Despite the fact that a chlamydia infection is quite easy to cure with antibiotics, there are many who fail to get the disease treated. Unfortunately, when you don’t immediately take medications for this sexually transmitted infection, it can lead to negative health consequences.

Left untreated, the bacteria Chlamydia trachomatis can wreak havoc on your reproductive system. Your prostate, epididymis, and testicles can get permanently damaged due to a chlamydia infection. Here’s how your reproductive potential gets impaired when you get infected with chlamydia.

Overview

Chlamydia infections are common in the United States, affecting millions every year. The disease is caused by a bacteria called Chlamydia trachomatis and it’s spread through sexual contact.

Although it’s more common in young women who are sexually active, the bacteria can easily infect men who have sexual interactions with infected women. Health warnings about chlamydia are usually targeted towards young women, but men who get infected with chlamydia can also suffer serious health consequences.

Women are warned about common complications of chlamydia like pelvic inflammatory disease, chronic pelvic pain, and tubal factor infertility. However, men can also develop fertility issues when they acquire a chlamydia infection.

Symptoms

In many cases, it can take several weeks before the symptoms of a chlamydia infection start to appear. In men, the most common symptoms of a chlamydia infection include epididymitis and urethritis.

If you get infected with chlamydia, you may also experience pain, swelling, and tenderness in your testicles. Aside from testicular pain, you may also feel pain in your penis when you urinate or ejaculate. If you notice a yellowish or greenish discharge from your penis, that’s also a common symptom of chlamydia.

If chlamydia infects your rectum, you may experience rectal pain. You may also suffer from rectal bleeding and rectal discharge. The bacteria can also spread to your mouth or throat when you have oral sex with a partner who has a chlamydia infection. If the bacterial infection spreads to your eyes, you may develop acquired chlamydial conjunctivitis.

Chlamydia and Male Infertility

The mechanisms by which a chlamydia infection causes infertility in women are well-documented. However, not a lot of people are aware of the fact that chlamydia can also make men infertile.

In men, chlamydia infections are typically found in the penile urethra, which usually causes urethritis or urethral inflammation. However, the bacteria can travel deeper into your reproductive tract and infect your epididymis, prostate gland, or even your testes. When the infection spreads to these organs, it can lead to epididymitis, prostatitis, or orchitis.

The problem with a chlamydia-induced inflammation of any reproductive organ is that it can cause scarring. When this happens, the scar tissue buildup can block your sperm’s path towards your urethra and out of your penis. This is especially true if the chlamydia infection caused your epididymis or your urethra to become inflamed.

When there’s something blocking your sperm’s way, it can lead to fertility problems like obstructive azoospermia. Even though you may be producing sufficient numbers of spermatozoa, if your sperm can’t get out of your penis, then you still won’t be able to fertilize your partner through natural means.

If the infection is located in your testicles, then it can lead to orchitis or testicular inflammation. Such a condition can adversely affect your sperm production. It can also negatively impact your developing sperm.

A chlamydia infection can negatively impact your sperm motility. It can also lead to higher DNA fragmentation rates. This means that due to the chlamydia infection, the genetic material of your sperm ends up getting fragmented and damaged.

Although a high sperm DNA fragmentation rate does not necessarily equate to infertility, it can still greatly reduce your chances of successful fertilization. It can also lead to decreased embryo quality as well as lower implantation rates.

Put simply, if a sperm cell with a fragmented DNA material gets to successfully fertilize the egg cell, the resulting embryo may not be healthy. If it doesn’t get implanted properly in the uterus, a miscarriage may occur.

Researchers have also noted that a chlamydia infection has cytotoxic effects on the spermatozoa. This means that when you get infected, your sperm cells can start dying, thus lowering your count of live sperm.

Another way by which a chlamydia infection negatively affects your reproductive potential is by causing damage to the acrosome of your sperm. You can think of the acrosome as a cap that covers about half of the head of your sperm. The main purpose of the acrosome is to enable your sperm to penetrate your partner’s egg cell.

The egg cell is actually covered by a protective coat. If your sperm cell can’t penetrate through this protective coat, then no fertilization will happen. This is why it’s really important for your sperm to have healthy and intact acrosomes. Hence, a chlamydia infection causes your chances of successful fertilization to drop by damaging your sperm’s acrosome.

Improving Male Fertility

One way that you can improve your fertility is by taking all-natural male sex enhancement supplements. Effective and safe, this offers a great way for men to enhance not only their sexual prowess but also their reproductive potential.

That’s because it is composed of herbal ingredients that have positive effects on sperm production as well as sperm parameters. Maca and Tongkat Ali are two of the main active ingredients in these supplements.

Both are known for their beneficial effects on male fertility as well as for their positive effects on male sexual performance. Tongkat Ali and maca are extremely rich in antioxidants that can help improve your sperm motility by protecting your sperm against oxidative stress damage.

Aside from maca and Tongkat Ali, it also contains Tribulus terrestris and horny goat weed. These two herbs are very popular in traditional Chinese medicine and in Ayurveda. Horny goat weed and Tribulus terrestris are widely used for treating male fertility and sexual potency problems.

It also contains Butea superba, another herbal ingredient that’s popular in Thailand and neighboring countries for its erection-enhancing properties. In addition, it also contains strong aphrodisiacs such as muira puama and damiana.