Blood in the semen

Blood in sperm is also called by the scientific word "hematospermia". And this concept means the appearance of blood in male sperm during ejaculation.

This deviation from the normal state of a man is not new. Similar cases were described in the early hours of the development of medicine, even in the times of Hippocrates, Galen and, of course, after them. But the very first detailed description of hematospermia was in the works of Lindstone.

Men have different attitudes towards the appearance of blood in sperm. Some are frightened by it and are forced to undertake diagnostic health tests. And some remain indifferent to such a phenomenon. So many people, so many reactions.

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Causes of blood in sperm

In ancient times, there was an opinion that blood in sperm was associated with immoderate sexual activity. Also, according to doctors in the old days, a similar phenomenon is caused by prolonged abstinence or interrupted sexual intercourse. According to modern medicine, the reasons for the appearance of blood in sperm are different than previously thought.

At present, all issues related to the formation of sperm in the blood have already been studied and all mechanisms of this pathophysiology have been identified.

In most cases, the appearance of blood in the ejaculate remains causeless. Therefore, it can be said that these cases do not have a clinical picture of the disease that worries doctors and patients. But in other cases, blood in sperm is the cause of serious diseases.

Hematospermia is caused by the following reasons:

1. Disorders of the prostate gland of various nature.
2. Changes in the tissues and functioning of the seminal vesicles, ejaculatory ducts, testicles and epididymis.
3. Dysfunctions and diseases of the bladder and urethra.

If we dwell in detail on the diseases that can cause hematospermia, they include:

1. Presence of calcifications in the prostate gland.
2. Presence of chronic prostatitis.
3. The presence of prostate adenoma or, in other words, prostate hyperplasia.
4. Diagnosis of prostate cancer.
5. The appearance of stones in the seminal vesicles.
6. The appearance of stones in the ejaculatory duct.
7. Presence of prostate cysts.
8. Existing seminal vesicle cysts.

Men who notice a change in the color of their ejaculate may begin to wonder: why is there blood in the sperm?

This unpleasant state of affairs is associated with the presence of a whole list of diseases. Let's get acquainted with this list. The following diseases can cause alarming symptoms:

1. Some infectious diseases and associated inflammatory processes, namely prostatitis, vesiculitis, orchitis and epididymitis, condyloma of the urethra, as well as urethral stricture.
2. Diseases such as neoplasias - especially prostate carcinoma or prostate cancer, cancer of the seminal vesicles, bladder cancer and testicular cancer.
3. Secondary tumor processes associated with damage to the seminal vesicles: melanoma, lymphoma, renal cell carcinoma.
4. Papillary adenomas or hemangiomas that affect the prostatic part of the urethra.
5. Changes in the vessels, namely with varicose veins in the prostate gland or with telangiectasia, as well as with arteriovenous malformations of the pelvis.
6. Traumatic deformities of the perineum, genitals or pelvis.
7. Various cysts appearing on the following organs:
   1. male uterus (near the seminal hillock),
   2. seminal vesicles,
   3. müllerian duct,
   4. ejaculatory duct.
   5. These symptoms are also typical for prostate cysts, which are observed with prostate adenoma.
8. There are also mixed diseases that, when combined, can cause the appearance of blood in the ejaculate.

These include:

• benign forms of prostatic hyperplasia,
• the presence of stones in the prostate gland,
• the formation of stones that enter the seminal vesicles or ejaculatory ducts,
• history of arterial hypertension,
• the presence of amyloidosis of the seminal vesicles,
• history of hemorrhagic diathesis.

Another reason for the appearance of bloody sperm may be a biopsy. In this case, such a phenomenon is classified as an unexpected complication after medical intervention. Blood in sperm after a biopsy is not a common occurrence, but not so rare that it is not well studied by doctors.

Experts will explain that during a prostate biopsy, blood may appear in the sperm for a while. This is due to the fact that the prostate tissue was damaged. This symptom is not a sign of prostate disease. After the tissue heals and the integrity of the organ is restored, the man can forget about the symptoms that bother him.

In addition, other medical procedures – not just prostate biopsy – can stain sperm bloody. The following iatrogenic actions (medical interventions) that cause disturbing symptoms include:

• The presence of injections of various drugs that are produced into the prostate gland or into the seminal vesicles.
• Local nerve blocks caused by medical intervention.
• Carrying out a lithotripsy procedure – crushing stones that affect the lower parts of the ureters.
• Carrying out sterilization surgery (or vasoresection).
• Carrying out sclerotherapy of hemorrhoid nodes in the anus.

If a man discovers blood in his sperm after sex, he should not immediately despair and start thinking that an incurable disease has settled in his body.

There is a possibility that the blood that is released along with the sperm is not the man's blood. It could be bloody discharge from the woman's genitals that has entered the man's body and exited along with the ejaculate.

Also, blood after intercourse may mean that the man's genitourinary tract is prone to bleeding. In order to verify this or refute the assumed one, it is necessary to examine the following organs in detail: kidneys, ureters and bladder. Sometimes, with such dysfunctions, not only the man's sperm is stained blood-colored, but also his urine.

Prostatitis (prostate disease) is also characterized by sperm staining in brown. The following organs may also have the same symptoms:

• seminal vesicles,
• ejaculatory ducts,
• epididymis,
• the testicles themselves.

Men need to know that changes in sperm color after sex are caused by inflammatory or infectious processes in the pelvic organs. Infections can be both viral and bacterial. Also, the cause of such a phenomenon can be venereal diseases transmitted sexually during sexual contact with a partner. In order to understand the cause of the disease, you need to see a doctor and take all the required tests.

And of course, we should not discount various injuries to the pelvic organs. They can be mild or severe, received in the course of everyday life or during medical intervention. But at the same time, they can cause the appearance of blood in the sperm after sexual intercourse.

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Treatment of blood in semen

Hematospermia, like many other diseases, can be treated. After a specialist examination reveals the cause of blood in the sperm, it is necessary to begin eliminating the underlying disease that caused such an unpleasant symptom.

If any disease is detected that causes blood in the sperm, then the treatment, as well as the prognosis for recovery, depend on the nature of the disease and its severity.

For hemotospermia, two types of therapy are used: non-surgical (conservative) and surgical.

Conservative methods are used for certain diseases. For example, treatment of blood in sperm in prostatitis requires the appointment of antibacterial therapy. If the cause of hematospermia is prostate adenoma, then completely different drugs will be suitable in this case. These include medications that will help reduce the degree of obstruction of the urinary tract.

It happens that poor blood clotting is revealed during examination, and as a result, hematospermia. In the presence of such an underlying disease, only certain drugs are used, which are not suitable for therapy in other cases.

Surgical methods of treating blood in sperm are used if the cause of dysfunction is varicose veins of the prostate gland. In this case, varicose veins undergo a coagulation procedure.

In cases of problems with the ejaculatory ducts, as well as the ampullae of the ejaculatory ducts and seminal vesicles, there are new techniques that use endoscopy during surgical intervention. This auxiliary method is used mainly when bleeding is persistent and constant.

Oncological diseases of the prostate and bladder are operated in accordance with the rules of surgical intervention in cancer. Cysts and stones located in the prostate gland are not recommended to be treated surgically, since it does not make sense.

What to do if there is blood in the semen?

First of all, if a man has discovered an alarming symptom, he should calm down. Those representatives of the stronger sex who have not yet turned forty years old should not panic at all. Because at this age, blood in sperm cannot serve as a basis for suspecting any serious disease.

Experts believe that the appearance of blood in sperm in healthy men under forty years of age passes quickly and on its own. At the same time, treatment of the symptom is not considered necessary.

What to do if blood is found in the sperm? We have already mentioned that you need to put aside panic and start thinking calmly. The next step is to consult a specialist. In this case, a man needs to see a urologist or andrologist. And this doctor will examine the patient and recommend that he undergo some additional testing.

During the initial consultation, the doctor collects data on the patient's condition. At the same time, the specialist collects some data on the health of the man who has come to him. The doctor is interested in the color of the sperm and the number of cases of detection of an unpleasant symptom in the ejaculate. The doctor should also be interested in the presence of injuries that could have preceded this dysfunction. Other symptoms associated with blood in the sperm are also taken into account. In addition, the specialist should ask the patient about diagnostic examinations that preceded this consultation. Information about the medications that the man is taking is also important, especially anticoagulants and antiplatelet agents. And of course, it is necessary to find out the history of the patient's sexual life.

In addition to all of the above, the doctor must inquire about the patient's stay in places with an unfavorable situation with respect to tuberculosis epidemics. It is also important to find out whether the man suffered from arterial hypertension before discovering the symptoms that worry him. The specialist must inquire whether the patient has a history of diseases associated with poor blood clotting.

After the information gathering stage, the actual examination of the patient begins, which is carried out by inspection. During the examination, the specialist must assess the general physiological condition of the man. Palpation is also carried out, which is subjected to the spermatic cords and testicles. During the examination, the perineum area is examined, and the penis is palpated and examined. At the very end, a digital rectal examination is performed, which is subjected to the prostate gland and seminal vesicles.

The next step is the appointment of laboratory tests, which are sperm analysis or spermogram. It is also necessary to take blood tests, which include: general, blood clotting factors, prostate-specific antigen levels. And tests that can identify pathogenic microflora are necessarily prescribed: these include the procedure of sowing, microscopy and PCR.

In the future, the specialist may recommend undergoing an examination procedure using non-invasive imaging methods. These methods include transrectal ultrasound (TRUS) and MRI (magnetic resonance therapy). It is important to know that MRI is more expensive than TRUS, although their diagnostic capabilities are almost the same. There is also a computer diagnostics method (CT). But this method of research, however, has fewer opportunities to detect the true cause of blood in the sperm.

In some clinics, the TRUS method is used together with such a diagnostic method as Dopplerography (or duplex scanning). Also, specialists can connect elastography to these two methods. The entire complex of diagnostic procedures allows for examination of those areas of the patient's body in which oncological processes may be present.

At the same time, men need to know that the patient's age is important in choosing diagnostic methods. For example, in cases of complaints of hematospermia in people under forty years of age and in isolated cases, specialists do not consider it necessary to prescribe TRUS or MRI. Most often, these episodic bleedings pass without any intervention or treatment.

After the patient reaches forty years of age, doctors recommend that men undergo a transrectal ultrasound procedure or magnetic resonance therapy. This must be done because from this age, the likelihood of oncological processes occurring in the body arises.

Blood in sperm is certainly not a pleasant symptom, but it is not always considered a sign of any serious disease. Therefore, men need to keep in mind that no self-diagnosis or self-treatment will work in this case. Only a specialist consultation and the necessary research procedures can establish a final diagnosis and help specialists choose the patient's treatment options.