# Why does a blow to the testicles cause nausea? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [May 28, 2010, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-a-blow-to-the-testicles-cause-nausea/541045 "2010-05-28T05:59:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![antonio107](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7ea924/32.png) [@antonio107](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antonio107)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-a-blow-to-the-testicles-cause-nausea/541045/1 "2010-05-28T05:59:44Z")
> [@](#): > > It’s a bit of an overreaction, if you ask me. Serious testicular injury is, thankfully, fairly rare. The testes are flexible and move freely, enabling them to withstand rough treatment. A review of 5,400 reported sports injuries to boys aged five to 18 during the 1990s found hundreds of abdominal injuries but zero testicular injuries (Wan et al, 2003). I’m wondering to myself about the methodology used for collecting this data. What defines a “serious” injury? I suspect it may be skewed; if I took a baseball to the mouth in little league, my mum would have been more inclined to take me to the doctor (or dentist) than for a baseball to the nuts. It’s painful (and potentially serious), but it’s the thought that it’s nothing a little ice won’t relieve. Maybe I’m completely off base on that, but it seems impossible that the number is so low. As an aside, I’m sure these statistics are of ZERO consolation to Sami Salo. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-a-blow-to-the-testicles-cause-nausea/541045/2 "2010-05-28T06:11:35Z")
It’s always helpful to link to the column being commented on: > **[Why does a blow to the testicles cause nausea? Why aren’t they better protected?](https://www.straightdope.com/21344033/why-does-a-blow-to-the-testicles-cause-nausea-why-aren-t-they-better-protected)** Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![oceanclub](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/0ea827/32.png) [@oceanclub](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oceanclub)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 10:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-a-blow-to-the-testicles-cause-nausea/541045/3 "2010-05-28T10:17:58Z")
Ouch; even just _reading_ this column gave me a pain in the you know whats. (I get the same effect looking down from a great height, which always amuses the wife.) P. ---
**Author:** ![Drew\_Kit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@Drew\_Kit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drew_Kit)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-a-blow-to-the-testicles-cause-nausea/541045/4 "2010-05-28T10:56:08Z")
Cecils advice “One thing’s for sure: if testicular pain persists for more than an hour, seek medical attention without further delay” is perhaps the most redundant advce ever. One of my friends somehow got his testes wrapped around each other. After five minutes our entire village heard his screams, and he was told if he hadn’t got to hospital straight away then he would have lost at least one of them. He’d previously been badly burned over half his body and he said the pain was comparable. Personally, although I’ve been struck there before in combat, I’ve never felt any pain, maybe I’ve just been lucky. Maybe I’ve just turned them to gristle as I have felt short, intense pain there after over-using them in the activitiy they were intended for. I had a vasectomy under local anaesthetic, and the anaesthetic was the worst part, it felt like the surgeon was frying them. ---
**Author:** ![Sparky812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Sparky812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky812)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-a-blow-to-the-testicles-cause-nausea/541045/5 "2010-05-28T11:21:37Z")
I thought the same thing… zero cases? While rare, there has to of been some cases, my guess is that they’re either not reported or reported as something else (such as an abdominal injury). That said, I got this joke today in my inbox. Enjoy! On this past Sunday morning the pastor asked if anyone in the congregation would like to express praise for answered prayers… Phyllis stood and walked to the podium. She said, “I have a Praise. Two months ago, my husband, Bob, had a terrible bicycle wreck and his scrotum was completely crushed. The pain was excruciating and the doctors didn’t know if they could help him.” You could hear a muffled gasp from the men in the congregation as they imagined the pain that poor Bob must have experienced. “Bob was unable to hold me or the children,” she went on, “and every move caused him terrible pain. We prayed as the doctors performed a delicate operation, and it turned out they were able to piece together the crushed remnants of Bob’s scrotum, and wrap wire around it to hold it in place.” Again, the men in the congregation were unnerved and squirmed uncomfortably as they imagined the horrible surgery performed on Bob. “Now,” she announced in a quavering voice, “thank the Lord, Bob is out of the hospital and the doctors say that with time, his scrotum should recover completely.” All the men sighed with relief. The pastor rose and tentatively asked if anyone else had something to say. A man stood up and walked slowly to the podium. He said, “I’m Bob.” The entire congregation held its breath. “I just want to tell my wife that the word is sternum.” ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-a-blow-to-the-testicles-cause-nausea/541045/6 "2010-05-28T11:26:18Z")
It doesn’t. In my case it cause laughter. Oh, you mean my own testicles… ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-a-blow-to-the-testicles-cause-nausea/541045/7 "2010-05-28T12:23:26Z")
OK, did any other men reading the column reflexively double over and cross their legs at several points reading? ---
**Author:** ![JoeH2O](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@JoeH2O](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoeH2O)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-a-blow-to-the-testicles-cause-nausea/541045/8 "2010-05-28T12:29:43Z")
That reminds me of the advice printed in a magazine once called “medical symptoms you should not ignore!” that included “loss of height” and “rectal bleeding”. “Hmm, I’m a foot shorter today, and also now appear to be left handed, I’m sure it’s fine!” ---
**Author:** ![zer0vector](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ea5d25/32.png) [@zer0vector](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zer0vector)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-a-blow-to-the-testicles-cause-nausea/541045/9 "2010-05-28T12:55:34Z")
Wow. My girlfriend (now wife!) and I sent this question in 6 years ago. I’d totally forgotten about it. If I hadn’t kept up the forwarding on my college email address I never would have known. Yay! I feel like such a celebrity. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-a-blow-to-the-testicles-cause-nausea/541045/10 "2010-05-28T13:23:39Z")
> [@bup](#): > > OK, did any other men reading the column reflexively double over and cross their legs at several points reading? God, yes. I was reading this over breakfast and my kids were laughing hysterically at my gasps, facial contortions, and so on. Jeez, what a brutal column. And the illustration! Ouch! > [@zer0vector](#): > > Wow. My girlfriend (now wife!) and I sent this question in 6 years ago. I’d totally forgotten about it. If I hadn’t kept up the forwarding on my college email address I never would have known. Yay! I feel like such a celebrity. Congrats! ---
**Author:** ![BunnyTVS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BunnyTVS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BunnyTVS)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-a-blow-to-the-testicles-cause-nausea/541045/11 "2010-05-28T14:07:41Z")
> [@The Grand Master](#): > > However, when injuries to the testicles do happen, they’re bad. Three main types of things can happen: blunt trauma, which is what it sounds like; penetrating trauma (gunshots and such); and degloving injury, which may occur when the scrotum is caught in machinery and about which I’ll say no more. My sister works in the urology department at a large hospital. She told me this tale a few weeks ago.\* A patient was admitted to casualty after he had tried to lubricate his testicles. **Not** his scrotum, his _testicles._ To accomplish this he first had to gain access to said spheres. This was acheived with the help of a pair of nail clippers. Once a perforation was made he took a can of WD40 with a straw attatchment, and filled his sack with oily goodness. My question is, which of the three injuries listed above does this fall into? _I make no claim as to whether or not she was talking bollocks._\* \*\*Sorry, couldn’t resist. ---
**Author:** ![Deeg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/deeg/32/2955_2.png) [@Deeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deeg)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-a-blow-to-the-testicles-cause-nausea/541045/12 "2010-05-28T15:32:53Z")
I winced through that entire article. ---
**Author:** ![giggity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b487fb/32.png) [@giggity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/giggity)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-a-blow-to-the-testicles-cause-nausea/541045/13 "2010-05-28T17:12:53Z")
I have to comment on this: “In other words, some pain impulses race up to your brain to inform you that you’ve absorbed a jolt to the vitals, while others branch off to the gut and make you feel sick and possibly vomit, in case there was any lingering doubt.” That’s not quite the way the nervous system works. Except for cranial nerves, all nerve impulses are routed to the spine, and those that don’t result in an immediate reflex, are routed to the brain for interpretation. All pain is interpreted, or felt, in the brain as a result of information gathered from sensory neurons in the body. It’s in the brain that a feeling of testicle pain might be construed to also mean abdominal pain. ---
**Author:** ![Sparky812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Sparky812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky812)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-a-blow-to-the-testicles-cause-nausea/541045/14 "2010-05-28T17:22:10Z")
> [@giggity](#): > > I have to comment on this: > > “In other words, some pain impulses race up to your brain to inform you that you’ve absorbed a jolt to the vitals, while others branch off to the gut and make you feel sick and possibly vomit, in case there was any lingering doubt.” > > That’s not quite the way the nervous system works. Except for cranial nerves, all nerve impulses are routed to the spine, and those that don’t result in an immediate reflex, are routed to the brain for interpretation. All pain is interpreted, or felt, in the brain as a result of information gathered from sensory neurons in the body. It’s in the brain that a feeling of testicle pain might be construed to also mean abdominal pain. Did you read the whole article? Cecil provided the cite: > [@](#): > > Here’s how one medical team (Jefferson et al, 1997) describes the situation: “The celiac plexus provides the autonomic nervous supply to the testis as well as to the liver, pancreas, duodenum, gallbladder, and colon. Therefore, testicular pain may result in gastrointestinal symptoms, such as abdominal pain, nausea, and vomiting, through reflex stimulation of the celiac ganglion.” In other words, some pain impulses race up to your brain to inform you that you’ve absorbed a jolt to the vitals, while others branch off to the gut and make you feel sick and possibly vomit, in case there was any lingering doubt. ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-a-blow-to-the-testicles-cause-nausea/541045/15 "2010-05-28T17:25:00Z")
“Degloving.” [http://www.straightdope.com/images/art/2010/dope\_100528\_testes.gif](http://www.straightdope.com/images/art/2010/dope_100528_testes.gif) The horror! ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/73ab20/32.png) [@The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tao_s_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-a-blow-to-the-testicles-cause-nausea/541045/16 "2010-05-28T18:17:45Z")
> [@BunnyTVS](#): > > My sister works in the urology department at a large hospital. She told me this tale a few weeks ago.\* > > A patient was admitted to casualty after he had tried to lubricate his testicles. > > **Not** his scrotum, his _testicles._ > > To accomplish this he first had to gain access to said spheres. This was acheived with the help of a pair of nail clippers. Once a perforation was made he took a can of WD40 with a straw attatchment, and filled his sack with oily goodness. > > My question is, which of the three injuries listed above does this fall into? > > _I make no claim as to whether or not she was talking bollocks._\* > \*\*Sorry, couldn’t resist. Despite all our technology, evolution still finds a way. Also loving Slug’s artwork. Notice one of the pedals on the “Degloving Race” bike is torqued. ---
**Author:** ![Cheshire\_Human](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-a-blow-to-the-testicles-cause-nausea/541045/17 "2010-05-28T19:56:19Z")
> [@The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](#): > > Also loving Slug’s artwork. Gives a new meaning to “Hobby Horse”! ETA: Or “get up on his ‘High Horse’” The question _ **I** _ have is why most men have that involuntary “sympathy” pain/cringe/etc. when hearing about or seeing another man’s “groin injury”. I’m a man, and I have never experienced it. Am I the odd one, or is it not as common as everyone assumes? ---
**Author:** ![Powers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Powers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Powers)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2010, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-a-blow-to-the-testicles-cause-nausea/541045/18 "2010-05-29T20:31:56Z")
> [@Cheshire\_Human](#): > > Gives a new meaning to “Hobby Horse”! ETA: Or “get up on his ‘High Horse’” > > The question _ **I** _ have is why most men have that involuntary “sympathy” pain/cringe/etc. when hearing about or seeing another man’s “groin injury”. I’m a man, and I have never experienced it. Am I the odd one, or is it not as common as everyone assumes? It’s not really that common. I rarely, if ever, have such sympathy pains. Powers &8^] ---
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2010, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-a-blow-to-the-testicles-cause-nausea/541045/19 "2010-05-29T21:59:53Z")
Quoth the Master: > [@](#): > > \*However, when injuries to the testicles do happen, they’re bad. Three main types of things can happen: blunt trauma, which is what it sounds like; penetrating trauma (gunshots and such); and \*\*degloving \*_injury, which may occur when the scrotum is caught in machinery and about which I’ll say no more._ (Bolding mine) Technically I believe the correct word is [avulsion](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avulsion_injury). (The term comes from the Latin word avellere, “to tear off”.) [From Wiki](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Degloving): > [@](#): > > _A degloving injury is a type of avulsion in which an extensive section of skin is completely torn off the underlying tissue._ Such as fingers, limbs and (gasp) the face. ETA: Unless of course you meant that the scrotum sack is removed and somehow miraculously the testicles remained on the body. (shudder) ---
**Author:** ![AllFreedomUnlessDefyingScience](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@AllFreedomUnlessDefyingScience](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AllFreedomUnlessDefyingScience)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2010, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-a-blow-to-the-testicles-cause-nausea/541045/20 "2010-05-29T22:55:57Z")
> [@Cheshire\_Human](#): > > Gives a new meaning to “Hobby Horse”! ETA: Or “get up on his ‘High Horse’” > > The question _ **I** _ have is why most men have that involuntary “sympathy” pain/cringe/etc. when hearing about or seeing another man’s “groin injury”. I’m a man, and I have never experienced it. Am I the odd one, or is it not as common as everyone assumes? I’d say it’'s not primarily sympathy that is at work here. You are placing yourself in the other guys shoes (or should I say boxers?). When I wince, it’s because I’m thinking “oh gods, what if that had been ME?” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-a-blow-to-the-testicles-cause-nausea/541045.md?page=2)