Introduction
The testicles or testes are egg-shaped male reproductive organs that are situated below the penis in a sac-like structure called the scrotum. The primary function of the testes is to produce sperm and hormone called testosterone. The testicular lump is an abnormal mass that can form in your testicles.
The lump in the testicles is a common condition that can have many different causes. The testicular lump can occur in men, teenage boys, or younger children and they can be formed in one or both of your testicles. They can be formed due to injury or there can be a serious underlying medical problem.
Not all lumps are because of testicular cancer. Most lumps are caused by benign, or noncancerous, conditions. These usually require no treatment and your doctor needs to examine any change in your testicles, especially lumps or swelling.
Symptoms
Nearly all testicular lumps cause various symptoms to occur. The symptoms are as follows:
- Fever
- Frequent urination
- Abdominal pain
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Swelling of your scrotum
- Unusual positioning of a testicle, which may be higher than normal or oddly angled
Conditions which can cause lumps
- A varicocele rarely causes. The affected testicle may feel heavier than the other testicle or the lump may feel like a small sac of worms.
- A hydrocele is painless in infants, but it can cause a feeling of abdominal pressure in older boys and men, it causes swelling and lump in the testicles.
A Lump formed by testicular cancer can show the following symptoms
- A dull ache in your abdomen or groin
- Swelling or tenderness in your breasts
- Heaviness in your scrotum
- A sudden collection of fluid in your scrotum
- Pain
Other Causes of testicular lumps are as follows
- Epididymal cyst-Epididymis is long, coiled tube behind the testicles get filled with fluid and can’t drain. If it contains sperm, it’s known as for as a spermatocele and this is very common which get resolved by itself.
- Testicular torsion-This occurs due to injury or accident. In this condition testicles become twisted. This occurs in boys between the ages of 13 and 17 years old, but it can affect men of all ages. This is a medical emergency that requires urgent investigation and possible treatment.
- Hernia-It occurs due to your bowel which pokes through your groin and this lead to your scrotum to become enlarged.
Diagnosis
The diagnosis is very important as the lump can be the reason of any underlying serious condition. If any of the symptoms mentioned above, it’s very important to consult the physician and get proper medical attention. If the lumps left untreated, they can testicle death, infertility and other serious conditions.
Various methods are used to diagnose the conditions and some of them are as follows:
- Ultrasound-this method creates an image of your testicles, scrotum, and abdomen.
- A blood testis also used to detect the condition causing lumps formation and this is used to detect tumor cells, infection or signs of problems.
- An STI screening, in this method, a sample of fluid is collected from the penis with a swab and analyzed in a laboratory for gonorrhea and chlamydia.
- Biopsy-in this sample tissue is taken from the testicle and then it is tested to detect tumor cells.
Treatment
- The treatment methods depend on the conditions from which you are suffering.
- Varicocele – This drug therapy is used to treat the pain and sometimes surgery is required to remove the tension from the vein of the testicles.
- Hydrocele- This also requires surgery sometime, but it most often clears up its own by age 2. A small incision is made in the scrotum to drain excess fluid.
- Epididymal cyst- It doesn’t require any treatment unless there is pain or discomfort. But sometimes it requires surgery in the surgeon remove the cyst.
- Other diseases also require drug therapy or surgery.
So be aware of the symptoms and consult your doctor in any case of unwanted symptom appearance.
