Common female and male reproductive health problems

Reproductive health problems, in women or men, cannot be taken lightly. If the condition has worsened and is slow to treat, your quality of life could be at stake. Unfortunately, during this time, checking on reproductive health will only be carried out when they are about to get married or plan to become pregnant.

Women and men are both at risk of experiencing health problems in the reproductive system, even though they have different conditions. So, what constitutes reproductive health problems and who should you consult if you experience them? Read more in the following article.

Common reproductive health problems in women

Some reproductive health problems that commonly occur in women include:

Endometriosis

Endometriosis occurs when the tissue that is supposed to line the uterine wall grows outside the uterus. For example, this tissue grows on the ovaries, back of the uterus, or bladder.

This condition causes pain in the stomach, back, heavy bleeding during menstruation, and infertility. Not only that, endometriosis can also interfere with the presence of a fertilized egg in the uterus. However, these sperm health problems do not usually attack fertility directly.

That is, this reproductive health problem causes a decrease in fertility through damage to sperm or egg cells.

PCOS (polycystic ovary syndrome)

Reproductive health problems in women can make it difficult for you to get pregnant. PCOS can cause hormonal imbalances that can affect ovulation.

PCOS is often associated with insulin resistance as well as obesity. In addition, PCOS is one of the most common fertility disorders in women.

Sexually transmitted disease

Sexually transmitted diseases are one of the reproductive health problems that may be experienced by women. Diseases that are transmitted through sexual contact, whether anal, vaginal, or oral, such as vaginal yeast infections, gonorrhea, syphilis, herpes simplex, chlamydia, HIV, and other diseases.

Cancer

Cancer cells can grow anywhere on the body, including around the uterus, cervix, ovaries, or vagina. If this condition occurs, an obstetrician will work closely with an internal medicine specialist or a cancer consultant surgeon to provide treatment.

Uterine fibroids

Uterine fibroids are the growth of benign tumors on the top or inside of the uterine muscle. This condition is one of the reproductive health problems that a woman may experience. These tumors can enlarge causing heavy bleeding during menstruation, pain during bowel movements and sex, and back pain.

If you experience symptoms and signs that refer to reproductive problems, you should immediately consult obgyn, so that it can be treated quickly.

Common reproductive health problems in men

Not only in women, men also have various problems with reproductive health that can cause men to be infertile. Here are some of them:

1. Varicocele

One of the reproductive health problems a man may experience is varicocele. These varicoceles are inflammation of the blood vessels that can cause the testicles to dry out. According to an article published in the Mayo Clinic, varicocele is one of the causes of male infertility problems.

This is thought to occur due to abnormal temperature changes in the testicles. Varicocele can result in reduced sperm quality. However, this one male problem can still be resolved, so you can still improve sperm quality and function. In addition, you can also increase the success rate of doing the IVF program.

2. Infection

Another common male reproductive health problem is infection. There are several types of infections that can interfere with sperm production or can damage sperm health. Infections experienced by men also have the potential to cause injury that blocks the passage of sperm. Some of the infections that can cause this condition are the epididymis and several other sexually transmitted infections such as gonorrhea and HIV.

This one sperm health problem can indeed cause permanent testicular damage. However, your sperm can still be saved.

3. Ejaculation problems

Retrograde ejaculation or reverse ejaculation is one of the reproductive health problems that you can experience. This condition occurs when semen enters the bladder instead of out through the penis when you are ejaculating.

Usually, this problem occurs due to various health conditions that you are experiencing. For example, you may have diabetes, take medication, have had bladder surgery, or have a prostate problem. If you experience this one reproductive health problem, you can consult a urologist.

4. Impaired antibodies that damage sperm

Impaired antibodies that damage sperm can interfere with reproductive health for men. There are antibodies that are produced by cells of the immune system. The problem is that antibodies are often misidentified as sperm.

This condition can cause sperm-like antibodies, over time it will try to replace the sperm's position and eliminate the presence of real sperm.

5. Tumors

Cancer and the presence of tumors in your body can also interfere with reproductive health in men. Why is that? The reason is, cancer and tumors can directly affect the male reproductive organs through the glands that produce reproductive hormones.

In addition, in some cases, actions to treat tumors or cancer can also cause reproductive health problems. For example, cancer patients who have surgery, radiation or chemotherapy.

6. Hormone imbalance

Hormones that are not balanced in the body seem to be one of the causes of male reproductive health problems. In fact, this condition can also cause men to be infertile.

Usually, a health condition that affects the levels of hormones produced by the hypothalamus, pituitary gland, thyroid gland, and adrenal glands.

7. Chromosome problems

Chromosome problems also appear to be one of the reproductive health problems. One of these chromosome problems is Klinefelter's syndrome. This syndrome is a reproductive health disorder that is passed down through genetics.

This chromosome problem occurs in men who are born with two X chromosomes and one Y chromosome. In fact, normally a man is born with one X chromosome and one Y chromosome. This chromosome problem causes the formation of male reproductive organs to be abnormal. Therefore, this is a problem for male reproductive health.

There are also several genetic disorders that can interfere with reproductive health in men, such as cystic fibrosis, Kallmann's syndrome, and Kartagener's syndrome.

8. Celiac disease

There is another disease that can be a reproductive health problem in men, namely celiac disease. This disease occurs due to sensitivity to proteins that you can find in food.

If you don't care about your eating disorder, over time you will experience reproductive health problems that lead to infertility.

9. Previous operations

The operations that you underwent before, can also be one of the causes for you to experience problems with reproductive health. The reason is, there are several operations that can prevent you from producing sperm while you are ejaculating.

For example, vasectomy surgery and prostate surgery are two of several types of surgery that may cause you to have reproductive health problems.

Where can you check for reproductive health problems?

Checking reproductive health problems for women and for men is different. This means that when you want to consult a doctor about this problem, men and women must go to different doctors.

Doctors for women dealing with reproductive health problems

If you have the flu and cough, going to a general practitioner can certainly help you get treated. It's different if you have problems with the reproductive system.

Maybe all this time you are confused about where to go if you want to get checked out for reproductive health problems that you are experiencing. The reason is, there are two professional medical experts who are often associated with pregnancy, namely obstetricians and midwives.

Both are trained medical personnel who can help you plan a pregnancy, check the health of the fetus, assist in childbirth, and provide advice when you are breastfeeding. Then, where to go if you want to check your reproductive health?

Before you choose one of the two to get checked out when reproductive health problems arise, it's a good idea to first understand what obstetricians and midwives are.

In Indonesia, obstetricians have the title Obstetrics & Gynecology (SpOG) and are also known as obgyns. They study two branches of medicine, namely obstetrics (pregnancy and childbirth) and gynecology (problems with women's reproductive health).

Meanwhile, midwives only learn everything related to pregnancy and birth, especially those of you who give birth normally.

So, if you want to check for reproductive problems that you may experience, you should choose a consultation with an obstetrician. They already have knowledge about female reproduction that is qualified as well as equipped with complete equipment from the hospital.

Doctors for men in dealing with reproductive health problems

Meanwhile, when men experience reproductive health problems, the men can go to a urologist. In fact, a urologist is a doctor who usually treats both male and female bladder problems. However, urologists can also help treat reproductive health problems in men.

A urologist can help treat male reproductive health problems that you experience, whether those that occur in the penis, prostate, and testicles.