Every married couple has their own different set of trials in life. No matter how strong your love for one another, life will surely challenge it in some way or another. There are those faced with work-related problems. Others are worried about finances. Then there are some married couple who could not easily start a family.

Conceiving a baby or getting pregnant may look like an easy, straightforward and effortless endeavor for some, but there are a number of couples who find this challenging. Infertility is a medical term used to describe a situation when trying to get pregnant or stay pregnant is unsuccessful. It happens to around 15 percent of the couples in the US.

Its more commonly thought that it is an issue with a woman which can be caused by endometriosis, hormones, or trouble with her eggs. Although this condition is strongly associated with women, infertility also affects men. In fact, 40 percent of infertility cases are solely associated with men.

There are many factors that can contribute to the development or presence of infertility to men. Here are some things you need to watch out for.

Age

The age factor is mostly a contributing factor to female in terms of fertility due to their depleting number of eggs as they go on with their menstruations over their lifetime. But science has now revealed that age is also a concern for men. Men do produce sperm cells all throughout their life but the important change that happens over time is the quality of cells being produced. The older a man gets the lower quality his sperm becomes.

Chemicals

Cleaning can be bad for your health. Chemicals used in disinfecting and sanitizing can affect sperm quality. Contaminants present in everyday household poses the risk of deteriorating sperm quality if constantly exposed to them. Chemicals like flame-retardants, polychlorinated biphenyls and phthalates are some harmful chemical ingredients you need to be careful with.

Sports

Sports are fun, healthy and promote an active lifestyle, but some form of sports are more dangerous than others. Sports that open you up to a risk of getting hit or kicked in your testes, can obviously seriously impact your fertility. It should not stop you from playing though but should be enough to make you more cautious and wear appropriate safety gear.

Bad Habits

We all know that any form of vices from smoking, drinking and even gambling (because it induces the first two) are bad for our health both mentally and physically. When it comes to infertility, smoking and drinking can be pointed as the culprit. These bad habits can cause impotence, reduced libido and low quality sperm. In addition, smoking can cause mutation to your DNA and if it gets passed on to your child, it could lead to some birth or genetic defect.

Water Bottles

Well, not just water bottles but any plastic containers containing or made out of harmful chemicals can contribute to your infertility issue. BPA or bisphenol are widely used in plastic manufacturing. It has an estrogen-imitating characteristic that can be bad to your fertility. Some studies have shown that BPA can cause your sperm to:

• Have lower count
• Decrease in Vitality
• Impair Movement

Heat

Who does not like relaxing in a sauna or taking a dip in a hot spring? Well, it’s all good if done in moderation but if you expose your body to hot temperature for too long or too frequent it could eventually lead to low sperm production. Not only are saunas, hot baths and hot springs you should watch out for, heated up laptop placed in your lap can have the same effect.

Hopefully, by incorporating these easy tips you can help your body and sperm be as healthy as possible and end your  infertility issues.