First of all - I’m not looking for medical advice. I’ve been to my general practitioner and I am scheduling to see a specialist. I’m just looking for other’s experiences on a matter related to health.
So, that out of the way. I got a testicle the size of a baseball.
Noticed swelling several months back and brought it up with my doctor on a routine visit. He checked it out (cold hands doc!) and I got an ultrasound. Diagnosis: Hydrocele. The doctor told me this happens to some men as they get older. He advised that generally, it doesn’t go away and there are not a lot of options. Okay, great thanks Doc and take your hands off now please.
A few months later I did get a nasty chest infection and went on a steroid and antibiotic to help with the icky-ness. I noticed during that time that Lefty actually significantly reduced in size - almost back to normal - and for a week or two afterwards. Perhaps the steroid or the antibiotic or the combination provided some relief… temporarily.
Fast forward several months and things got worse. As he said, it hasn’t gone away. In fact, it has gotten bigger. So I’m going to go see a urologist and I’m quite certain he’ll say the same thing - Yep, you got a hydrocele. In laymen’s terms, a big ol’ nut there. Yes, yes, I know that technically it isn’t the testicle but the sac around it that is full of fluid.
Anyway, any other Dopers had this problem? Did yours ever go away, naturally or through medical intervention? I’m not nervous or scared per se but I got to be honest it is still rather disturbing to me.
My father-in-law had one about 10 years ago. I didn’t see it personally, but my understanding was it was pretty big, too, and he had surgery to correct it. Still going strong.
I had one several years ago, as this thread from 2012 testifies:
I required an operation to drain the hydrocele – an outpatient event. It was necessary – the enlarged scrotum was getting in the way. Pepper Mill didn’t want to have sex (which wasn’t painful, or anything), because she had this feeling in the back of her mind that my scrotum would burst like a strained waterballooon (Hah! The body is far too tough for anything like that). And it looked weird.
My son had one on each side (at different times) when he was a toddler. In both cases they were corrected by surgery and he hasn’t had any trouble since. He’s 17 now.
He had to have general anesthesia because of his age, but it may be more of an outpatient thing for an adult.
My son was born with one, which wasn’t visually obvious, and only apparent on palpating (by the doctor); she said it’s not that uncommon for boys to be born with them, and those usually go away. My son’s was never noticeable, although I was instructed to keep an eye on it, and call her immediately if it grew visibly, or if he ever seemed in discomfort.
Went away on its own in about 4 weeks. It’s probably part of the general “newborns have a lot of fluid” thing. He was a c-section, so he was a little more edemic than a typical newborn, because birth actually squeezes fluid out of them. On reason newborns typically lose some of their birthweight before they start gaining is the fluid.
I have no idea whether that makes him more susceptible to getting one as a teen or adult.
Anyway, we were told it should have no effects on his future sex life or fertility.
My dad had a hydrocele repaired years ago. Like the OP, he had it for years, but for most of that time it wasn’t annoying enough to warrant surgery. The surgery was uneventful and they fixed his (probably related) inguinal hernia at the same time. He was a bit sore after the surgery, but not unreasonably so. Full recovery, as far as anyone knows, everything still works.
I had one once, but mine was only about the size of a peanut. Contrary to the OP’s doctor, my doctor said that they usually clear up on their own in a few weeks, and to call him back if it didn’t. It did, and didn’t cause any pain or discomfort in the meanwhile. I wouldn’t even have worried about it to begin with, if I hadn’t been considering the possibility of testicular cancer (which the doctor ruled out by the simple test of shining a flashlight through it).
Maybe it’s just the small ones that usually clear up on their own, and the fact that it hasn’t cleared up before swelling up to baseball-size is a sign that it’s probably not going to.
My son was born with one. Doc said if it doesn’t go away on it’s own, will need surgery. Was still there 6 years later and started growing, then shrinking back. I noticed he would stiffen up or wince if I got anywhere near it while helping him bathe. Finally had the surgery 6months ago. Easy recovery. Back to normal size and no more pain.
Er, um, not to be indelicate, but how does one conceal and manage daily movements with a testes the size of a baseball? Wouldn’t it be visible through your clothes? Wouldn’t it cause all your clothes to fit rather ill? How do you sit? Or ride a bike?
There was a young man of Devizes,
Whose balls were of different sizes.
The one was so small
It was no ball at all
But the other one won several prizes.
Nothing helpful to add, except they are usually easily cured with an incision and drainage. If there is something off with your structure, that too can be remedied.
No, it was easily concealed under my normal clothes, and I could ride my bike with no problems (It might have had the volume of a baseball, but not those regular dimensions. Besides, it was not rigid, but somewhat malleable and flexible, like a tough water balloon.)
The limerick occurred to me while this went on, of course. I would’ve entered one of those contests in order to qualify for the prizes, if only someone could tell me where they were.
My husband had to have two surgeries to correct his. The first one was a simple drain it and see how that goes. It came back, bigger. The second operation, they did something like cut open the sac around the testicle, invert it, and resew it together. The surgeon explained that putting the internal side of the sac to the outside would prevent fluid buildup as the fluid would now be released into an area that naturally drains, preventing a bottleneck or dead end for the fluid. This is probably a horrible explanation, but its how I remember it. Recovery seemed fairly straightforward and he was fine in a short while.
…except, apparently, for half of his scrotum being inside-out.
At least, that’s how it reads to me. Sounds like some weird modification David Lynch would have the Harkonnens pulling on their underlings.
Sounds horrible, doesn’t it? I guess it is an “eversion” not inversion, but does turn the internal sac inside-out. It was a couple years ago, and he’s had no problems since, so it was a success. He’d had a mild hydrocele for years, and then for no reason he knows it just started growing. It was very obvious under his clothes and made his pants not fit right, and frankly it was just almost obscene looking. He has a nice package now.
