What does routine semen testing include?

Female friends all know that they need to do a gynecological examination to check if there are other problems hidden in our bodies. In fact, for male friends, they also need to go to the hospital for routine semen examinations in the urology department. These examinations can help us better understand the condition of the body. However, our male friends do not know much about routine semen examinations. What kind of tests do we usually need to do?

When a man goes to the Urology Department for a semen examination, the first thing he needs to do is a routine semen examination. The contents of the semen examination are as follows:

(1) Appearance: The main thing to observe is the color. There are four common colors: grayish white, milky white, light yellow, and brownish red. Generally, it is grayish white or milky white. Light yellow with a darker color is mostly caused by long abstinence. If there is seminal vesiculitis or genital tract inflammation, it may be brownish red, also known as hematospermia.

(2) Odor: A distinctive fishy smell similar to that of carob or chestnut flowers.

(3) Acidity and alkalinity: The general pH value is between 7.0 and 8.0. When the pH value is too acidic (less than 7) or too alkaline (greater than 9), the motility of sperm will be greatly reduced.

(4) Liquefaction of semen: Semen is thick and jelly-like when it is just ejaculated. It turns into a thin liquid after 10 to 30 minutes. This phenomenon is called liquefaction. If it still does not liquefy after one hour at room temperature of 25°C, it is abnormal.

(5) Determine the amount of semen: Normally, the amount of semen per ejaculation is 2-5 ml. Less than 1.5 ml and more than 8 ml are abnormal. However, the amount of semen is closely related to the number of ejaculations. If the interval between ejaculations is short, the amount of semen per ejaculation will decrease.

Microscopic examination is an important part of routine semen examination, including examination of sperm motility, morphology, agglutination and density:

(1) Sperm motility test: including normal sperm survival rate and sperm motility. Sperm survival rate is to analyze the ratio of live sperm to dead sperm, usually counting the number of active sperm out of 100 sperm. Since live sperm and dead sperm show different colors after special staining, sperm in vitro vital staining technology can more accurately distinguish live sperm from dead sperm. Normal sperm motility is: more than 60% 1 hour after ejaculation, 40% to 50% 3 hours after ejaculation, and 20% to 30% 6 hours after ejaculation.

Sperm motility is the activity of live sperm, which reflects the quality of sperm. Sperm with good quality has strong motility, and can be seen to have active and fast linear movement under a microscope. Sperm with poor quality is inactive, or has only weak movement. Sperm with good motility can easily move in the female reproductive tract, and can easily reach the female fallopian tube to meet the egg and form sperm, so it is easy to conceive. Generally, the motility of sperm is divided into 4 levels, with level O being inactive sperm and level 3 being the most active sperm. The normal standard is that the level 3 sperm should exceed 40% one hour after ejaculation.

(2) Examination of sperm morphology: Infection, trauma, use of hormones or certain drugs or chemicals, and genetic factors can affect sperm morphology. Varicose veins can also cause abnormal sperm morphology. Sperm with normal morphology should account for more than 70%.

(3) Other components in semen and sperm agglutination: Semen examination also needs to examine bacteria, epithelial cells, red blood cells, white blood cells and immature reproductive cells in semen. Observe the agglutination phenomenon of sperm to understand whether there are anti-sperm antibodies in semen.

(4) Sperm density and total sperm count: The number of sperm per milliliter of semen is called sperm density. The number of sperm contained in each ejaculation is called total sperm count. Generally, it is easier to conceive when the sperm density is between 20 million and 200 million per milliliter.

Regular semen examination can help us better understand our physical condition and prepare for pregnancy. In fact, for male friends, the factors that determine fertility cannot be simply measured by semen. We need to conduct a comprehensive analysis through the results of the examination and then give a more authoritative and comprehensive conclusion. Finally, I hope that every man can have a healthy and happy baby.