18 April 2023|Golfing with gratitude, Thoughts about
Love nuts, stones, plums, spuds, knackers, gonads or whatever you call your testicles, this post is about making sure you check them regularly. Recently (actually for the second time), I found a lump on one of my testicles, which, to say the least, was a bit of a shock and screws with your mind. For a couple of days prior to finding it, I felt like I had just given myself a groin strain. There was a bit of a dull ache, like a bruise from being hit there, and it was uncomfortable when I was golfing. Then, when having a shower, I could feel a distinct lump on one of my testicles and I was like, WTF is that!!
This is something that you simply can not afford to be embarrassed about. I know some guys may have an issue talking to a doctor about it, or talking to a doctor's receptionist when trying to actually get an appointment, but you just have to do it. This is important. When I explained to the triage nurse what I had found, I was able to get an appointment with my GP the same day and went in to get checked over.
Compared to what women regularly have to go through, having someone check your balls is a pretty minor inconvenience! The warm-handed doctor was pretty certain what I had presented with was either epididymitis or a sperm granuloma. Epididymitis is where the tube at the back of the testicle becomes swollen and painful. A sperm granuloma is where a small amount of sperm escapes from the cauterised vas deferens, the body thinks this is an infection and attacks it. It looks like a bulge in a hose when you stop the water coming out and the pressure builds up. Both of these are pretty common in men who have had a vasectomy with somewhere between 10% and 40% of men getting them. They didn't tell me anything about that at the time!
The important and reassuring thing was that the lump was "on or slightly removed" from the testicle rather than being "inside" the testicle itself. A course of antibiotics was prescribed and an ultrasound referral was made.
With the current issues in the NHS here in Scotland (the whole of the UK really), it took 4 months for me to get that ultrasound appointment (and it was a cancellation in the end), during which time the antibiotics seemed to work and the issue had reduced. I had the scan earlier today and fortunately, nothing untoward was found. There was a hardening of the tubes coming from the testicle but that is common with a vasectomy. The conclusion was that I may have had an infection or a sperm granuloma that went down over time. There was no evidence of a cist and most positively, there were no abnormalities in the testicle itself. So that was a significant relief.
I was lucky that nothing was wrong, but I can't stress enough how important it is to check yourself regularly and see a doctor as quickly as possible if you have any concerns. This is not a laughing matter and something you simply can't afford to be embarrassed about.
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