What Does The Color of Your Sperm Says About Your Health
Your semen color says a lot about your health. Normally your semen is cloudy white, but it can change color depending on a few factors. Semen in its normal form is usually a cloudy white-gray substance. Upon ejaculation semen is thick and viscous, but after 30 minutes it liquifies. It’s completely normal for your urine to have a chlorine-like smell. Semen has a sweet taste due to the high content of fructose in it. Your lady might tell you that it tastes “a lil off” today, but there’s nothing that a healthy diet of fruits, vegetables and water can’t fix.
Yellow Semen
There’s no need to be alarmed if your semen comes out a yellowish color. In fact, it’s very normal. As men get older the hue of the semen also changes. If you haven’t had an ejaculation in a long time you could also experience a yellow tint to your semen. It’s a good idea to take a leak before you engage in intercourse. When a man has an erection your urine stream is blocked, so that semen can pass through as the only discharge. However, traces of urine may leak through and cause you to have a more yellow ejaculate. Other reasons for yellow sperm are jaundice and leukocytospermia (high levels of white blood cells). These are normally accompanied by other bodily symptoms, so if you notice the yellow tint with abnormal symptoms, see your doctor.
One of the more common colors to appear in semen is red (or pink) from blood. It’s never a bad idea to speak with a doctor if you find red or pink in your semen, but many times the source of the blood will be harmless. The primary reason for blood in semen is that occasionally a very small blood vessel in a man’s prostate can rupture, which causes a small amount of blood to leak into the ejaculate. This can appear as a light pink hue or even a small bright red spot in semen. Most doctors will advise consulting with your provider in order to determine if a change in semen coloration requires testing or treatment.
The scientific term for blood in the semen is hematospermia. Although this can be a sign of deeper medical issues for men such as sexually transmitted diseases or prostate problems, this condition is usually harmless. So where does the blood come from? Normally it comes from the inflammation of one the tubes, ducts or glands associated with the penis. The prostate gland produces the fluid part in your semen. Inflammation to the prostate gland is called prostatitis. The urethra is the tube that carries the semen from the penis and when inflamed causes urethritis. Another inflammation to watch out for is epididymitis (inflammation to epididymis)
Inflammations can come from a variety of places. If you’ve been having a lot of rough sex, masturbating like crazy or even a urinary tract infection can cause an inflammation to your glands. Sexually transmitted infections like gonorrhea, chlamydia and bacterial infections are also some of the reasons why blood is present in semen. Medical procedures such as prostate biopsies, vasectomies and injections for hemorrhoids also can be the culprits behind this condition as well.
Changes in your semen color don’t have to be life threatening or reasons to instantly run to the doctor. If any colors are regularly appearing in your ejaculate, or appear with a different (bad) odor with the semen, you might find that you’ve got an infection. However, if you’ve been noticing other characteristics of your semen changing such as smell, viscosity and abnormal colors for an extended period of time, go to the doctor.
