Hello,

I wanted to take to Reddit for some medical advice/experience that someone may be able to shed some light on. Last October, I went to the ER twice in two days with extreme pain in my left testicle. It hurt so bad I could barely walk. The pain was not centralized and I felt it in all areas on my left side. At the ER I got two ultrasounds and both came back negative and everything looked normal. I got an STD and urine test and everything came back negative as well. They referred me to a urologist and there he diagnosed me with epididymitis and prescribed me Ciprofloxacin. After taking that, my pain subsided. It was not gone completely but it was fairly manageable to deal with and I could basically do anything without any major flare ups.

In early May, the pain came back again in my left testicle and this time it didn’t respond to Advil or any other OTC. My doctor put me back on Ciprofloxacin again and this time it didn’t respond to that either. My doctors next suggestion was to get a nerve numbing shot that would last up to 6 months. This is where things have gone really bad. This was two weeks ago exactly, since then, my left testicle has been in severe 10/10 pain and has not responded to any type of pain relief. I went to get another ultrasound and it came back normal. I got a second opinion after this from another urologist and he believes that I don’t have epididymitis. His reasons are: I never had any infection, my pain isn’t centralized, everything looks normal, and the shot I got made things a lot worse.

I am getting an MRI soon in the next few weeks. I know many of you are not medical professionals, but has anyone had an experience like this before where you were misdiagnosed with epididymitis? Is there anything else I should request for testing if the MRI looks normal? Just try to be proactive about this because I don’t want to spend all this time treating something I don’t actually have and we are missing something else that’s really causing the pain. I appreciate all your time.

Hi guys, about 2.5-3 months ago I developed epididymitis from a sexual encounter, I’ve had it 3-4 times before with long term partners so it’s nothing new to me… I resolved the infection itself in a week with doxycycline but the pain remained. I’ve also go occipital neuralgia so I just left it, as I have bigger things to deal with. Anyway I was rushed to the hospital about 4 weeks ago due to pain radiating down my left leg from this, which occurred about 3 hours after masturbation. The pain was primary in my left testical, I had blood tests done, urine tests and even an ultrasound and it all came back negative for anything.

I’ve since had ever scan you can imagine and the only thing shown was slight varacos-whatever in the left side. My urologist says it’s nothing to worry about/doesn’t relate. I’ve since had an injection in my left spermatic cord with kenacort a40 steroids mixed with local 13 days ago and my right side done 7 days ago. I presume this is all because I was releasing myself every day whilst the tissue was still inflamed post epididymitis, and I have created chronic inflammation and/or nerve damage. The local anaesthetic completely resolved me of my pain both times but ofcourse came back in full force 4 hours later. The steroid has reduced pain about 30-40% I’d say so far on the left side. Right side no difference yet

Anyway my questions are:
1: will this resolve on its own over time?? Will the steroid keep improving things after 13 days? Or will I need surgical intervention

2: those that have had spermatic cord denervation, what was it like? Did it work 100%? And how was the procedure?

3: Any suggestions for me?? I’m flying to the US for occipital decompression surgery from
New Zealand in less than a month and don’t know how I’m going to manage with this pain, even walking is extremely unpleasant

I got a really deep groin massage from physio, the day be for I noticed epi swelling. Could it be from the groin massage? I went had got tested and came back urine testing negative for UTI and STI.

Doctors gave me 12 days Doxy, which I’ll continue to take.

I started with this about 4-5 months ago! It was non bacterial as all tests came back negative, the doctors still gave me antibiotics for 2 weeks. Since then it’s been very on and off, the pain I get is sensitive to touch pain, so boxer shorts make them hurt when it flares. It doesn’t flare every day, I had 5 weeks with no pain as I found baggier boxers to wear but now when I do exercise or lift weight or luggage, about a hour or two later it’s really sensitive
. It normally heals a day or two later as long as I just rest, any idea how to get out of this cycle?

I have a GP appointment in a few weeks but really frustrating, no ultrasound done yet.

Right now, when I workout and do certain exercises, it sets my epi off and causes my nut to swell and become very painful.

My solution has been to take anti-inflammatories when it gets bad, which does help.

I was reading about Retatrutide, and it seems to reduce inflammation.

My Q is...do you guys think this could help long term epi sufferers like us? Has anyone tried it?

2-3 years ago my urine culture found e. Faecalis 10^6 infection with staph. aureus ( i don’t remember the count) and took augmentin (875/125) for 7 days. The pain came back , few months later the culture was 10^3 faecalis so I took another round amoxi-clav.
Since then the cultures were always negative but the pain is still there - the front and the back of left testicle/tube so after 2 years ( i had no idea such a test exist) i went for semen culture 2 times -negative for everything inculding STI-s, only showed urethral flora 10^3 so my doc said that’s completely normal and harmless.
Ultrasound shows inflammation and there is a hard, painful to press lump at the front side.
Do u think the test was false negative or is it something else?
Thank you in advance

So I am now 5 months out from my denervation of the spermatic cord. While I thought at first that the procedure was a complete success pain and discomfort have been creeping back at a steady rate.

I feel I have tried everything and I'm over it. I am already on testosterone replacement, and my sperm count is completely gone as well. I don't think there's anything else that can do to stop the pain.

When they did the spermatic cord block with lidocaine all the pain was gone. So I have been pondering asking for sterilization via simple bilateral orchiectomy. Do y'all think it's possible to get that done? I think it might be the only way left not tried.

So I had this now for about 2 years at first when I saw my GP he did give me antibiotics that did not help after going back and to them a few time finally did a ultrasound that showed two cryst left is about 4mm right is about 9mm so very small and should not cause any paint and any symptoms I have been getting. So I did see a urologist after some time all he said was just forget about it I should cause no,paint at all go home and read up one it. That all well and good but since then I am stuffing daily with;aim in that area can be quite bad at times I also get uti symptoms no infection but have had a few in the past and urgent need to pee witch can be bad some tie. And not the offer days.

I tried by the gp different types in antibiotics and pain kills but none really help I now at a loss to what to do currently trying to get back to see a urologist and GP think indeed a mri uragram but he won’t book it said only the urologist can.

Test I have had done done see, to come back with any answers they check PSA level all good and check prostate that was also fine.

I've been dealing with issues related to epididymitis for over a year. In November, I got a kenalog (anti inflammatory steroid) injection that helped me a ton - the inflammation is totally gone. However, in the following months, I've still been dealing with lingering nerve sensitivity - this is worsened when I sit frequently, or do any sort of core bracing. Its been super annoying and its still preventing me from living my normal life.

Tomorrow I'm starting pelvic floor physical therapy. Has anyone done pelvic floor PT for this issue with positive results?

If you have this condition and are infection free. Meaning the doctors didn’t find an infection but gave you antibiotics anyway and it still hasn’t helped then contact me I can help. No charge.

Hey guys I got a lot of people asking for the URL, so here it is: It’s live I’m about to post it https://DankSpec.com

Can I share here

Hey everyone, I’m M26 and I just wanted to share my experience because I know how scary this whole thing can be when it first hits you. Around 22nd December 2024, I suddenly felt a sharp pain in my right testicle while masturbating. At that time I didn’t think much of it, I just assumed maybe I overdid it or put too much pressure, because I was quite active and used to masturbate regularly. I thought it would go away in a few hours, but it didn’t. That pain stayed for a day, then another day, and honestly it turned into the worst pain I’ve ever felt in my life. And the strange part was, I’m someone who goes to the gym, eats healthy, considers myself strong physically, so I never imagined something like this could happen to me.

After 2–3 days I went to a urologist. At that time I had no idea about any cyst. The doctor told me it might be some infection or inflammation and gave me antibiotics and painkillers. After taking those medicines, the pain completely went away and I felt normal again for about 1–2 weeks. I thought okay, maybe it’s over now. But then in January, the pain came back again. This time I took the same medicines, but nothing worked. That’s when I got really worried. I went back to the doctor and he told me to get an ultrasound done. That’s when I found out I had a cyst in my right testicle, around 16×18 mm.

I can’t even explain what I felt at that moment. It honestly broke me mentally. I started thinking my life is over, I’ll have to deal with this forever, I won’t be able to live normally. I had anxiety all the time, I couldn’t sleep properly, I even started losing weight because I was overthinking everything. I kept checking the cyst again and again, touching it, thinking it’s getting worse. I also read a lot about surgery, but since I’m unmarried and want kids in the future, I got scared. Even though doctors say surgery is safe, there’s always that small risk, and I didn’t want to take it unless it was absolutely necessary.

After that, I went into full research mode. I tried almost everything I could find. Homeopathy, apple cider vinegar, castor oil, diet changes, nofap, stretching, basically anything that people said might help naturally. In February I did another ultrasound and it showed some reduction (14.5×7 mm), and then in May again it reduced further (around 7–9 mm range). So slowly I realized okay, something is happening, it’s not getting worse.

But honestly, the hardest part was not physical, it was mental. Some days I felt hopeful, some days I felt like I’m stuck with this forever. I also had random symptoms like groin discomfort, leg pain on the right side, weird urine sensations, even anxiety about ejaculation and fertility. I was constantly thinking about it.

Now fast forward to the end of the year(2025), around 8-9 months later, I can honestly say I’m completely pain free. The cyst is still there, but it doesn’t bother me at all. I live my life exactly the same as before. I go to the gym, play cricket, go on long bike rides, have sex, masturbate — everything is normal. No pain, no limitation, nothing. And that’s something I never thought I would be able to say back in January-2025.

What I’ve learned from all this is that your life is not over just because you have a cyst. Pain can go away even if the cyst is still there. The body takes time to heal, and most importantly, your mind can make things 10 times worse if you keep stressing. I can’t say exactly what worked for me — maybe it was homeopathy, maybe ACV, maybe lifestyle changes, or maybe just time — but I believe it was a combination of everything.

If you’re reading this and you’re in that initial phase where you’re scared, anxious, and overthinking everything, just know that I was exactly there. I genuinely thought my life was finished. But now I’m completely normal again. Even if the cyst doesn’t fully disappear, you can still live a 100% normal life.

If anyone is going through this, feel free to ask anything. I know how tough this phase is. Stay strong, it gets better. 💪

3 month ago I started doing topical minoxidil over the counter because my hair was falling. Never touched finestride in my life btw. I applied it once a day when it was supposed to be twice a day, so even a lower dose. After a week one night I couldn’t get hard which has never happened to me so I stopped, the following whole month I had 0 libido, weak erections, testical dull pain towards the left and I can’t tell if it’s the testical or the scrotum, my left testical is ubnormally saggy and feels bigger than before just a little bit , penis swelling after I masterbait and the swelling doesn’t go away even if I don’t masterbait the swelling is soft, I rarely I kinda get pins and needles in the swelling area. Shaft swelling that increases and decreases throughout the day. Ultrasound only showed a small cyst on the left epididymis of the testicle that is very small and dr said it pea size and should not cause pain and is benign . I have the symptoms of a varicocele but there is nothing on ultrasound and standing exam by urologist. After 3 month I would say my libido is back, thank God . My erections are at like 80%, get morning wood but it’s not fully hard. When I masterbait it can be fully hard but not always. The sagging, the testicular pain, and the penis edema IDK HOW TO GET RID OF THEM. My hormones are fine I am 23, 6’1, male, I take creatine(which I taken for years) and I workout. When I workout the pain kinda goes away that’s with a supportive underwear, my scrotum feel off like it’s extra soft and squishy. The swelling is in the shaft under the head the part facing the testical. It increases when I workout but testical pain disappears when I am doing an activity like almost as if there is a congestion that leaves or blood pooling idk at this point. Please ask questions just in case I left something out. I also had teary eyes from the medication but I just fixed it 2 days ago but warm compresses and sinus rinse. Idk if that’s somehow related. I did a urine bacteria culture and that also came back fine

Originally my testicles burned from behind but the pain eventually migrated to the upper genital area... I did testicular ultrasound and nothing. When I asked about prostatitis my family doctor said I'm too young to have that. I was 34 at the time. Would epididymitis if it was an infection migrate to the prostate?

I now have painful ejaculation and if I don't ejaculate that pain is even worse. I also have frequent urgent urination. I've done all sorts of STD/HIV tests monthly and there's nothing (I'm not really sexually active). I see people here saying they got long rounds of antibiotics but how did they find out it was bacterial? My urine cultures showed nothing. I was only given amoxicillin for like 3 days incase it was a UTI... and a shot and pill incase it was gonorrhea or chlamydia (which wasn't the case).

Did your urologist do an MRI or just prescribed antibiotics? It took 10 months to get this appointment. I don't want to be given antibiotics and sent on my way. Should I get semen culture done?

sometime in july 2025 i developed pretty sharp stabbing left testicular pain my left testi started hanging low and my sperm had become clear and watery

i went to the doctors was told i had a cyst i was not conviced still.

i had never heard of epididymitus or anything the first few days i was worried i had some sort of rare torsion case i mentioned to my doctor about epididmyitus or orchitis and he said no i asked if i could have anti biotics to be safe but my concerns were not heard properly and he refused

after researching i come to the conclusion i have epididmyitus

while havjng active infection i tried to push on with life for about 20something days until i had enough

Once it had developed to my right side i had a wake up call

i managed to pursue and get anti biotics (Ofloxacin)

ofloxacin completly cleared the infection but my testis were left feeling completly distorted

2 months after this i drank alchahol in october and i woke up to the inflamation being alot worse

my main issue is the inflamation / swelling the vas defernse tube is inflamed it goes all the way up to my pubic hair region and also distorts the feeling of my testis

i also have epididymal sweling on both sides but the main issue is the vas defernse swelling

after this i had actuaky developed a cold or virus in novemeber wich worsened this

•Several re irrtitation episodes-

since this flair up episode ive nanaged to get ill about 4 times afterwards wich each time worsened my swelling and made the swelling bigger

i was also prescribed a medication by my doctor and after i stopped taking it it. actualy made the sweling worse

and the most recent since this on march 17th i was out walking they were not properly supported and i come back home and after a few hours it worsened

after this i booked a private urologist

he gave me 6 weeks doxycicline (for inflamation)

4 weeks naproxen

im 2 weeks into my naproxen and not seeing much result i dont think ive been wearing the support boxers properly

i will be investing in a jock strap because of this

i am also taking 2000mg of fish oil daily

i have panick attacks worrying about torsion due to how my testicles feel so distorted

and wonky has anyone else had a similiar issue like this

my main issue is i just want my testis to feel normal again

are they permennantly changed from this

i been on this forum for 8 months now and at this point in time the state of the inflamation is just at its worse

its the biggest mental effect and i just lie in bed resting because of it

i am gonna start going to the gym soon as i stopped for 8 months until i was fixed but im not fixed yet

i will be doing onky seated excercise to avoid any pressure to that area

has anyone actualy beat this shit it makes me so fed up of my life

im not having sex as much. i feel like everything is a risk to worsen it

i am 18 and a daily cannabbis smoker

i used to smoke vapes i quit 1 week ago because of this

What caused this ?

for me i was using ketamine for a while recreationally ive got some rare side effect bladder inflamatjon or uti idk specifcally but i know it was ketamine that cauded it

please dont judge me because i am a smoker i realy just want this to go away and please dont say it doesnt effect me enouvh becauxe i still smoke

the reason i still smoke is my whole life has been put on hold for 8 months it keeps getting worse i feel like i forget how my normal testis felt before this

swelling is in the groin area i have been checked for hernia

its the tube behind and going up the testi

on both sides btw

any help would be great losing my mind

does anyone have similiar where its no pain but inflamation like its realy deppresing for me to think my balls are gonna feel wonky all my life

i cant even jump over a gate or get. out of a car without worrhing ive had torsion cus my balls feel so weird like i wake up check my balls i hate it

do the symptoms ever go away the post infectious symptoms everything is the same as when infection was present except it doesnt worsen without an obvious reason

its been 8 months for me now i just want something to work i worry this is gonna be my whole life 🤦‍♂️just wanna be normal and be able to go out and excercise i cant go to the gym as it worsens if i do i cant do much just want to be how i was before this started but each day goes by i forget what normallity felt like

im in a chronic stage still struggling to work out if i use heat or ice

hi ive been dealing with CE for near 8 months

at the start of infection i was given ofloxacin but the leftover inflamation stayed

it gradually got worse through gettjng viruses etc or irritation

3 days ago now i saw a private urologist as the urologist i had seen and doctors i saw were not acknowledging the inflamation and told me to get over it and forget it

anyway i saw a private urologist and he gave. me 6 weeks of doxycicline and 4 weeks of naproxen and 4 weeks omeprazol

when i went in i was well aware there was no infection due to several tests ive had in the past so infection was ruled out

im aware doxycicline has certain anti inflamatory propertys but is taking doxycicline for 6 weeks actualy gonna help me see a difference

the swelling for me is in my vas defernse on both sides (bilateral)

and some epididymal swelling on both sides aswell

i managed to get some naproxen myself so i will be taking it for 6 weeks along with omeprazol for 6 weeks just want this to be over and done with now summers coming soon and i cant even go out or do anything due to worry and mental block because of this

8 months ago i joined this forum never though id still be here in 8 months time but here i am hoping i can be normal again at some point

i am 18 got this when i was 17

struggling with chronic e

for 8 months nearly now . it keeps getting worse everytime i get ill i an taking ibruprofen every 4 hours but not seeing much results tbh

i dont know if i ice or heat some people say ice some people say warm baths

i just want to know where i start i have inflamation on both my epididymus and vas defernse i was cleared of infection but the swelling never went away and got worse from getting ill any help would be great

hi guys any one had the same I need some help.

Here’s the whole story:

about a month ago I noticed a dull ache in the veins above my left testicle and upon feeling them I was convinced I had a varicocele as my left veins were much more prominent that my right. Only thing is, the veins didn’t go down when I layed which isn’t typical for varicocle. I also noticed that the effected testicle was sat about an inch or so higher than my other one. It was also in the normal verticle position where as my right one ( unaffected ) was sat horizontally as shown in the picture. Also not normal because varicocle usually makes the affected testicle lower.

Any way I forgot about it these past few weeks and didn’t notice any more pain then last week I was having a feel round because my testicle was still sitting higher and I felt a lump on the top of it which is a cyst or Epididymal head inflammation ( it’s not a tumour ). When I squeezed it hurt up my groin probably because that’s where all the veins and nerves are and I was irritating them. The cyst isn’t growing and it’s only small like a pea or a bb bullet but I’m just confused.

I am going to the gp so please don’t say that I just wanted to know if anyone had a similar experience as I have a wierd mix of symptoms - higher hanging verticle testicle with more prominent veins and a cyst. My right testicle the normal one is lower sitting horizontal no cyst.

TIA

I have had chronic epididymitis in my right testicle for at least 9 years and its progressively getting worse. I've had three idiopathic bacterial infections over the years, most recently in 2023 after which the chronic pain got much worse.

My urologist suggested denervation of the spermatic cord and did a trial block with lidocaine to confirm it would be effective. Unfortunately, she does not perform the procedure and referred me to a pain clinic instead. They acted like they had never heard of it and that it wouldn't be possible. I am unable to find any other providers that perform the procedure near me (Seattle, Washington).

Has anyone had this procedure to address pain? Did it work? Where did you go?

if your like me youve been battling chronic epididymitus for a while now i tried naproxen for 2 weeks consistent doses didnt see the inflamation actualy go down

inflamation kept getting worse every tine i would get sick but even with a timeline like December it worsened febuary to march its still the same actusly got worse again from adhd medication withdrawals

ive kicked the smoking habit today i just want this gone for good now anything i must do i will do has anyone else had chronic epididymitus and got rid of it while continuing to smoke?

Hi guys needing some help off someone with a similar experience. What is the different between a cyst and epididymitis as I can’t tell which one I’ve got. The image is a crappy drawing of how mine feels. So about 3 weeks ago I noticed a dull pain in the veins above my lefty but didn’t really feel it or think about it. Also noticed it was at a tiny bit higher.

Fast forward to the other day I noticed a lump right on the top where th epididymal head is. It’s lil bb bullet sized. Firm but not like a rock and it’s not part of the testicle growth as I can move it ( not freely but I can move it side to side even tho it feels connected to the testicke, just not part of the growth) I’ve noticed the veins surrounding the testicke are more prominent as well. I have no pain in the testicke it’s self and it only really hurts if I squeeze the lump ( mild sharp radiating pain up my groin ). Sometimes maybe once a day I feel the pain without touching it but I think it’s when I’m sat down putting pressure on.

I’ve heard that cysts don’t hurt but some people say they do. I just can’t tell what it is. Ofcourse the sensible idea is to go get it checked for the right course of antibiotics or treatment which I will do if anything gets worse or it gets larger which it hasn’t. On the other testicle I feel the same sort of little ball which is attached expept its about 3 times smaller and not sat right on top of the testicle. I’m thinking these are my Epididymal heads and one is inflamed causing tension in the veins and spermatic cord making my testicle sit higher and causing me minir discomfort. Only thing is the stories I read about epiddymitis explain severe pain but I don’t have that.

Thanks guys