What is retrograde ejaculation

These medications help keep the bladder neck muscle closed during ejaculation. While they're often an effective treatment for retrograde ejaculation, medications can cause side effects or adverse reactions with other medications. Certain medications used to treat retrograde ejaculation can increase your blood pressure and heart rate, which can be dangerous if you have high blood pressure or heart disease. If you have retrograde ejaculation, you'll likely need treatment to get your female partner pregnant.

In order to achieve a pregnancy, you need to ejaculate enough semen to carry your sperm into your partner's vagina and into her uterus. If medication doesn't allow you to ejaculate semen, you will likely need infertility procedures known as assisted reproductive technology to get your partner pregnant.

In some cases, sperm can be recovered from the bladder, processed in the laboratory and used to inseminate your partner intrauterine insemination.

Sometimes, more-advanced assisted reproductive techniques are needed. Many men with retrograde ejaculation are able to get their partners pregnant once they seek treatment.

Alterations in orgasm are linked with lower emotional and physical satisfaction, which might lead to stress for you and your partner. Retrograde ejaculation can be especially challenging if you and your partner want to conceive a child. While most men can get their female partners pregnant with infertility treatment, it can be costly and require stressful medical procedures for both you and your partner. Talking with a counselor might help.

You're likely to start by seeing your family doctor. Depending on the likely cause of your dry orgasms and whether you need evaluation and treatment to help you get your female partner pregnant, you might need to see a urinary and reproductive specialist urologist. Here's some information to help you get ready for your appointment, and what to expect from your doctor.

Preparing a list of questions before your appointment can help you make the most of your time together. When seeing your doctor for dry ejaculation — the primary sign of retrograde ejaculation — some basic questions to ask your doctor include:.

In addition to the questions that you've prepared to ask your doctor, don't hesitate to ask additional questions during your appointment. During retrograde ejaculation, semen travels into the bladder instead of exiting the body through the penis. During a male orgasm, a tube called the vas deferens transports sperm to the prostate, where they mix with other fluids to produce liquid semen ejaculate.

The muscle at the opening of the bladder bladder neck muscle tightens to prevent ejaculate from entering the bladder as it passes from the prostate into the tube inside the penis urethra. This is the same muscle that holds urine in your bladder until you urinate. With retrograde ejaculation, the bladder neck muscle doesn't tighten properly. As a result, sperm can enter the bladder instead of being ejected out of your body through the penis.

Several conditions can cause problems with the muscle that closes the bladder during ejaculation. These include:. A dry orgasm is the primary sign of retrograde ejaculation. But dry orgasm — the ejaculation of little or no semen — can also be caused by other conditions, including:. If you take medications or have health problems that put you at risk of retrograde ejaculation, ask your doctor what you can do to lower your risk.

If you need to have surgery that might affect the bladder neck muscle, such as prostate or bladder surgery, ask about the risk of retrograde ejaculation. If you plan to have children in the future, talk with your doctor about options for preserving semen before the surgery. Mayo Clinic does not endorse companies or products. Men with the condition who ejaculate small quantities of semen might not even notice they have the condition. Some men report cloudy urine immediately after ejaculating, which is likely because semen has mixed with urine.

Men with retrograde ejaculation may also have trouble getting their partners pregnant. Men who want to get their partners pregnant still have options. Treatment usually begins with removing the sperm after ejaculation; this may involve isolating sperm from the bladder. Some medications attempt to encourage forward antegrade ejaculation.

If these attempts fail, a doctor may try to extract sperm without requiring the man to ejaculate. Surgical procedures for removing the sperm include :. Treatment for retrograde ejaculation depends on the cause of the problem. When men experience retrograde ejaculation due to medication, changing medications usually resolves the problem. When retrograde ejaculation is due to severe nerve damage, it may not be reversible.

Removal of part of the prostate through surgery is one of the most common causes of retrograde ejaculation. About 10 to 15 percent of people who undergo this surgery can expect to experience retrograde ejaculation because surgery may damage the muscles and nerves of the bladder.

Men who have had a radical prostatectomy —prostate removal—cannot ejaculate at all. This is distinct from retrograde ejaculation and occurs because ejaculate can no longer travel to the penis. Some of these are:. If you have severe nerve or muscle damage due to surgery, medications are generally not effective.

Read more: 7 tips for healthy sperm ». Just as age weakens your muscles and changes your eyesight, it can reduce both the strength and volume of your ejaculation.

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