Is Impotency Different from Infertility?

Yes, impotency and infertility are different terms, commonly mistook as synonyms. Below is an overview on the terminology, the effects and how to tackle the same.

Infertility:
Infertility is the inability to have children despite trying for a long time. It could be due to too little or too many eggs produced during ovulation in a woman or due to tuberculosis or uterus/fallopian tube infections. In men, it could be due to problems like sperm count, sperm motility, performance anxiety, lack of libido etc. Smoking can worsen infertility.

Hormonal therapies, IVF, injecting sperms into the egg or other medical and surgical interventions will help tackle infertility.

Impotency:
In men, impotency is characterized by inability to perform well during intercourse or inability to ejaculate. In women, it is manifested as low libido, painful intercourse or inability to reach an orgasm. Impotency is a sexual dysfunction, which is triggered by psychological factors like stress, exhaustion or other factors like diabetes, excessive consumption of alcohol and overuse of anti-depressants in men. In women, it is caused due to low estrogen levels or change in vaginal tissue post pregnancy or during menopause.

While lifestyle changes and techniques to address stress and anxiety issues will help tackle impotency in men, counseling women to deal with the fear of intercourse and pain will help take the problem out of the way and deal with impotency issues.