
Jack has been married for two years and has been in good health. But Some time ago, he urinated frequently and urgently and felt pain in the testicles. Jack went to the hospital for a color Doppler ultrasound, and the result was that he had epididymitis. After two weeks of drug treatment, the pain in the testicles almost disappeared, and urinary urgency and frequency symptoms were greatly relieved.
After this illness, Jack suddenly thought that as his wife failed to get pregnant after two years of marriage, would it have something to do with his epididymitis?
The answer is yes. A specific protein synthesized and secreted by the epididymis can promote the combination of sperm and egg. If there is epididymitis, it will interfere with the stay of sperm in the epididymis and affect fertility. The epididymis is not only a sperm output channel but also has the role of giving sperm fertility.
The Role of the Epididymis in Fertility
The role of the epididymis in fertility is primarily the transport of sperm in the epididymis. Pushed by testicular fluid, sperm enter the epididymis. The epididymis is a coiled duct organ that pushes sperm from the head of the epididymis to the tail of the duct wall. In addition, catecholamines and oxytocin can promote epididymal duct contraction and accelerate sperm transport.
The second role of the epididymis in fertility is the maturation of sperm. The epididymal epithelium has a strong absorption capacity, and one of its absorbers is zinc in sperm, so the zinc content of sperm in the epididymis gradually decreases. Zinc in sperm can inhibit sperm motility, so when the zinc in sperm is absorbed by epididymal epithelium, sperm become active and eventually acquire the ability to fertilize. In addition, the epididymis also has the function of storing sperm.
Epididymitis Symptoms
Epididymitis is an inflammation of the epididymis, which can be divided into acute epididymitis and chronic epididymitis. Acute epididymitis manifests as epididymal swelling, pain, fever, and systemic symptoms such as chills in severe cases. Severe pain often involves the waist and groin area, and sometimes it's too painful for you to straighten the waist. In chronic epididymitis, fever and severe pain are less common, but chronic pain and local long-term hard lumps will occur.
Both acute and chronic epididymitis will affect the quality of semen, especially chronic epididymitis, which can cause oligospermia (less amount of sperm) and asthenozoospermia（less active sperm). If there is nodule obstruction, it can also lead to azoospermia (no sperm at all). It can be seen that the symptoms of epididymitis vary, so it should be treated carefully.
Treatment of Epididymitis
Epididymitis must be treated in time. First, the treatment of acute epididymitis cannot be delayed. Otherwise, it may turn into chronic epididymitis. Second, you should know that epididymitis does not heal on its own, and you must undergo systematic and regular treatment to relieve its symptoms and finally get cured. If epididymitis is not treated with great attention, there will be severe consequences. Some patients do not take immediate treatment for epididymitis.
As a result, it eventually leads to azoospermia that damages patients' fertility. Chronic epididymitis is rather challenging to treat, and the treatment time is relatively long. Prolonged chronic epididymitis will also damage the fertility of the patient. So epididymitis must be treated, whether it is acute epididymitis or chronic epididymitis.
Some anti-infective drugs can be used for treating epididymitis, such as erythromycin, doxycycline, and lincomycin, which are easy to diffuse into the male reproductive tract. However, long-term use of antibiotics can easily lead to drug resistance in the body.
If the antibiotic treatment is no longer effective, the herbal medicine Diuretic and Anti-inflammatory Pill is also a choice. It is made of natural herbs that do not bring any side effects like drug resistance and kidney damage, curing epididymitis of the symptoms and the root causes.
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