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Men are very lucky! Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has been dominated by men for thousands of years. The ancient Chinese were obsessed with men’s health and longevity. Today, in our modern society, sexual health is just one of many health concerns for men. The aging process increases the probabilities to other male disorders. Men can suffer from health conditions affecting urination, the prostate and testicles as well as impotence.
TCM and Men's Health
TCM is quite effective in the treatment of male disorders. Very often, your practitioner will mention the Kidneys when referring to men‘s health issues. One of the Kidneys’ major roles is to store the Essence or Jing. Jing is considered to be one of three treasures. Qi (the Life Force) and Shen (the Spirit) are the remaining two treasures in the goodie box. The Jing (Essence) is composed of all that which creates new life. Jing plays a leading role concerning the production and quality of a man’s sperm. As all good things have to come to an end, so does Jing. Depletion of Jing comes as men turn the age of 40; at this time, the Kidney Qi begins to wax and wane as well. This is known as the not-so-physiological Men-opause. Although there are no night sweats and bouts of hysteria, this Men-opause brings an increased level of estrogen in the body, which causes various imbalances.
The Kidneys
TCM recognizes the Kidneys as the governor of opening and closing. This refers to urinary incontinence and premature ejaculation. So, to put it simply: strong Kidneys equals good health. Weak Kidneys equals premature ejaculation, low libido, frequent urination, dribbling, or incontinence.
Male Infertility
Male infertility is still considered a bit taboo to discuss openly, but can frequently be the culprit when couples are having difficulty with conception. Quite frequently, men have less than high quality or quantity of sperm. According to the World Health Organization guidelines normal sperm count consists of 20 million sperm per ejaculate, with 50 percent motility and 60 percent normal morphology (form). Fertility may also be inhibited if the concentration of semen is less than 20 million sperm per milliliter of ejaculate. But if the sperm still have the ability to swim, sperm concentrations as low as 5 to 10 million can result in a pregnancy.
TCM and Infertility
TCM principles state that the Kidneys are key players in semen quantity and quality. It all boils down to the Jing!
Causes of Male Infertility
1. Estrogenization of Environment: women take birth control pills (estrogen), and pee it out into the ecosystem. The ecosystem affects all living beings.
Xeno Estrogens - chemicals that transform into estrogenic particles when they hit water. They exist in almost everything…chemicals, plastics, paints, etc.
2. ******SOYA Consumption****** is rich in estrogens. Soy can create problems for males. Hypospadia (the urethra is malformed - not at the tip of the penis but somewhere along the glans) is 5x more common in babies born to vegetarian women. SOYA is directly related to low sperm production. Did you know that Israelis don’t give soya more than 1x per week to babies?
3. Pregnant women continue to take birth control pills because they don’t know they’re pregnant. Therefore, there is an overabundance of estrogen going through the mother’s bloodstream into the fetal blood.
4. Chemicals in plastic bottles cause infertility, shortened perineums and smaller penises.
5. Aging: male fertility at 40 isn’t what is was at 20. The quality of sperm isn’t as good either; lousy sperm = more problems with pregnancies and schizophrenia.
6. Iodine: added to salt; reduces the size of the testicles.
7. Testicle Size: larger testicles than average have more sexual affairs than guys with smaller testicles. Sorry, size DOES matter….
8. Disposable diapers should be avoided; they’re plastic so it raises the scrotal temperature of a male child.
9. Scrotal Temperature: ****It takes 72-74 days to produce sperm (spermatogenesis). This requires lower body temperature; anything that raises the temperature can cook the sperm. Laptop computers and sitting with their legs together makes cooked sperm.
10. Hormonal, medicinal drugs (check them out with your local pharmacist), recreational drugs (marijuana reduces sperm counts - the waist waggles too soon on the sperm, then goes dead!)
11. Variocele - varicose veins in the testicles. 25-40% of primary infertility is caused by varioceles. In this case, men can’t father the first child. 80% of these guys can’t father the 2nd child. Test Yourself for Varioceles: hold your nose and do valsalva movement (push down as if your are having a difficult bowel movement), then varicose veins in penis will be visible, if there are any present.
12. Ductal Obstruction - can lead to infertility. Abdominal or/and pelvic surgery: causes an auto immune, anti sperm reaction in body. Impairs sperm’s ability to fertilize an egg. 70% of vasectomy repairs have this auto immune response.
88% of extreme bikers have cysts, calcification and scars and limited sperm motility.
***Anything that causes excessive heat will affect sperm production.***
Helpful Hints Regarding Semen Tests: tests should be performed 2 times so that you don’t get false readings. NOTE: after a week of ejaculation, the sperm gets old. 3-7 days after a previous ejaculation is the best time to ejaculate into a container. Home testing kits are now available but you will not obtain a full reading, but you will get the motility reading.
Tips For the Impotent Male:
Don’t use plastics
Don’t use commercial cleaning products
Eat organic food
No soy!
SELF HELP FOR MEN
Stop smoking tobacco products
No marijuana smoking
Stop heavy alcoholic consumption (drinking 1 week before conception dramatically increases probabilities of miscarriages): Miscarriage rates increase 5% when: 10 or more drinks/week for a woman. 15 or more drinks/week for a man is excessive.
***Avoid excessive exercise - this raises body temperature and lowers testosterone
***Avoid saunas, tight underwear, laptops, zinc and vitamin C & B12 supplements.
***Achieve an ideal weight: this goes for under AND over weight men
****Visit your acupuncturist; the combination of Acupuncture and Chinese Herbal Formulaes can assist you in the road to fertility!
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