5 Possible Causes of Testicular Pain After Exercise
The testicles are extremely sensitive. Even a slight injury, infection, or other issue with the scrotum or the surrounding area can cause significant pain. So, if your testicles are hurting after a workout, you’re not alone.
If you experience sudden severe testicular pain or also develop fever, chills, nausea, or blood in your urine, seek medical assistance right away. These may be symptoms of a serious condition called testicular torsion.
Several causes may lead to pain in your testicles after exercise. Learn about the underlying reasons for ball ache after a workout, plus what to do about them.
1. Injury
Injury is a common cause of testicular pain after working out. The testicles are tender and sensitive, so even minor trauma can lead to pain.
The trauma doesn’t need to occur directly to your scrotum to cause pain in your testicles. Injuring abdominal or groin tissue around your testes can also lead to pain, bruising, or swelling in the area. Testicular trauma can also lead to a condition called hematocele, where blood builds up in a testicle.
Testicular injury is widespread if you play soccer, football, or basketball, according to a study of 28,844 emergency room visits due to sports-related injuries.
Visit your doctor to determine the best treatment for your injury. According to Cleveland Clinic, some at-home remedies may include:
Icing the area or applying a cold compress
Taking warm baths
Taking over-the-counter nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) to reduce inflammation
Lying down and placing a rolled towel under your scrotum
Wearing a cup or athletic supporter
Not everyone is a suitable candidate for NSAIDs. Talk to your doctor if you’re considering NSAIDs or if these steps don’t relieve the pain in your testicles.
2. Inguinal Hernia
An inguinal hernia, or hernia in the groin, is another potential cause of pain in the testicles after working out. This occurs when part of your intestine pushes through a weak point in your abdominal wall near your groin.
You may feel pain or swelling in the groin that may extend to the testicles. Exercises involving heavy lifting, bending over, or straining, like weightlifting, can trigger this pain and swelling. However, even just coughing can mean you feel the inguinal hernia more.
Other symptoms include:
Bulging, burning, and aching around the pubic bone
Groin pain, weakness, or pressure
Heaviness or dragging in your groin
Swollen testicles
While not inherently dangerous, an inguinal hernia can lead to more severe conditions, so it’s best to have a doctor check it.
If your hernia bulge turns red, purple, or dark and you have symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, fever, sudden pain, or an inability to pass gas or stools, these could be signs that it’s cutting off your blood flow to the intestine. Doctors refer to this as a strangulated hernia. Seek medical care immediately, as this complication can be life-threatening.
3. Infection and Inflammation
Pain in the testicles after working out can be a symptom of epididymitis, especially if you only feel it on one side. This condition involves inflammation of the epididymis, a coiled tube behind the testicle.
While this type of infection usually develops due to intestinal bacteria traveling to the epididymis from the bladder, some people may acquire a type called noninfectious epididymitis due to strenuous exercise, particularly weightlifting.
You might force urine from the bladder into the epididymis if you strain while lifting a heavy weight.
Epididymitis pain may start by feeling more intense at the rear of the testicle before spreading to the whole testicle, the scrotum, and sometimes the groin.
Other signs and symptoms of the condition include:
Swelling
Redness and heat near the infection
Limping, as the pain may be severe enough to affect how you walk
Fever and chills
Burning pee
A buildup of fluid in the scrotum
Discharge from the tip of the penis that’s clear, yellow, or white
If you experience testicular pain and swelling, consult your doctor immediately so they can diagnose and treat the underlying infection with antibiotics.
Without treatment, epididymitis can spread from the epididymis to the testicles, leading to an infection called orchitis. If the two areas develop an infection at the same time, doctors refer to it as epididymo-orchitis.
4. Testicular Torsion
If you notice severe, sudden testicle pain, it may be a symptom of a dangerous condition called testicular torsion. This occurs when the tube supplying blood to the scrotum twists and cuts off blood flow, sometimes as a result of an injury. Though rare, it can lead to testicle loss without immediate treatment.
Although the injury may happen while you’re being active, no single physical action causes testicular torsion. It can occur when you’re sitting down, standing still, or even sleeping.
Testicular torsion often occurs because a person’s testicles swing freely in the scrotum, which is a deformity known as “bell clapper.” A direct injury might also lead to testicular torsion.
If you or someone in your family has had torsion before, it becomes more likely. More than 6 in 10 people with testicular torsion are between 12 and 18 years old.
Symptoms include:
Sudden severe pain in one testicle
Swelling on one side of the scrotum
One testicle being higher up in the scrotum than the other
A visible lump
Red, purple, brown, or black discoloration
Nausea
Vomiting
Abdominal pain
Passing more urine than usual
Fever
If you suspect torsion, seek medical attention immediately. Testicular torsion can’t fix itself. You’ll need a surgical procedure known as orchiopexy. In this procedure, a surgeon untwists your testicle and repairs the deformity by stitching the testicle to the inner wall.
5. Post-Vasectomy Pain
A vasectomy involves a healthcare provider surgically sealing the vas deferens, which are the tubes the carry sperm from the testes to the penis.
Some people notice pain after the procedure due to higher pressure in the areas surrounding their testes, such as the epididymis and vas deferens.
Overdoing exercise after surgery may lead to bleeding and pain inside the scrotum. Doctors advise slowly building back to strenuous exercise after a vasectomy to ensure the surgical wound fully heals. If you’ve recently had a vasectomy, you might need to rein in the intensity of your workouts.
At first, focus on standing and walking for longer periods. Stick to picking up loads weighing 10 pounds or less, and avoid activities including martial arts, contact sports, mountain biking, or powerlifting until around a month after surgery. You may also need longer than a week off from work if your job involves lots of exercise or heavy lifting.
While some residual discomfort is normal after a vasectomy, the pain should feel better as you recover. If you still feel pain three months after the procedure, you may have a rare syndrome called post-vasectomy pain syndrome (PVPS). Other symptoms might include:
A tender, painful scrotum
Pain or pressure after you ejaculate
Dull, aching discomfort in one or both testes
Pain or tenderness at the site of the surgery
A swollen epididymis
Painful sex, known as dyspareunia
Visit your doctor if you experience severe pain, swelling, discharge, or painful urination.They may recommend pain medications, physical therapy, nerve block injections, cold or heat therapy, or further surgery to treat PVPS.
However, visit your doctor if you experience severe pain, swelling, discharge, or painful urination.
Seek emergency care if you experience fever, redness, swelling, or pus from the incisions.
The Takeaway
Often, your testicles may hurt after exercise because of injury or trauma. Painful testicles after hernias and vasectomies can also occur due to straining and increasing pressure on the testes.
In rare instances, epididymitis can develop after forcing urine into the testicles from the bladder.
Testicular torsion is a severe condition in which the testicles become twisted. It requires emergency treatment.
Speak to a doctor if your testicles hurt after physical activity and you’re unsure of the cause.
