The testicles are the most important sexual organ of a man, they make sperm, they secrete androgens, they are the root of what makes a man a man. Don’t wait until the disease really comes and then get all the attention. Why don’t you observe and understand it earlier to prevent it from happening?
1. The redness behind the “diamond” – epididymitis
Cause and effect: The back edge of the testicles is the epididymis, where the sperm is temporarily stored after production. Epididymitis, which is common in people around 30 years old, is mostly due to a delayed urinary tract infection by bacteria again, resulting in germs entering the epididymis via the vas deferens lumen. It often follows posterior urethritis, prostatitis and vesiculitis. The location can be unilateral or bilateral, and the attack can be acute or slow.
Your examination: the whole scrotum is red, swollen and hot, sensitive to touch, and burning pain when urinating. The scrotum is painful at rest, but the symptoms are relieved when lying on your back.
Doctor’s treatment: Prescribe some antibiotics to you to relieve the acute pain. Then apply cold compresses to the testicle while padding it up, either with a rolled up sock or medical gauze placed underneath. If you can’t put it on yourself, you can wear a pair of fixed trunks – which will also reduce the uncomfortable cramping sensation in the spermatic cord area. Prevention of recurrence: Although men are much less likely than women to have a urinary tract infection, when it does occur, the consequences can be severe. If you have a burning sensation when you urinate, you must seek immediate medical attention.
2.Bacterial erosion of the “diamond” – testicular infection
The reason for this is the fact that it is caused by the spread of epididymitis directly to the testicles, caused by bacteria. And acute orchitis in children is usually caused by mumps virus.
Your examination: Similar to epididymitis, but the testicular redness and fever are not as obvious and intense. You can visibly see swollen unilateral or bilateral testicles that are painful to press, and the scrotal skin is visibly red and swollen, as well as hot to the touch.
Doctor’s treatment: Since severe orchitis can lead to loss of fertility, doctors will use antibiotics in addition to painkillers; in addition, cold compresses will be applied to the testicles. If the doctor does not treat the testicle properly during the acute stage, bacterial orchitis can form an abscess or turn into chronic orchitis.
To prevent recidivism: children can be vaccinated against mumps.
3. “A few worms in the scrotum” – varicocele
Causes and consequences: Varicocele prevalence accounts for 10% of the number of men between 30 and 40 years old. It occurs 90% of the time on the left side and is caused by stagnation of blood flow in the spermatic veins, resulting in dilatation, tortuosity and lengthening of the venous plexus. Varicocele can also be caused by kidney tumors. The reason varicose spermatocele deserves attention is that it may be accompanied by testicular atrophy and impaired sperm production, leading to infertility.
Your examination: You may feel a vague pain, like a small bag of worms burrowing into your scrotum, or you may feel nothing. However, the varicose plexus can be seen or felt in the spermatic cord area when you stand up. Puffing your stomach hard and increasing the abdominal pressure can see the varicose veins get even heavier; a few will have neurological weakness at the same time. In more serious cases, there will be painful scrotal swelling and back pain when standing for a long time, but it can be relieved by lying down and resting.
Doctor’s treatment: Special examination methods such as diagnostic ultrasound and infrared contact scrotal thermometry will reveal varicose veins, and your doctor will determine whether your symptoms need treatment. This is done either by injecting medication to close it or by tying it up to close the blockage of the blood vessel, which is a minor surgery that requires anesthesia and takes about 30 minutes.
To prevent recurrence: Since varicocele is a type of venous tumor, there is a risk of new varicocele whenever the body repeatedly develops a new one.
4. “Third testicle” – seminal cysts
Causes and consequences: Benign cysts that occur in the spermatozoa that stay in the testicles or epididymis area, swollen and bulging lumps mostly as big as a piece of sugar cube, people jokingly call it the third testicle, which is fortunately very rare.
Your examination: Although no pain occurs, the swollen bulge is like a round ball growing above your testicle and can be felt alone. The seminal cyst is glowing under the light of a flashlight in a dark room.
Doctor’s treatment: There is absolutely no need for treatment. If you insist on getting rid of those lumps, your doctor can remove them surgically for you. To prevent recurrence: Avoid trauma to the testicles and scrotum area. Have a regular sex life and avoid prolonged sexual urges.
5. Excess fluid – scrotal hydatid cysts
Causes and consequences: caused by excess tissue water production between the membrane layer wrapped around one or both testicles. Sometimes it occurs after a testicular injury or orchitis, but in most cases no cause can be found at all.
Your examination: The scrotum appears swollen and bulging, sometimes the cyst can be as big as a soccer, but it doesn’t feel painful. Treatment by a doctor: The excess tissue water can be drained by a minor surgery under anesthesia, in addition the doctor has to surgically close those small holes in the scrotum that are leaking fluid.
To prevent recurrence: none.
6. Traumatic injury that caused the accident – testicular bruising
Causes and consequences: When testicular injury occurs, there will be local swelling and bruising. Also because the scrotal skin is loose and the testicle is rich in blood return, the injury is very likely to cause hematoma and infection. Strenuous exercise or sexual activity or violence can sometimes cause strong contraction of the levator muscle, making the testicle “worse”. After trauma, if the blood vessels supplying testicular nutrition are severely damaged, it will atrophy and necrosis, causing impotence or sexual dysfunction.
Your examination: If you feel severe pain after a testicular trauma, you should use a flashlight to look at your scrotum in a dark room; if the light cannot pass through the scrotum, there is a hematoma.
Doctor’s treatment: You must usually sit or lie down first and check for ulceration or external bleeding. If the testicles on both sides are symmetrical and not misaligned, a broadband can be used to hold them up to reduce shaking and pain; if there is no broadband, old clothes can be torn instead and fixed as long as they are held up; if there is swelling, cold compresses can be used to help control internal bleeding.
To prevent recurrence: even in the first moment you may think: it will not die. But that heart-rending pain will come on in a few minutes, so you really realize: indeed where the problem.
7.Rough blow to the crotch – testicular rupture
Cause and effect: If the following words were really hit by the unfortunate …… testicles are located in the scrotum, outside the body surface, is the most vulnerable part of the man attacked. Closed injury is more common, such as kicking, hand grasping, squeezing, riding across; open injury except for the war years, usually less common, such as knife stabbing, gunshot wounds.
Your examination: you instinctively curl your body and pray that the severe testicular pain disappears as soon as possible. In severe cases fainting occurs, with hematoma of the scrotum and unclear outline of the testicle, accompanied by sweating, nausea and dizziness.
Doctor’s treatment: Using ultrasound examination and palpation, the doctor is able to determine completely whether the testicle has ruptured. Cold compresses are applied first. The doctor will try to preserve as much testicular tissue as possible during debridement. Once the spermatic artery is dissected or the testicle is severely ruptured beyond repair, the testicle must be removed, and drainage must be placed in the scrotum and antibiotics must be administered to prevent recurrence of infection.
To prevent recidivism: strengthen protection below the waist.
8.The sin of zipper – scrotal skin injury
Antecedents and consequences: scratches, abrasions, or abrasions due to zippers.
Your examination: scrotal skin petechiae, hematomas. If the scrotum is torn, the testicles are exposed on the surface.
Treatment by a doctor: Scrotal skin wounds heal quickly and therefore do not require particularly urgent treatment; consult a specialist only for larger wounds. If the skin is not torn, you can rest in bed and apply local cold compresses for pain; instead, a tetanus antitoxin injection, local debridement, removal of foreign bodies, return of the testicle, and antibiotics to prevent reinfection; if the scrotal skin is completely torn off, surgery is needed to reconstruct the scrotum.
To prevent recurrence: avoid trauma to the scrotal area.
9. Suffocating torsion – testicular torsion
Causes and consequences: Testicular torsion is not uncommon and can occur from newborns to the elderly, but has a high incidence in children and in people aged 20 to 25 years. This torsion may be removed due to testicular necrosis. The longer the delay, the greater the possibility of testicular loss of function. By then, even if the testicle is not removed, testicular atrophy often occurs due to the destruction of the function of the sperm produced by the testicle as a result of prolonged ischemia, the essential cause of torsion – generally congenital malformation of the reproductive organs. If the levator muscle is stimulated during exercise, trauma, or sleep, the contraction is enhanced, resulting in a spiral shape of the levator muscle fibers and the weight of the testicle, especially in those with cryptorchidism who have only one testicle exposed, they are more likely to develop this disease. Testicular torsion tends to occur at night or in the early morning.
Your examination: Suddenly you cannot move, feel swelling and tenderness on one side of the scrotum, severe pain that spreads to the lower abdomen, groin or thighs; not only that, nausea, vomiting and fever come and go.
Doctor’s treatment: In the early stages of testicular torsion, a “freehand repositioning” procedure of about half an hour can be effective, but when the onset is longer, only surgery can be performed. Usually after six hours of torsion, the damage is so irreversible that the testicle must be removed. Mild testicular torsion is very painful at the time, but it can be quickly relieved with a little rest and general activities can be performed after bandaging; once it is subjected to heavier bumps, touches, pinches, etc., severe pain can occur and in severe cases, shock can occur. If unfortunately it happens, after treatment, you should also ask your doctor to do a routine semen examination to understand the function of the diseased side of the testicles, which is especially important for unmarried men.
To prevent recurrence: If a man aged 20 to 25 years old suddenly develops a swollen and painful scrotum, he should consider the possibility of testicular torsion and go to a hospital urology department for examination and treatment in a timely manner.
10.Tumor that challenges to the body – testicular cancer
Causes and Consequences: Testicular cancer is one of the highly prevalent cancers in young men. According to statistics, the incidence rate of testicular cancer in men is 7 per 100,000 and is increasing year by year, the cause is usually caused by malignant tumor metastasis. Your examination: pain or scrotal swelling and discomfort without any warning before the cancer, most of them are touched by chance while bathing, and if it is swollen and hard, you should seek medical attention immediately. A few of them can be caused by acute orchitis, which makes the testicles red, swollen, hot and painful, and chills all over the body.
Doctor’s treatment: Firstly, a tumor suspected of cancer is found through ultrasound examination and several tumor indicators appear to be increased. Once the cancer is confirmed, the testicle along with the spermatic cord must be removed. Usually it is rare that both testicles develop cancer, so fertility will be preserved, even if the tumor has not yet developed serious metastasis, early measures must be taken to avoid deterioration. Generally speaking, if the tumor has not yet metastasized, the chance of cure is ninety-five percent. Even if the cancer has spread, the chance of cure is eighty to ninety percent higher than many other cancers.
To prevent recurrence: It is recommended that you feel your testicles from time to time to detect abnormalities early, get a doctor’s diagnosis and treat them promptly, so that the chances of cure are higher. Remember: time is life. In addition, if primary acute orchitis is not treated by doctors, the possibility of cancer should be considered. The testicles are elastic and expand and contract, so the best time to check them is after a hot bath because the scrotum is relaxed at that time.