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Treatments and drugs
By Mayo Clinic staffTreatment for low sperm count depends on the cause. Your doctor will carefully test you, but sometimes an exact cause is never found. Even when this is the case, your doctor may still be able to recommend a treatment that will help you and your partner achieve pregnancy. Your doctor will also want to make sure your female partner has been evaluated. Treatments to boost female fertility can help compensate for low sperm count — and increase your chance of pregnancy.
Treatments for low sperm count include:
- Varicocele repair. Varicoceles are a common cause of male infertility. A swollen vein in the scrotum, a varicocele can cause reduced sperm count and abnormally shaped sperm. Surgical treatment to repair a varicocele can improve the sperm count and increase the chances for a pregnancy.
- Hormone replacement. If the hypothalamus or pituitary glands in your brain aren't producing normal hormone levels, your doctor may recommend hormone treatment (gonadotropin injections). In some cases, it can take up to a year of regular injections to achieve normal fertility.
- Treating infections. If a blood test reveals high numbers of white blood cells, you may have an infection of the reproductive tract that affects sperm production. Antibiotic treatment may cure the infection, but may not restore fertility.
Assistive reproductive techniques. Also called ARTs, these procedures are an effective treatment for men with a low sperm count, because only a small number of sperm are needed. ARTs include:
- In vitro fertilization (IVF). During IVF, the female partner receives daily hormone injections for five to 12 days to stimulate egg production in the ovaries. When the eggs are mature, they're removed from the ovaries and combined with sperm in the laboratory. Fertilized eggs are placed into the woman's uterus.
- Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). Used along with IVF, this procedure is used to inject a single sperm from the male partner into the female egg.
