DR Zoe Williams, our resident specialist and NHS GP, shares her expert advice with our readers.
Here she helps a reader who has been suffering from testicle pain for eight years.
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Q) FOR the last eight years I’ve had pain in my right testicle which flares up for weeks.
Numerous scans show nothing is up.
At times the pain is so bad I can’t let them examine me.
A) What you have is chronic orchialgia, which is defined as over three months of intermittent or constant testicular pain that is significant enough to affect the person’s quality of life.
It most commonly starts in the mid to late thirties and while there are several potential diagnosable causes, in more than one in four cases no cause is found.
You have had numerous normal scans – I assume these were ultrasounds?
Other tests that might help include a urine sample to check for inflammation or infection; and a blood test to check testosterone and B12 – if these are deficient, replacing can help alleviate pain.
If those are normal then a referral to a urologist may be a good idea, who can consider whether other types of scans may be beneficial.
I would also like to take this chance to educate everyone out there that sudden onset testicular pain, especially if associated with nausea or vomiting, is testicular torsion until proven otherwise.
This is unlikely to be relevant in your case as your issues have been going on for eight years.
Testicular torsion is when the cord that carries the sperm twists on itself, cutting off the blood supply to the testicle.
It is a medical emergency, because if not treated quickly it can lead to loss of the testicle.
While your symptoms may not present as a medical emergency, recurrent issues with pain of this severity require further testing.
E-mail Dr Zoe: [email protected]
