I'm 99% certain that I have this, and have scheduled an appointment to see my doctor in 2 days. Has anyone experienced this before? For those of you who have never heard of it let me explain the condition briefly. A varicocele is basically varicose veins around the left scrotum. They can cause infertility and shrinkage in the left testicle. This makes sense as I don't seem to produce a lot of sperm (milky ejaculate instead of a thick white) and my left nut seems small. I see that there are 2 different treatments. One is an actual microsurgery and the other is called varicoceles embolization. Both freak me out in their own special way. Has anyone had either procedure? I definitely want something done and I'm sure my doctor will help me out but I'd like your opinion as well.
Thank you very much.
Hi Prizefighter,
I have had (and still do have) this. It was such a horrible, uncomfortable and even painful problem that I had it removed. Unfortunately, in 1995, neither of the procedures you mention above were popular. Instead, under general anesthesia, they cut an inch and a half into my left scrotum and removed "a ton of veins" in one of the doctor's words. Recovery was a 3 month nightmare. You know what it is like getting kicked in the nuts. Now, multiply that by 2 or 3 and then realize that it was constant pain for nearly 1 month and intermittant pain for 3 including referred pain all the way up the left spermatic cord. Then having to watch where you step to make sure you don't accidentally jar yourself into pain again. PLUS they make you wear this tiny jock strap with a small hole for your dick.
*HOWEVER* your options are much less invasive. Because they just cut out the veins and really did not tie the veins off like they do with embolization and *I think* with microsurgery (but you will have to google that to be sure), the varicocele came back after a little under 10 years. This is partly my fault due to I love to run around the house naked all the time and have no real support. I had that confirmed with an ultrasound just last year but this one produced a visible bump that can be seen protruding at the top of the scrotum.
BTW, your description above says that it is *around* the scrotum. That is incorrect. A varicocele is actually a bag of veins that forms inside the scrotum near the top of the testicle. It does have the capability to affect fertility but is not usually taken seriously by the medical community (as are many male issues!

) due to the other testicle is usually not affected and continues to produce sufficient sperm for reproduction.
I decided that were I to have this taken care of again I would do the embolization as it seems more permanent. However, other than some minor discomfort from time to time and some occasional pain when running that is alleviated by a quick adjustment, it really doesn't bother me all that much so I just put up with it. That would be different of course, were I trying to have kids and a fertility doctor confirmed that was keeping me from doing so.
Let us know if your urologist confirms this is what you have as you will also need an ultrasound to confirm it and ask me any question you wish.
**Rest assured that you won't have to go what I went through!**
But make sure you ask the urologist every single question on your mind as anyone should before undergoing any medical procedure.
:smile: