# swollen testicle **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 15, 2003, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swollen-testicle/155225 "2003-02-15T04:47:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![The\_Calculus\_of\_Logic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/aeb1de/32.png) [@The\_Calculus\_of\_Logic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Calculus_of_Logic)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2003, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swollen-testicle/155225/1 "2003-02-15T04:47:50Z")
Where else can i ask this, out of curiosity? i assume there are a few doctors here. My right testicle is the size of a grapefruit for some reason. This happens on & off for the last few years. It started up again about 4 days ago, i think (not sure) because i started an exercise regime of weightlifting every 4th day & walking 30 minutes a day every other day a couple of weeks ago. Can i see a general practitioner about this issue, or do i need to see a specialist? Like i said, this has happened before, and it goes away, but its a little worse this time. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Calculus\_of\_Logic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/aeb1de/32.png) [@The\_Calculus\_of\_Logic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Calculus_of_Logic)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2003, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swollen-testicle/155225/2 "2003-02-15T04:50:11Z")
This is a total WAG as i have no medical experience, but i am guessing it is hydrocele as it comes & goes. How long until someone ties this post into the other testicle post on GD. ---
**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2003, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swollen-testicle/155225/3 "2003-02-15T04:51:12Z")
You would go see your normal doctor, and he might refer you to a urologist. ---
**Author:** ![js\_africanus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/87869e/32.png) [@js\_africanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/js_africanus)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2003, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swollen-testicle/155225/4 "2003-02-15T04:52:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by The Calculus of Logic \* > **My right testicle is the size of a grapefruit for some reason.** A GRAPEFRUIT?! Jeepers H. Crackers, man! Go to the fucking doctor! Don’t fuck around with any god damn appointments. Go to the person at the desk and show her your nut–you’ll get in. ---
**Author:** ![dauerbach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c2a13f/32.png) [@dauerbach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dauerbach)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2003, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swollen-testicle/155225/5 "2003-02-15T04:56:18Z")
Could be a hydrocoel. More likey a hernia. A GP would be a perfectly good place to start, although one way or another you will end up seeing a urologist or general surgeon, depending on what it is. ---
**Author:** ![Cillasi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@Cillasi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cillasi)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2003, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swollen-testicle/155225/6 "2003-02-15T05:40:04Z")
Sounds like a hernia to me, especially since it began after you started exercising heavily. See your doctor and arrange to have it fixed. Otherwise, lay off the weights! Lay off the weights anyway until you find out what it is. Evidently, heavy lifting exacerbates the condition. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2003, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swollen-testicle/155225/7 "2003-02-15T05:40:16Z")
Get thee to a doctor. A friend of mine had one of his nuts swell after a bike ride. Turned out to be cancer. But take a picture first, so if it ever comes up you can prove that yes you do have big balls. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2003, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swollen-testicle/155225/8 "2003-02-15T05:55:16Z")
The [Joy of Epididymitis](http://www.duj.com/epididymitis.htm). See a doctor. ---
**Author:** ![Valgard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/7feea3/32.png) [@Valgard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valgard)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2003, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swollen-testicle/155225/9 "2003-02-15T05:58:04Z")
I am not a doctor but jeezus SEE A DOCTOR ASAP. A friend of mine allowed his seriously swollen testicle to go unseen for a while before seeing a doctor. Like Rick’s friend he is now undergoing cancer treatment. Luckily he has one of the most treatable forms but that wouldn’t have mattered if he didn’t get it checked out. ---
**Author:** ![Fuel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/df705f/32.png) [@Fuel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuel)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2003, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swollen-testicle/155225/10 "2003-02-15T06:02:05Z")
You asked this out of curiosity? What if you had a little gargoyle head on your shoulder talking to you like in those hard lemonade commercials… would you ask us what that was out of curiosity? Geez! You my friend need to seek help… uh, medical help!!! ---
**Author:** ![The\_Calculus\_of\_Logic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/aeb1de/32.png) [@The\_Calculus\_of\_Logic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Calculus_of_Logic)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2003, 8:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swollen-testicle/155225/11 "2003-02-15T08:20:57Z")
well, i dont look at it as ‘hella’ urgent because, as i’ve said, it comes & goes. I know this isn’t the first time this has happened, because i distinctly remember looking up testicular torsions (symptomology includes greatly swollen testicle) on the internet a few years ago, and i can think of other instances where this has happened. If this just happened for the first timea few days ago i’m sure i’d be more worried than i am. I doubt its cancer. testicular cancer lumps are minute in size. besides, it would be a tumor the size of a grapefruit that appeared in the course of a few days, and that comes & goes in size. Hell if i know though i’m not a doctor. Funny thing is i thought this was normal, i’ve had it as long as i can remember. You mean both your balls are supposed to be the size of grapes? I shall go listen to ‘big balls’ by AC/DC. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2003, 8:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swollen-testicle/155225/12 "2003-02-15T08:43:37Z")
Let me put it this way. If it happened to me, I would run screaming to the nearest emergency room and offer my left nut to have them check it out! ---
**Author:** ![Burnt\_Toast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ba8739/32.png) [@Burnt\_Toast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Burnt_Toast)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2003, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swollen-testicle/155225/13 "2003-02-15T10:38:13Z")
I, like the others, recommend you go to your local GP and get it checked out. Who knows, you might need to go to get an ultra-sound and have a nice young lady ultrasonist rub warm jelly into your scrotum, like I did. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2003, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swollen-testicle/155225/14 "2003-02-15T12:11:41Z")
You rubbed warm jelly onto the scrotum of **The Calculus of Logic**? Small world! ---
**Author:** ![bong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e9bcb4/32.png) [@bong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bong)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2003, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swollen-testicle/155225/15 "2003-02-15T14:03:43Z")
Swollen Testicle is a great name for a band. I have no idea how to help. ---
**Author:** ![3waygeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/e95f7d/32.png) [@3waygeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3waygeek)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2003, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swollen-testicle/155225/16 "2003-02-15T14:56:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by The Calculus of Logic \* > **This is a total WAG as i have no medical experience, but i am guessing it is hydrocele as it comes & goes.** A way to get a preliminary diagnosis is to use a small flashlight or penlight to illiuminate the scrotum. Put the light against the back of the scrotum (the side with the suspect testicle, of course) – if the scrotum is filled with fluid, that side of the scrotum will glow as the light is reflected/refracted through the fluid. I had a hydrocele when I was 18, and the doc diagnosed it in exactly that way. That’s not to say you shouldn’t see a doctor, because it could be something else. Hydroceles can be surgically corrected; mine was, and I was laid up for a couple weeks. As you might expect, there was quite a bit of pain in the first week or so. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2003, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swollen-testicle/155225/17 "2003-02-15T15:21:50Z")
Do you [develop superpowers when it swells up](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=163080&highlight=hamster) ? ---
**Author:** ![japatlgt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df705f/32.png) [@japatlgt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/japatlgt)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2003, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swollen-testicle/155225/18 "2003-02-15T18:39:28Z")
If one of my boys gets to even the size of a mandarin orange I’m limping to a care center. I assume this is extremely painful? It may come and go and all but I’d really want to know what was going on. ---
**Author:** ![3waygeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/e95f7d/32.png) [@3waygeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3waygeek)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2003, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swollen-testicle/155225/19 "2003-02-15T19:48:43Z")
**japatlgt** , hydroceles aren’t painful at all. In fact, the fluid actually cushions the testicle; it’s almost like having a built-in cup. Before mine was removed, my right side of my scrotum was about the size of a tennis ball (or a mandarin orange ;)). Since I don’t make a habit of checking other guys’ sacks, it didn’t seem too out of the ordinary to me. However, if it had gotten to grapefruit size, I think I’d have been a bit worried. ---
**Author:** ![Yeah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/dbc845/32.png) [@Yeah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yeah)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2003, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swollen-testicle/155225/20 "2003-02-15T23:14:23Z")
Cal, your assessment may be quite reasonable, and the advice given by Burnt and 3way may also be reasonable, but don’t you think you really need to have a physician examine you? You could start with a GP/FP (and you may have to depending on your medical plan) but it sounds like you will end up in the hands of a urologist eventually anyway for three reasons: (1) a non-urologist may not be willing to tell you that it is definitely not cancer, (2) it’s probably not going to get better on its own so you will need to have a urologist fix it unless you want to go through the rest of your life with an intermittently gargantuan testicle, (3) it may be a condition that needs to be fixed to prevent ccomplications. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swollen-testicle/155225.md?page=2)