If you know anything about the process of medical sperm donation, you will realize that the criteria for it are very strict. Nearly 70% of men’s sperm quality would fail to meet this standard if they were assessed against it. What about you? What do you know about your semen? Well, today is the day to satisfy your sperm curiosity.

Pretest Preparation

This step is to keep your sperm on standby long enough for the test to be accurate.

2. 0-10.0 PH test strips (if it’s necessary)

Acid-base detection can help you determine the quality of sperm directly and accurately.

3. You’d better not

Smoking, drinking, using lube or condoms all affect your self-examination.

Once the preparations are done, you can find a place you like where you can get your precious sperm out (preferably through masturbation). Collect them, test them, and satisfy your curiosity!

You need to pay attention to the following aspects:

• Volume

The normal semen volume ranges from 2 to 6ml per ejaculate as much as the capacity of a bottle cap.

Whether too much or too little ejaculate, sperm quality is not too qualified. Too little can be linked to smoking, drinking, long-time sitting, mental stress, and masturbation frequency.

More semen does not indicate more sexual prowess. Actually, too much of it could be the overproduction of gonadotropin, or seminal vesicle inflammation, etc.

• Smell

In general, normal semen gives off a faint fishy odor. The smell is mainly due to the presence of amine compounds in your semen -- spermine. Namely, your product doesn’t smell very good. If you can’t smell anything (like the smell of heather or chestnuts follower), it’s actually a sign of prostate or seminal vesicle disease.

• Color

The color of healthy semen should be off-white, and then appear translucent milky white after liquefaction. If yours color is too clear, it may because the sperm concentration is too low.

After a period of time without ejaculation, semen will turn pale yellow, which is normal. But if there is a red or dark red blood sperm, most likely caused by internal tumors, calculus or inflammation. You need to ask the doctor’s help.

• PH value

Normal semen is weakly alkaline, with a PH value of 7.2 to 8. Please note that to maintain the accuracy of the result, you’d better finish the test within one hour after ejaculation.

• Viscosity

Before the semen is liquefied, the healthy ones is gently drawn to a length of no more than two centimeters. If it is raised without seminal filaments or is too thick, it could be a seminal vesicle or prostate lesion.

• Liquefaction time

Semen will slowly liquefy after ejaculation, so as to facilitate full movement of sperm. If your semen doesn’t liquefy after an hour, there’s something wrong with your body. One of the most common factor is lysozyme secretion reduction caused by prostatitis. Or it could be seminal vesiculitis or varicocele.

All right, these are several simple ways to determine semen quality on your own. If you want to understand the full range of your sperm activity, count, etc. , still need to be in the hospital for professional testing.

Reference:

1. How to Test Your Sperm at Home. Page: Sexcheese.com.
2. The 7-Step Checklist to Healthy, Fertile Sperm. Page: Healthline.com.
3. WHO Laboratory Manual for The Examination and Processing of Human Semen. P12-13.