I don't know whether I am the only cyclist plagued by this chronic testicular swelling/pain of epidydimitis , but it is brutal and has taken away weeks of training for me per year. I also feel like the lady who swallowed a fly at this point, and the cures keep aggravating the situation. As a general proposition, cycling pressure can compress certain vessels and lead to epidydimitis from urine reflux and bacterial infections. I got a vasectomy because spermicide was causing uti's and inflammation, which lead to inflamation, and more bouts of epidydimitis. The vasectomy caused additional recovery issues which took me off the bike for months. Now I am plagued with testicular pain which is believed related to the inflamation of the same area from vessels which were cut during the v-procedure. Oh, and the epidydimitis also leads to some ED from generalized pain in that area so the vascectomy is kind of going to waste. AHGGGGH. Also, just to add to the irony, because my wife is also in her early 40s she has been plagued with heavy menstral cycles that go on for weeks rather than days, so her doctor has recently put her back on birth control pills to adjust her hormone levels. I am just waiting for my urologist to recomend condoms, which decreases the possibility of infection from normal vaginal bacteria (STD screening has been done as the normal work up, so that is not at play). So at least with a vascectomy, birth control pills, and condoms, we will have no risk of an unwanted pregnancy--which is moot because of epidydimitis related ED. And because both my wife and I are fitness freaks, we actually are still into each other after ten years of marriage, and are pretty active intimately so this has been a *****.
I am particularly prone to it this time of year because long time on the trainer without the regular up and down stop and start of being outside seems to aggravate it worse. I generally try and stand a few minutes per interval just to keep the pressure off but its not the same for some reason. Scrupulous hygiene of riding shorts and clothes, and changing out of them immediately also has not helped.
Any advice from someone who has dealt with this and addressed it permanently would be great. I mean, you can ride with hip pain, knee pain or ankle pain, but this literally keeps you from sitting on a bike seat. It always happens on the right side, and I would almost be willing to just have then lop of the boy there, if it would solve the problem permanently. If I try and ride through the pain, it becomes so tender and inflamed that it is essentially incapacitiating. This is a 4 or 5 year problem at this point.
I am particularly prone to it this time of year because long time on the trainer without the regular up and down stop and start of being outside seems to aggravate it worse. I generally try and stand a few minutes per interval just to keep the pressure off but its not the same for some reason. Scrupulous hygiene of riding shorts and clothes, and changing out of them immediately also has not helped.
Any advice from someone who has dealt with this and addressed it permanently would be great. I mean, you can ride with hip pain, knee pain or ankle pain, but this literally keeps you from sitting on a bike seat. It always happens on the right side, and I would almost be willing to just have then lop of the boy there, if it would solve the problem permanently. If I try and ride through the pain, it becomes so tender and inflamed that it is essentially incapacitiating. This is a 4 or 5 year problem at this point.
