Had a bit of a scare recently and wanted to share it here because I learned something I didn't know. But I thought I could do it in the larger context of Men's Health and we could have a thread about issues that more specifically affect men.
I've had a dull ache in my right testicle. It was there for a week or so and wasn't particularly painful, but more just uncomfortable. If anything, it was only if I wore something too tight, so I just avoided doing so and stuck to looser fitting clothes.
That helped, so I didn't give it much more attention, until after another couple of weeks, the problem still seemed to be there and felt a bit worse. So the other night, when I went to bed, I checked my testicle and found that it had enlarged quite alarmingly. If I had to estimate, I'd say it's maybe 20% bigger.
This was very frightening. I did some googling and found that there can be a number of causes for this: dull ache, enlarged testicle.
One of the causes is called testicular torsion. It's more common among young men, and indeed, I remember a friend of mine having to go to the hospital for this problem when we were around 18 years old. It's a serious issue that needs to be operated on immediately.
Other causes stated on health websites include infection, testicular cancer, and injury.
I called my GP the next morning and got an appointment. He examined my abdominal area, pressing to see if there was pain anywhere else, and then examined my testicle. He was applying gentle pressure and I was quite surprised to find that it actually didn't really hurt while he was doing this.
He then asked me to give a urine sample and when he tested it, he found that I have a urinary infection. He explained to me that a urinary infection can cause these symptoms and I just had no idea that could happen. I was also a bit surprised that I could have a urinary infection since I take a lot of Vit C, along with other meds which should be effective against infections.
He's given me a course of antibiotics, of the same family as cipro, which I'll take for two weeks. He's also booked me in for an ultrasound just to make there's nothing else going on. I'm just waiting for the appointment to come through.
I've had a dull ache in my right testicle. It was there for a week or so and wasn't particularly painful, but more just uncomfortable. If anything, it was only if I wore something too tight, so I just avoided doing so and stuck to looser fitting clothes.
That helped, so I didn't give it much more attention, until after another couple of weeks, the problem still seemed to be there and felt a bit worse. So the other night, when I went to bed, I checked my testicle and found that it had enlarged quite alarmingly. If I had to estimate, I'd say it's maybe 20% bigger.
This was very frightening. I did some googling and found that there can be a number of causes for this: dull ache, enlarged testicle.
One of the causes is called testicular torsion. It's more common among young men, and indeed, I remember a friend of mine having to go to the hospital for this problem when we were around 18 years old. It's a serious issue that needs to be operated on immediately.
Other causes stated on health websites include infection, testicular cancer, and injury.
I called my GP the next morning and got an appointment. He examined my abdominal area, pressing to see if there was pain anywhere else, and then examined my testicle. He was applying gentle pressure and I was quite surprised to find that it actually didn't really hurt while he was doing this.
He then asked me to give a urine sample and when he tested it, he found that I have a urinary infection. He explained to me that a urinary infection can cause these symptoms and I just had no idea that could happen. I was also a bit surprised that I could have a urinary infection since I take a lot of Vit C, along with other meds which should be effective against infections.
He's given me a course of antibiotics, of the same family as cipro, which I'll take for two weeks. He's also booked me in for an ultrasound just to make there's nothing else going on. I'm just waiting for the appointment to come through.
)are likely to far outweigh the discomfort you are suffering now from the infection.
