Most men prefer to ignore pain in their bodies than go to a doctor, but that’s not always the healthiest route to take. When it comes to pain ‘down below’ you shouldn’t ignore it under any circumstances. Most men experience testicular pain just from thinking about it, but the real thing could be a side effect of a condition such as cysts or varicose veins. While avoiding the doctor’s office may be the nicer option, you shouldn’t disregard testicular pain. There are a number of reasons why you may be experiencing pain in this area, but none of them are good or normal. Here are some of the more common causes of pain ‘down there’.
Inguinal Hernia
Hernias are quite common among men but most men don’t actually know what they are. Hernias can occur in various parts of the body, but they usually occur when a portion of fatty tissue or intestine squeezes through it’s container, which is usually the abdominal wall. If you have testicular pain, you could have an inguinal hernia which occurs where the seam of your thigh meets the body. The hernia travels through the same route as your testicles took when the body was forming, which is why you get pain here when this occurs.
There’s some good news here – testicular pain is very rarely a sign of testicular cancer. Only one in ten men with cancer in this area feel pain as a symptoms. Instead, it’s usually detected by you or your doctor feeling a lump. But, for ten per cent of men, pain in the testicles is a sign of a tumour in the area – it may not even be painful, but rather uncomfortable or heavy, or visibly larger and swollen. In addition to pain in the lower back, fluid collecting in the scrotum, and tenderness in the chest, these are signs that you need to have your symptoms checked out as soon as possible. If you notice a change in anything in or around your testicles, you should always see a doctor straight away. Early detection of any condition is always the best way to treat it quickly, especially with testicular cancer.
Testicular Torsion
There are some more serious causes of testicular pain that are considered emergencies, and failure to seek treatment quickly could result in losing a testicle. This is the case with testicular torsion. A strong force of torque isn’t useful when it’s inside your scrotum, but sometimes a spermatic cord gets twisted and shuts off the blood supply to your testicles. It’s very painful, as the name signifies, and you’d struggle to ignore the kind of pain this condition causes. You’ll need surgery quickly to resolve this issue, where the testicle will be re-set and stitched inside the scrotum to prevent future twisting. You’ll most likely have the same procedure in the other testicle to prevent it happening again.
Hematocele
A blow to the testicles is always accompanied by crippling pain, as all men will know. Usually the pain passes and you’re fine, but sometimes the shot you’ve taken to the testicles leads to other problems. The testicles are surrounded by a multi-layered sac, and a direct hit to this area can cause blood to collect between the layers – this is known as hematocele. It can be cured with bed rest and taking it easy, or with minor surgery, depending on the level of discomfort.