Are you a “white lie” guy? Do you tell your mother that her meatloaf is delicious when it really isn’t? Have you ever said, “No, officer…I have no idea how fast I was going…” or “Things would have gone so different if I had been there…”? How about, “Oh yea, I remember you…” As long...Continue reading
OK, the vasectomy reversal worked and your gun is loaded again. But you’re still not conceiving. What’s up with that? Consider blaming the epididymis. The epi-what-a-mis? It’s a small, comma-shaped organ down there whose life was altered after the vasectomy. It used to help fertility, but the vasectomy changed all that.Continue reading
Male infertility and prostate cancer are common diseases in men, both occurring in about 8-10% of the male population. Many of us have wondered whether there is any relationship between the two conditions and specifically whether fatherhood status alters prostate cancer risk. Does having lots of kids “protect” men from getting prostate cancer? Likewise, does having male...Continue reading
One man was in a terrifying logging accident. Another dove into a shallow pond as a teenager. A third was the victim of a drive-by shooting. And yet another was in a horrific car crash. Miraculously, after surviving these unreal incidents, they shared the same problem: a spinal cord injury. And they all came to me for...Continue reading
It is the single biggest advance in fertility technology since in vitro fertilization (IVF) was developed 40 years ago. It helps men with even the most severe forms of infertility to father children. It allows human eggs to begin life when they would not have otherwise done so. And it’s used in the vast majority of cases of IVF nowadays....Continue reading
As he was leaving after his vasectomy procedure, he suddenly turned around. With a big smile, and with the highest bird-chirp-shrill of a voice, he said: “Nice job, doc! Didn’t feel a thing!” And with that, he summed up the grass-roots understanding of what a vasectomy is: a male neutering exercise. Sorry guys, but that’s not the case!...Continue reading
I see a lot of couples for vasectomy reversal procedures. As they gather information before proceeding, typically the partner, not the patient, fires off most of the questions. These queries come in two forms: questions directed at me and those having to do with the procedure. The Dirty Dozen Thank goodness that I’m a data-driven-doctor, because my...Continue reading
As a surfer, I find spending time on the ocean wonderfully intoxicating. The power and pitch of the waves, the size of swells, the shimmer of the sea, all magnificent to behold. But, what’s beneath the water’s surface is truly a whole other world; one even more marvelous than floating on top. And so it...Continue reading
You may do it all the time, but not for academic reasons. Now they’re asking you to provide a semen sample to see how it measures up. If you feel like you’re being singled out, don’t. Truth is, there’s a long history of looking at semen under a microscope. The Dutch lens maker van Leeuwenhoekfirst peered at sperm...Continue reading
We humans like to count and label things. We order the stars above us into constellations. We organize time into hours, minutes and seconds. We name the colors of the rainbow. We track how many steps we take with widgets on our wrists. Maybe it gives us a sense of control over our big, wide...Continue reading