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Question:
I am a 21-year old male and I am very concerned
about how my semen looks. Rather than a thick,
creamy white fluid, my semen is more of a
semi-translucent -sometimes almost clear - liquid that is
very watery (runny).
What does this imply? Does it have any affect on my
sexual health/fertility/etc at all?
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Answer:
by Annette Owens: (05/15/2004)
Let me ask you a number of questions: Has the way
your
semen looks changed recently, or has it
always looked this way? Could it be that you have a
sexually transmitted disease? Do you have
any other symptoms as pain when urinating, or fewer?
Have you had any problems with your testicles during
childhood or later, for example
undescended testes or an infection like mumps that
may
have involved your testicles? In either
case the production of your sperm may have been
affected, ultimately affecting your fertility.
However, it is very likely that you simply secrete an
excessive amount of fluid. The fluid
contained in the ejaculate comes from different
sources: Sperm is produced in the testes and
transported through the vas deferens to a storage
chamber located behind the bladder.
Neighboring glands (the seminal vesicles) produce and
secrete a significant volume of fluid. Even
more fluid is produced in the prostate, and finally,
several glands along the urethra also secrete
fluids. The latter fluids are clear and viscous and
vary considerably in amount between men. All
these different fluids together make up the ejaculate.
It may well be that your production of sperm is normal
(your fertility is normal) but that you
simply produce excessive amounts of fluids from some
of the other sources I have mentioned.
This is not unusual, and some men have discharge of
fluid at an early stage of arousal and before
ejaculation. In some cases the secretion can be so
excessive that it drips from the penis.
To answer your final question, there is a good chance
that your sexual health and fertility is
perfectly normal. However, if you are still concerned,
I would recommend seeing your doctor
about this issue.
Sincerely,
Annette Owens, MD PhD
Reviewed by Sexual Health Editorial Team
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