Self Care Articles

Is this your symptom?

• Pain or tenderness in the scrotum or testicle

Some Basics...

• Pain in the scrotum is not normal.
• All men with severe pain, or constant pain lasting more than one hour, should see a doctor right away.
• Men with scrotal pain that comes and goes for more than a day should also see a doctor for an exam.

Cause

There are many things that can cause pain in the scrotal area or testicle.

• Epididymitis
• Hydrocele
• Inguinal hernia
• Lymph node in the groin
• Orchitis
• Varicocele

Two serious causes of scrotal pain are torsion and strangulated inguinal hernia .

• Torsion of testis: if a testicle (testis) turns or twists inside the scrotal sac, it can twist the blood vessels that are joined to it. This can cut off the blood supply to the testicle. This is called torsion of the testis (or testicle). The main symptoms are pain and swelling of a testicle. This is a medical emergency. If this is not fixed quickly, it can cause the testicle to die.
• Strangulated inguinal hernia: an inguinal hernia is a small piece of bowel (gut) that pushes up through a weak spot in the muscles in the groin area. It feels like a soft bulge in the groin that pops in and out. A strangulated inguinal hernia means the hernia gets stuck, and its blood supply is cut off. This can cause severe belly and groin pain. This is a medical emergency. If it is not fixed quickly, it can cause the trapped area of bowel to die.

Pain Scale

• None: no pain. Pain score is 0 on a scale of 0 to 10.
• Mild: the pain does not keep you from work, school, or other normal activities. Pain score is 1-3 on a scale of 0 to 10.
• Moderate: the pain keeps you from working or going to school. It wakes you up from sleep. Pain score is 4-7 on a scale of 0 to 10.
• Severe: the pain is very bad. It may be worse than any pain you have had before. It keeps you from doing any normal activities. Pain score is 8-10 on a scale of 0 to 10.