While retrograde ejaculation is not a life-threatening condition it can cause male infertility. Learn about causes and treatment
While retrograde ejaculation is not a life-threatening or disabling condition, it can cause male infertility. Therefore, treatment for retrograde ejaculation is only needed if you want to restore fertility.
Retrograde ejaculation is a condition where semen enters your bladder instead of exiting through your penis during orgasm. In normal circumstances, your bladder muscles contract to push semen out through your urethra. However, when your bladder muscle fails to contract, the semen travels backward to the bladder. As a result, you may ejaculate little or no semen during sexual climax, which is called dry orgasm.
What causes retrograde ejaculation?
Causes of retrograde ejaculation may include:
- Medication such as antidepressants and blood pressure medications
- Mild nerve or muscle damage
- Severe nerve damage
What is the treatment for retrograde ejaculation?
Medications can effectively treat retrograde ejaculation caused by mild nerve damage associated with diabetes, multiple sclerosis, and certain surgeries. However, drugs may not effectively treat permanent physical changes to reproductive anatomy caused by:
- Bladder neck surgery
- Transurethral resection of the prostate
Medications used to treat retrograde ejaculation work by keeping the bladder neck muscle closed during ejaculation. Common types include:
- Imipramine
- Midodrine
- Chlorpheniramine
- Ephedrine
- Pseudoephedrine
- Phenylephrine
While drugs are the most effective treatment for retrograde ejaculation, they may cause side effects such as:
- Increase in blood pressure
- Increase in heart rate
Medication change
- If you are taking prescribed medications that tend to relax sphincters, you could be at a higher risk of retrograde ejaculation.
- Changing medications or dosage may reverse the condition. However, don’t stop taking prescribed medications without consulting your physician first.
Prescribed medications
- Certain prescribed medications may help enhance muscle tone and keep the bladder neck closed during ejaculation. These drugs include:
- Antihistamines, such as diphenhydramine
- Tricyclic antidepressants
- Collagen injections into the bladder neck
Surgery
- Surgery is not a commonly recommended option and only prescribed when other methods are ineffective.
- Procedures typically involve reconstruction of bladder sphincter muscles.
Infertility treatment
- Infertility procedures may be a last resort if both drugs and surgery fail.
- While this type of procedure doesn’t cure the condition, can help with conception.
- Sperm may be collected from the bladder or from a post-ejaculation urine sample and used for artificial fertilization.
How can you prevent retrograde ejaculation?
You can avoid this condition by:
