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VARICOCELE...can it effect testosterone?

jodywebb said:
haha k1212, i have a lot of the same problems as you. i know how much it sucks, but you're not alone man. i had a big varicocele since i was 13. i did not bother me much until i was 27 or 28. it was big and hot and clumsy, but i really didn't have many symptoms. my left testicle was smaller than my right, but not by a huge amount. then sometime in 2006 everything started to get a lot worse. slowly and steadily, like how people lose their vision over time, but it happens slow and is not very painful, so the damage keeps progressing but they don't do anything about it.

anyway i can't put the surgery off anymore. by 2010 my left testicle was SO small it was alarming. my right testicle is smaller too. i had an ultrasound and it turns out i have a varicocele on both sides. so i'm having bilateral microsurgery.

i feel the same way as you. it's a nightmare. it has ruined my life. i don't even feel like a man anymore, or a person. i'm just a zombie with testicles shrinking away to nothing. LOL. i try to maintain a positive attitude but it's very hard to not be sad and at night, sometimes i even cry.

i'm also in contact with dr yigal gat. i've been talking to him for about 2 weeks. sending him my tests. semen analysis, hormone profile, ultrasound. he only does the gat-goren procedure in israel, so i probably won't be getting that.

keep talking k1212. some of us are out there listening.
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Hey!

Did dr yigal gat tell you how much the gat-goren procedure will cost you?
 
Imeniaan said:
Hey!

Did dr yigal gat tell you how much the gat-goren procedure will cost you?
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not yet. i have asked him a few times, and his nurse too, olga. but they have not said anything about the cost of the procedure yet. we are still talking about the tests. i have talked to olga on the phone, but dr. gat so far only through email. they have accepted most of the tests i have had done here in the US.

i am scheduled to have a bilateral microsurgical varicocelectomy on november 4 in indianapolis, indiana. well actually it is in carmel, indiana at the beltway medical center. my urologist and surgeon is dr. samuel t thompson.

i have also talked to marc goldstein in new york city, and his buddy, peter schlegel. goldstein was the guy i first talked to in 2005. but he wanted 7000 dollars just for the surgery fee and he does not take any insurance. i have since talked to most of goldstein's staff, including his head nurse, sam, and his surgery coordinator, hyacinth. the numbers they quoted me were so high. i just can't afford goldstein or schlegel. it would be 12,000 just for the surgery fee for a bilateral varicocele. they estimate the hospital fee would be 14,000 and the anesthesia as 4000. my insurance would pay for a lot of those last 2 expenses, but the whole operation would still cost like $20,000 and i just don't have the money. they said i could come to NYC on a monday, get examined on a tuesday, get surgery on wednesday or thursday, then rest for 2 days and fly out on saturday. that's the kind of service you get for paying cash!

sam, the nurse, said goldstein ligates the veins with titanium clips. of course, i had to ask him, wouldn't that mean you would set off metal detectors for the rest of your life? he laughed and said no, it doesn't have that effect.

sam thompson knows goldstein and schlegel, because he goes to all the same medical conferences as them. thompson ligates with synthetic silk instead of titanium clips. otherwise, he does about the same procedure as goldstein. i'm sure goldstein is slightly better, he claims his varicocele recurrence rate is only 1%. sam thompson says about 5%.

k1212, how do you know it costs $11,000 US? are you sure it's not 11,000 shekels?
 
jodywebb said:
not yet. i have asked him a few times, and his nurse too, olga. but they have not said anything about the cost of the procedure yet. we are still talking about the tests. i have talked to olga on the phone, but dr. gat so far only through email. they have accepted most of the tests i have had done here in the US.

i am scheduled to have a bilateral microsurgical varicocelectomy on november 4 in indianapolis, indiana. well actually it is in carmel, indiana at the beltway medical center. my urologist and surgeon is dr. samuel t thompson.

i have also talked to marc goldstein in new york city, and his buddy, peter schlegel. goldstein was the guy i first talked to in 2005. but he wanted 7000 dollars just for the surgery fee and he does not take any insurance. i have since talked to most of goldstein's staff, including his head nurse, sam, and his surgery coordinator, hyacinth. the numbers they quoted me were so high. i just can't afford goldstein or schlegel. it would be 12,000 just for the surgery fee for a bilateral varicocele. they estimate the hospital fee would be 14,000 and the anesthesia as 4000. my insurance would pay for a lot of those last 2 expenses, but the whole operation would still cost like $20,000 and i just don't have the money. they said i could come to NYC on a monday, get examined on a tuesday, get surgery on wednesday or thursday, then rest for 2 days and fly out on saturday. that's the kind of service you get for paying cash!

sam, the nurse, said goldstein ligates the veins with titanium clips. of course, i had to ask him, wouldn't that mean you would set off metal detectors for the rest of your life? he laughed and said no, it doesn't have that effect.

sam thompson knows goldstein and schlegel, because he goes to all the same medical conferences as them. thompson ligates with synthetic silk instead of titanium clips. otherwise, he does about the same procedure as goldstein. i'm sure goldstein is slightly better, he claims his varicocele recurrence rate is only 1%. sam thompson says about 5%.

k1212, how do you know it costs $11,000 US? are you sure it's not 11,000 shekels?
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I sent an e-mail to them and they responded with the cost, it said $11.500 US

I actually saw Dr Goldstein a few months ago, and I did not have insurance, I thought I had bi-lateral and they actually told me the cost all together without insurance was about $40,000 , I could not believe it, got a quote from them in January 2009 and it was only about $15,000, however Dr Goldstein examined me and said I only have it on one side, did not get a quote from just the 1 side varicocele

and they said they insert a titanium clip? that freaks me out the reason I did not want the Embolization because the thought of a foreign object freaked me out

what a NIGHTMARE this is a nightmare, all this **** could have been prevented to, my ****ing life was destroyed because of a ****ed up masturbation session because of this annoying little **** who moved into my apartment complex

I can not believe what a nightmare this is, 2 years and 3 months later the nightmare gets worse, my mom died as a result of this and my whole life and family has been destroyed
 
wow man, i'm sorry to hear it's that bad for you. so who did your surgery? you had microsurgery, or something else?

i'm sorry to hear your mom died.

what happened with masturbating? you masturbated too soon after surgery?

you're not the only guy who feels like his life has been ruined by a varicocele. i'm devastated mentally. you're right that it's a nightmare. i just try to keep a positive attitude which is very hard. my testicles used to be pretty big. i have almost lost them. and i've lost my big ejaculations. i'm still fertile, i'm not sterile yet, but i will be if i don't get this surgery.

yes, marc goldstein's head nurse, sam, said the veins are ligated with titanium clips. i totally agree with you about not wanting a radiologist to put coils in me. i never seriously considered coil embolization. but what i see with dr. gat, and other radiologists outside of the US, like in europe and australia, is that they do radiology with sclerosing agents. they embolize your veins with a solution that collapses the vein walls. the veins then die and are absorbed by your body.

i'm not sure why nobody does this in the US. maybe they fear the sclerosing agent? maybe they think it can end up in your lungs, heart, or brain. but even in the US, they have been using these sclerosing agents on varicose veins for 15 years, so i don't know.
 
I did not have surgery, I just got quotes

the masturbating is how it happened, I had a ****ed up masturbation session and I know it is how my varicocele formed


When did you first notice your varicocele, did you notice anything brought it on?
 
eh, my left varicocele showed up when i was 13 or so. it wasn't that bad at first, but got pretty big by the time i was 17 or 18. my left testicle was always smaller, but it didn't bother me, because everything worked fine. more than fine actually. masturbating was awesome.

i had been having sex with girlfriends for years with no problems. it wasn't until i was 26 that i really started to want to get rid of it because it was so warm and heavy and annoying. then when i was 28, things started to go downhill. my left testicle began to ache, and i started to slowly and steadily ejaculate less. the power and pleasure of my maximum ejaculations began to decrease. and my left testicle started to shrink. my right testicles started to having intermittent aches and pangs of pain. i would say they were about a 2 or 3 on a 10 scale of pain, not terrible, but enough to motivate me to get checked out for testicle cancer, which i did not have. those pangs of pain continued for 3 years, enough pain to wake me up at night once a week.

eventually after 3 years of that, a slow and steady decline that wasn't fast or painful enough to really motivate me, my left testicle was REALLY small, and i took action. got scheduled for microsurgery as fast as i could. can't afford goldstein or schlegel, but the guy i got is pretty good i think. he said varicocelectomy is the second most common surgery he does after vasectomy reversal, and he did 44 of those just in 2009 alone. i'm also going to a surgery center specialized for infertility, so the hospital should be decent. believe me, i didn't just get any random surgeon or urologist, though i can never really know which guys are the best. of course i'd rather go to presbyterian hospital in NYC and have goldstein do it, but i just can't afford $20,000 or whatever.

you should DEFINITELY GET MICROSURGERY AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, from a decent surgeon. DO NOT WAIT. go into debt if you have to. it's just money. you can pay the bills later, over time. don't be like me. don't put it off. you can't get your testicle size back. some function back? yes. some peace of mind that the damage has been halted? yes. but never your size. they might grow a little bit, but nothing more than a little bit if that.

general practicioners, and even most urologists, are not good about varicoceles and do not strongly urge you to have big ones fixed in a timely manner. i have been examined by many doctors in my life, and while most noticed my varicocele, only 1 person, a nurse at my college, even told me i should have it fixed. even dr thompson said he would fix it if i wanted - but didn't urge me to do it soon. he even stood to make the money on the surgery and he didn't urge me to do it when i first saw him in july 2009. he was actually surprised when i showed up again in his office in october 2010, pleading for him to check me out, and operate as soon as possible. dude was like "Man, you are motivated!" well of course doctor, i'm about to lose my left testicle! he asked me "What changed in your head, what switch was flipped in your mind?"

i mean seriously. you tell even a good surgeon about your problems, the aches and decrease in ejaculation and the terrifying atrophy, and the guy shrugs. "Eh, I can fix that if you want." WTF man?!

fortunately i don't have any other problems. testosterone normal, all other hormones normal. i'm still well within the fertile range as far as semen analysis goes. i can still easily get big hard erections. i'm still very interested in women and in masturbating. well, not so much anymore now that i realize how badly i'm damaged, that kind of psychologically changed me and wiped out my confidence and sex drive. as far as the experts are concerned i am still OK for clinical purposes. but for my purposes, i'm ruined.
 
jodywebb said:
eh, my left varicocele showed up when i was 13 or so. it wasn't that bad at first, but got pretty big by the time i was 17 or 18. my left testicle was always smaller, but it didn't bother me, because everything worked fine. more than fine actually. masturbating was awesome.

i had been having sex with girlfriends for years with no problems. it wasn't until i was 26 that i really started to want to get rid of it because it was so warm and heavy and annoying. then when i was 28, things started to go downhill. my left testicle began to ache, and i started to slowly and steadily ejaculate less. the power and pleasure of my maximum ejaculations began to decrease. and my left testicle started to shrink. my right testicles started to having intermittent aches and pangs of pain. i would say they were about a 2 or 3 on a 10 scale of pain, not terrible, but enough to motivate me to get checked out for testicle cancer, which i did not have. those pangs of pain continued for 3 years, enough pain to wake me up at night once a week.

eventually after 3 years of that, a slow and steady decline that wasn't fast or painful enough to really motivate me, my left testicle was REALLY small, and i took action. got scheduled for microsurgery as fast as i could. can't afford goldstein or schlegel, but the guy i got is pretty good i think. he said varicocelectomy is the second most common surgery he does after vasectomy reversal, and he did 44 of those just in 2009 alone. i'm also going to a surgery center specialized for infertility, so the hospital should be decent. believe me, i didn't just get any random surgeon or urologist, though i can never really know which guys are the best. of course i'd rather go to presbyterian hospital in NYC and have goldstein do it, but i just can't afford $20,000 or whatever.

you should DEFINITELY GET MICROSURGERY AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, from a decent surgeon. DO NOT WAIT. go into debt if you have to. it's just money. you can pay the bills later, over time. don't be like me. don't put it off. you can't get your testicle size back. some function back? yes. some peace of mind that the damage has been halted? yes. but never your size. they might grow a little bit, but nothing more than a little bit if that.

general practicioners, and even most urologists, are not good about varicoceles and do not strongly urge you to have big ones fixed in a timely manner. i have been examined by many doctors in my life, and while most noticed my varicocele, only 1 person, a nurse at my college, even told me i should have it fixed. even dr thompson said he would fix it if i wanted - but didn't urge me to do it soon. he even stood to make the money on the surgery and he didn't urge me to do it when i first saw him in july 2009. he was actually surprised when i showed up again in his office in october 2010, pleading for him to check me out, and operate as soon as possible. dude was like "Man, you are motivated!" well of course doctor, i'm about to lose my left testicle! he asked me "What changed in your head, what switch was flipped in your mind?"

i mean seriously. you tell even a good surgeon about your problems, the aches and decrease in ejaculation and the terrifying atrophy, and the guy shrugs. "Eh, I can fix that if you want." WTF man?!

fortunately i don't have any other problems. testosterone normal, all other hormones normal. i'm still well within the fertile range as far as semen analysis goes. i can still easily get big hard erections. i'm still very interested in women and in masturbating. well, not so much anymore now that i realize how badly i'm damaged, that kind of psychologically changed me and wiped out my confidence and sex drive. as far as the experts are concerned i am still OK for clinical purposes. but for my purposes, i'm ruined.
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Do you know what the difference is between Dr Goldsteins method and the method of the doctor you are going to

I thought there was micro-Surgery, Embolization, and Gat Goren and those were the only treatments, I did not think doctors have different surgeries
 
there's not a lot of difference between microsurgery from one good guy to another good guy. they all do a very similar surgery. the differences are small. most microsurgeons make a similar incision. the inguinal incision, i think. there are 3 places to be cut for varicocelectomy: retroperitoneal, inguinal, and sub-inguinal. but most microsurgeons do inguinal.

i'm sure there are other small differences in their methods, like, i've seen several videos of surgeons using silk to ligate veins, whereas goldstein's people tell me he now uses tiny titanium clips - maybe goldstein used silk for years, but switched to titanium at some point. i don't know.

maybe each surgeon uses somewhat a different microscope. maybe one guy uses different stitches than another. my surgeon is gonna use stitches that dissolve by themselves after 2 weeks or whatever. and over those stitches he puts transparent, waterproof bandages, so i can shower, as well as see the healing progress of the stitches.

maybe one doctor wants you to stay in the hospital for a day, others don't. i'm doing an outpatient procedure, but staying in a hotel room for a week, laying down. i won't be in the hospital overnight, but i also won't be moving around for days.

there's a lot more difference between microsurgery versus laparoscopic surgery, and a lot more difference between surgery than radiological embolization, than there is between skilled, experienced surgeons who do microsurgery.
 
A while back i read through this entire thread. I recall a few people who reported recoveries in their sexual function. Anyone else here who has undergone the surgery recover 100% or close to it?
 
I forgot to mention, Im going through this hell too. My complete story is in the thread I posted. An ultrasound already confirmed I have a large varicocele in the left testicle, now I'm just going to get the microsurgery hopefully very soon.
 
i had microsurgery yesterday. the procedure went well. of course it takes 3 months or so to figure out how well everything actually went, but the surgery itself went good. dr thompson ligated 7 veins on the left and 5 on the right.

it is not as painful as i thought it would be. the anesthesia was really effective and seamless. and the surgeon injected a local painkiller into my groin while i was still under anesthesia. that lasted about 7 hours after i woke up. there's no way i should have felt so good after surgery. i did not have to start taking hydrocodone pills until about 8 hours after surgery. the painkiller was so good, i was having trouble detecting the ice on my groin. that actually kind of scared me, because i wasn't getting that information out of my groin anymore. one time i went to urinate, and touched my groin with my hand, where the ice has been, and my skin was almost ice cold. i was getting no haptic information from my nerves there, no signals to my brain that my groin and pelvis were really, really cold. fortunately the painkiller has worn off now and i'm getting nerve signals normally.

the incisions are lower than i thought they would be. less than 1 inch above where my dong connects to my pelvis. so the scars won't be too conspicuous. the cuts are pretty far below my belly button. probably not as big, or as high, as the incision for a hernia surgery. the cuts don't looks too big at all. maybe 1 inch or 1.5 inches across.

the wounds are stitched with self-dissolving stitches, then covered in transparent, water proof bandages, so i can shower.

recovery should take a while though. about 1 week until i can move around normally, and probably 3 weeks until i can exercise lightly. i don't even think about masturbating, since mentally i'm pretty defeated by how atrophied my testicles are. but i'm sure not masturbating for 1 month would be a problem for other guys. i haven't ejaculated in 3 weeks leading up to the surgery, and am not allowed to ejaculate for another 3 or 4 weeks while i heal. lots of dudes would probably go crazy if they had to hold back for 2 months.

i can piss normally, and i got an erection this morning coming out of sleep, so most things seem to be working normally. i don't have much bruising. at least not yet. although that might start happening today.

my testicles don't feel hot anymore. the damage from varicoceles seem to have been halted, which was the main point of the surgery. your testicles won't grow back if you're older than 18 or 19, so i expect to have really small testicles forever. although it's probably the case that in 20 years or so, researchers will figure out how to stimulate varicocele-damaged testicles to grow back, since the cells are atrophied, and not dead or dying. the leydig cells and sertoli cells shrink and expand, like fat cells, in response to what's happening in your body. so doctors can probably, in the future, make atrophied testicles expand back to more normal sizes.
 
jodywebb said:
i had microsurgery yesterday. the procedure went well. of course it takes 3 months or so to figure out how well everything actually went, but the surgery itself went good. dr thompson ligated 7 veins on the left and 5 on the right.

it is not as painful as i thought it would be. the anesthesia was really effective and seamless. and the surgeon injected a local painkiller into my groin while i was still under anesthesia. that lasted about 7 hours after i woke up. there's no way i should have felt so good after surgery. i did not have to start taking hydrocodone pills until about 8 hours after surgery. the painkiller was so good, i was having trouble detecting the ice on my groin. that actually kind of scared me, because i wasn't getting that information out of my groin anymore. one time i went to urinate, and touched my groin with my hand, where the ice has been, and my skin was almost ice cold. i was getting no haptic information from my nerves there, no signals to my brain that my groin and pelvis were really, really cold. fortunately the painkiller has worn off now and i'm getting nerve signals normally.

the incisions are lower than i thought they would be. less than 1 inch above where my dong connects to my pelvis. so the scars won't be too conspicuous. the cuts are pretty far below my belly button. probably not as big, or as high, as the incision for a hernia surgery. the cuts don't looks too big at all. maybe 1 inch or 1.5 inches across.

the wounds are stitched with self-dissolving stitches, then covered in transparent, water proof bandages, so i can shower.

recovery should take a while though. about 1 week until i can move around normally, and probably 3 weeks until i can exercise lightly. i don't even think about masturbating, since mentally i'm pretty defeated by how atrophied my testicles are. but i'm sure not masturbating for 1 month would be a problem for other guys. i haven't ejaculated in 3 weeks leading up to the surgery, and am not allowed to ejaculate for another 3 or 4 weeks while i heal. lots of dudes would probably go crazy if they had to hold back for 2 months.

i can piss normally, and i got an erection this morning coming out of sleep, so most things seem to be working normally. i don't have much bruising. at least not yet. although that might start happening today.

my testicles don't feel hot anymore. the damage from varicoceles seem to have been halted, which was the main point of the surgery. your testicles won't grow back if you're older than 18 or 19, so i expect to have really small testicles forever. although it's probably the case that in 20 years or so, researchers will figure out how to stimulate varicocele-damaged testicles to grow back, since the cells are atrophied, and not dead or dying. the leydig cells and sertoli cells shrink and expand, like fat cells, in response to what's happening in your body. so doctors can probably, in the future, make atrophied testicles expand back to more normal sizes.
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i wish you all the best man. and i am sure, your libido will come screaming back to you, within three days.
 
Wow i havent read through the whole thread but from what i can see people dont seem to notice any improvements post-surgery. Someone even reported an increase by 3mmol :sad3:

Personally i have a grade 3 varicocele which has increased the past year and i have experienced lethargy and other low testosterone symptoms. I dont care what you or the scientist say, its due to my ****ing chronic masturbation. I mean come on, it "normally" develops between the years of 16-25? Isnt that those years when you jack off like a madman?

Anyway, went to an endo to check it out and it turned out i had low FSH/LH levels which would indicate that its NOT from testicular dysfunction. FSH and LH is what is signaling your nuts to produce sperm + testosterone, and low levels will result in shrinkage as seen on testo cycles.

Did any of you guys even bother checking this kind of stuff? I mean, if your body is not signaling your nuts to produce testosterone, what the hell would you expect from a varicocelectomy anyways?

This leads me to believe that if you are considering surgery to fix your hormonal levels just like me, dont bother. Unless your FSH/LH levels are very high its not going to do you any good. Then if you have pain or trying to conceive then its another story.

Edit: I was just reading through some studies and noticed an interesting "fact"
High incidence (up to 30%) of varicocele has been reported in a population of athletes and up to 60-80% in the subgroup of body-builders.
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Source: unable to post links - ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20890868 Urologia. 2010 Sep 28;77(2):100-106.

Another interesting in-process study trying to determine the relationship between androgen deficiency and varicocele, for those who are interested : ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20852425
Worth to check out regularly

Wow even better:
In rat experimental varicocele, polydeoxyribonucleotide (PDRN) induces vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) production, thereby enhancing testicular function. This may point to a new therapeutic approach in human varicocele.
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ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20797711
 
nidhogg i had surgery because my testicles were shrinking very badly, i was ejaculating less semen, and there was less sperm in the semen. the varicoceles, especially the left one, was big and hot and clumsy and annoying, too. my right testicle would periodically ache, and an ultrasound found that i had a bilateral varicocele - so one on the right side too, although much smaller. i hope most of these symptoms will be improved considerably as i recover from microsurgery. chances are good. if i did not have the surgery, i would have eventually become sterile. now it's very likely i'll actually recover some fertility.

i had no other symptoms and was not concerned about my hormones. i did have my urine, blood, and semen analyzed before surgery. i had my hormone profile checked. this was all standard for somebody wanting to have varicocele surgery, not something i specifically wanted.

indeed you are likely correct that a varicocele only has a small effect on testosterone production. it's main effect is on sperm production. for me, even with testicles that were very small and damaged thanks to 15 years worth of varicocele damage, my sex drive was normal (pretty high, very interested in women), i liked to masturbate a few times a week for an hour or so, and i got hard erections.

i'm concerned about my hormones now, now that i know my small testicles can become a big problem as i age. it's possible my testosterone production can fall faster than a man with normal sized testicles. as we age, everybody's testicles slowly shrink and function less well. so as i begin to age, i'll already be starting the process with very small, damaged testicles, instead of normally sized, normally functioning testicles. it's possible my hormones will decline a lot faster than they would have normally. and even though i have had surgery to help reverse some of the damage to my sperm production, i'll still become subfertile much sooner than other men. according to the doctors and the labs, i can still make a woman pregnant. but my ability to do that will fall off a lot faster than if i had normal testicles. it's probably not a good idea for me to try to make a baby after i'm 40.

i think you're wrong about the varicocele being due to masturbation. varicoceles are pretty common, and occur in 10% to 15% of men, usually when you start puberty. it's normal for varicoceles to show up when you're a teenager. sure, we're all masturbating a lot during that time, but regular masturbation is a coincidence with the varicocele, not a cause of the varicocele. i know K1212 also thinks his varicocele occured because of vicious masturbation session, but i've never heard of such a thing anywhere but this 1 board right here. i am a huge, major masturbator - it's a basic part of my life, and even in my 30s i still jerked off almost every day, for like an entire hour, unless i was planning to have sex with my girlfriend that day. i think that's pretty common, and if that caused dangerously sized varicoceles, then more than 10% of men would have them.

i get my hormones checked again in 3 months, so we'll see how i do. semen analysis happens again then too.
 
by the way, varicoceles are caused by malfunctioning one-way valves in your veins.

lots of people have this problem in their lower extremities. women in particular get this condition in their legs. varicose veins in the legs are happening for the same reason as varicose veins in the scrotum.
 
there is no question my Varicocele was brought on by a weird masturbation session

I have read doctors reports from the early 1900s and they all seemed to agree Varicoceles were brought on by (chronic) mastubrating

I believe my testicles are shrinking due to the fact that I have hot veins sitting next to them and it is destroying the leydig cells and everything else that makes testicles work, testicles are supposed to be kept cool, when there are hot veins sitting next to them 24 hours a day(except maybe when you sleep, though the veins do not dissapear anymore when I sleep) that can not be good for the testicles

and considering the testicles are the main source of testosterone, I do not see how this does not effect testosterone

I was a different person before my ****ed up masturbation session over 2 years ago, now I am ****

I am sure no one else in the world had as ****ed up a masturbation session as what I was doing to my body, but I am sure they are formed based on unnatural strain, it makes sense how mine was formed and maybe that is why weight lifters get them
 
K1212, if this is such a big life changing problem for you, get surgery. i don't know why you don't just go ahead and talk to one of the specialists in this field. money is no excuse here. you can get microsurgery from a good surgeon in the US and the entire procedure might cost 12000 dollars, unless you go to NYC and have marc goldstein or peter schlagel do it, then it will cost double because, well, it's NYC. 12000 dollars is well worth saving your testicles. if you don't have health insurance, remember that the cost is only money. money is easy to replace. you testicles are impossible to replace with current medical technology. if you have to borrow or go into debt, do it. paying for the surgery is not going to be any different than say, buying a used car and paying it off monthly. i wish i had done that for myself 5 years ago. don't be like me. GET SURGERY NOW. once you notice symptoms, get surgery.

go here: varicocelespecialists.com

and look up the surgeon closest to you who is an expert at varicocelectomy. i talked to 4 guys on this list. goldstein in new york, thompson in indiana, jaffe in pennsylvania, and damani in north carolina. there have to be 15 guys in the US who are decent at microsurgery for varicoceles.

i still have not seen any evidence that being a major masturbator causes varicoceles. if you have some evidence in the form of studies or papers published in journals, post them. i think it's possible that athletes might be more likely to get them, and god knows i was a major athlete since i was a young kid. played 5 or 6 sports all the way through high school and was a recruited athlete in college.

varicoceles run in my family. my father and brother have varicocles, but not as bad as i got them. they never wanted surgery nor did they get surgery. there is probably a genetic effect here, as with many mechanical malfunctions in the body. minor, annoying disorders of the bones, organs, and muscles are commonly genetic. it's not only the life threatening disorders that can be handed down. also, varicoceles occur on the left side of the scrotum most often, and that's for mechanical reasons as well, not because of how you jerk off or how often you jerk off. because of the way the spermatic veins are set up to drain out of your scrotum and into major veins, the fluid dynamics on the left side are less efficient than on the right side.

varicoceles do not usually have a big effect on testosterone production for 2 reasons. 1, because the heat alone does not impair T production all that much. what heat impairs is sperm production. varicoceles damage your ability to make sperm a lot more than your ability to produce T. 2, because even if your testicles begin to atrophy, an otherwise healthy body can regulate that. so if the brain detects there is not enough T production it will stimulate the testicles to make more. there is plenty of reserve capacity in normal size testicles, they do not continuously produce maximum T. so even if your testicles slowly atrophy over years and years due to the heat of the blood in very big, very distended varicocose veins, the brain can tell the testicles to be more active than normal, to compensate for the decreasing volume of your testicles.

this is why so many guys in this thread are finding that having successful varicocele surgery does not usually cause a huge increase in T production. what surgery primarily fixes is sperm production. the heat, and possible eventual atrophy, damages sperm production a lot more than T production.

you're totally correct that the testicles are supposed to be cooler than the rest of your body, and that a big, palpable, bag of worms size varicocele messes this up and keeps the testicles too hot. the only time you get a break from this is when your scrotum is parallel with gravity. typically when you are laying down and sleeping. when it is perpendicular to gravity, standing or sitting, gravity pulls on your scrotum and the deoxygenated blood in the malfunctioning one-way veins does not circulate away.

the only dispute i have seen in the urology literature is over whether a successful, well executed microsurgery improves fertility or sperm production. there's not much dispute among experts that good microsurgery halts atrophy and generally alleviates much of the discomfort or annoying minor pains some men feel thanks to a big, clumsy varicocele. but after microsurgery, some men get a degree of their fertility capability restored, other men don't, and urologists do not completely understand why. personally i can already tell that my testicles are MUCH COOLER and don't hang low anymore, and i am only 7 days past surgery.

only 1 or 2 guys in the whole field of urology, mainly dr. gat, seem to think that a varicocele actually kills sertoli cells and leydig cells over time. most urologists, guys who are equally experienced as dr. gat, think that testicles shrink from bad varicoceles because the cells are shrinking in reaction to the heat, in the same way taking steroids caused testicles to shrink in reaction to the flood of artificial androgens. dr. gat alone seems to think a varicocele causes hypoxia in the testicular cells, that the cells do not get enough oxygen, and slowly die over time. this might be true, this might not be true. i'm open to both possibilities and have no stake here. i have no illusions about my nuts. they're ****ing ruined. i'd just like to understand why, exactly.

brother, i'm totally on your wavelength about balls. i wish i could have huge, powerful balls like i used to have. i know for sure i used to be well above average, even when i was 26 and had had a big left varicocele for over 10 years. i was asymptomatic for a long time. it was only when i was 29 that i started to go downhill, and it went pretty fast over the last 4 years. i know for sure that i'm very ****ed. that the damage is permanent and cannot be reversed. that having small testicles means i'm less of a man. you're preaching to the choir, K1212.
 
@K1212
Reduced oxygen supply leads to cell death(atrophy) yes, but the cells that die are those producing sperm as long as urologists are concerned. Similarities are seen in people during chemo therapy or radioation therapy, the nuts shrink but testo production remains the same. T-producting cells are resistant as **** and very long lived, which is believed by urologists. I cant tell you whats what because i dont know, i can only tell you what discoveries have told so far.

Nevertheless, your FSH and LH levels would tell you everything. If you have primary hypogonadism i.e. testicular failure, your body would try to compensate by signaling your nuts to produce more testosterone by raising LH. If you suffer from secondary hypogonadism there could be several factors involved but it would definitely not concern testicles.

If your LH and FSH are in the mid range, there could be other possibilities such as inhibited convertion of testosterone in the liver from androstendione.

Bottom line is, if you are concerned about fertility like jodywebb or are in pain, you should perhaps consider surgery. If not, find the real solution to your low T levels and hold off until better surgical approaches become available or perhaps even something medical.
 
Alright Guys I had the conventional surgery about a week ago. What I can say is that The few days after my nuts were swollen to the size of a small lemon. They are now pretty much back to normal size. My penis also was a slight bit plumped out. So far, NO change in libido, but then again its only been a week. No pain in my left testicle anymore so thats a good thing. Also im not sure if my testicle has gone back to normal size as b4 the surgery it was atrophied. Mainly because its still a little bit swollen so we'll see.

If a few months pass and my low testosterone symptoms dont change I'll be a pretty pissed off person. Also another thing is that my sack and penis still feels tight and lifted at times during the day. I really hope that goes away too because its been annoying me for the last year.
 
Emobilization

I'll keep you all updated too, I had conventional surgery in feb of 2010, and the varicocele came back and hurt like a bitch, i am having emobilization tomorrow morning
 
jrvswim said:
I'll keep you all updated too, I had conventional surgery in feb of 2010, and the varicocele came back and hurt like a bitch, i am having emobilization tomorrow morning
Click to expand...

wow yours came back that soon? damn i hope i get longer than that! during those months after surgery did your sex drive/libido increase?
 
I don't think my libido increased, but my t levels definitely did. My totals went from mid 300's to mid 400's and free went from the 8 and 9's to around 13. The emobilizaiton went well today and was a technical success according to the dr. He said he fixed two new veins. Hope things improve...I hope yours doesn't come back!
 
jrvswim said:
I don't think my libido increased, but my t levels definitely did. My totals went from mid 300's to mid 400's and free went from the 8 and 9's to around 13. The emobilizaiton went well today and was a technical success according to the dr. He said he fixed two new veins. Hope things improve...I hope yours doesn't come back!
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Did your varicocele cause severe ED and libido issues? Mine di--Im only at around 50% of what I used to be sexually. Im hoping that now that I had the surgery done things will gradually improve in a few months.

And for those who dont think that varicocele causes libido and impotence issues, Ive read through this entire thread and like 90% of people who have posted in here who have varicoceles say they have decreased libido, lack of morning erections, and ED. So thats a pretty obvious correlation.

The problem, I believe, is that if you've had the varicocele long enough to reduce testosterone levels, even after getting it fixed it may not be reversible, or might take a very long time for your body to get back to the natural high testosterone levels you were used to pre-varicocele damage.

It kinda sucks. I know I've probably had my varicocele for 2 or 3 years, but let it go long enough to where it started causing me pain and decreased libido. I believe the best shot at saving your testosterone is getting the varicocele fixed BEFORE it lowers your T. The problem with that, of course, is that you most likely won't know you have one until it gets to the point of causing pain and reduced libido.
 
Yes it has really caused ed and libido issues How are old are you? I am only freaking 22, I am hopeing eventually when the varicocele is permantely fixed I might get some regrowth, but honestly i bet I am slightly too old too hope for much.

THe problem with this forum though is this...I firmly believe this forum is skewed one direction due to the fact that once people have varicoceltomies/emobilizations etc....if they are successful and their t levels do rise, they are far more likely to be just thrilled and move on in their lives and not get back on a forum and tell everyone. I think it is likely that forums are over populated by people who have repeated issues and don't get better. Just because this forum is skewed one way don't give up entirely.
 
Well, I'm in my late twenties--going to be 28 soon. I think I'm at the age of what would be considered young enough to recover hormonally (I hope). From what I've read here everyone says that if you wait until your 30s or older you have a very slim chance of getting your T back, but if your still a teenager you definitely will. However, no one ever says what the prospects are for the people in their mid to late twenties (although Im assuming its prob not very good).

Its been about a week and a half since my surgery. Hormonally the only improvements I've noticed is that I woke up today with slight morning wood (about 60% of what I used to wake up with before the varicocele f^&ed up my life). I sorta got excited about that seeing how in the past year I've pretty much been waking up soft almost every morning. Still no random erections throughout the day though. Although, I did get it erect enough to masterbate yesterday. Hope that wasn't too soon to ejaculate.

It's pretty $hitty that these days I get excited about waking up with a WEAK erection, when just a year and a half ago I was waking up EVERY single day hard as a ROCK. From like puberty all the way up to 26 years old I would just briefly imagine something sexy and my dong would stick up almost instantly. A few years ago my girlfriend would complain about how excessive sex was...now I usually can't give it to her even when she wants it. Its easy to take things like your sex drive for granted until you don't have it anymore.

And like you said, as for people who recover on this forum, I try to be optimistic too and just tell myself that they've probably recovered and get so happy they don't come back to tell anyone. I gotta believe that to give myself some hope! :sad3:
 
hi everyone!

it has been 4 months since my embolization and i have not noticed any improvement when it comes to libido or erection strength. i have such low libido that i started a challenge on the wetdreamforum to 40 days not masturbate. at the moment i am at day 26 and leading with ease while i see all the other guys fail multiple times!
i did this because i really wanted to know whether my libido drop is due to the varicocele, diet or just over-masturbation. i continued to MB after my embolization to check up how my **** would last. but it don't enjoy it anymore. the sensitivity in my **** is gone until the point of no return where i get that nice feeling i used to have while having sex or pulling it. anyway, it has been 4 months and i have no more pain. i started to adapt to this low libido life, and actually i have more clarity of mind to put my energy in school! for the first time in my life which is satisfying in a way... but in my heart i'm sad to know that it seems i'm never gonna be horny again and the whole game with girls is not ment to be for me in this life.
anyway it's good for the species the homo sapiens that varicocele sufferers do not reproduce because it's something i never wish to happen to my son!!!!!! IT SUCKS BIGTIME
 
Just an update, 3 months post op and in constant pain from the microsurgery varicocele repair. It is a different pain, it's actually in the ball it feels like. A slight graze by my girl that used to not hurt has me flinching. Went back to the Dr. he said I should go see a pain management Dr at this point. Not really sure what or why this is happening but again I wish I hadn't had the surgery. The varicocele appears to be gone FWIW but at what cost?
 
MJ11 said:
Just an update, 3 months post op and in constant pain from the microsurgery varicocele repair. It is a different pain, it's actually in the ball it feels like. A slight graze by my girl that used to not hurt has me flinching. Went back to the Dr. he said I should go see a pain management Dr at this point. Not really sure what or why this is happening but again I wish I hadn't had the surgery. The varicocele appears to be gone FWIW but at what cost?
Click to expand...


where did you get your surgery done

just another reason why I am fearing surgery
 
can you have a varicocele with no pain? I thought everyone had a lump on their left nut which was why it was bigger than the other one....my nuts are both the same size and i have no pain or any discomfort at all...just the "bag of worms" thing that wikipedia talked about....
 
jdj16 said:
can you have a varicocele with no pain? I thought everyone had a lump on their left nut which was why it was bigger than the other one....my nuts are both the same size and i have no pain or any discomfort at all...just the "bag of worms" thing that wikipedia talked about....
Click to expand...

what do you mean lump

are you sure you have a varicocele( a bunch of odd wormy veins in your scrotum)

I think even the smallest varicocele will give you a minor discomfort which you may forget about most of the time, but the larger and bigger and more of those veins the more painful it will be, I do not see how it can not be painful or annoying when it is really big
 
K1212 said:
what do you mean lump

are you sure you have a varicocele( a bunch of odd wormy veins in your scrotum)

I think even the smallest varicocele will give you a minor discomfort which you may forget about most of the time, but the larger and bigger and more of those veins the more painful it will be, I do not see how it can not be painful or annoying when it is really big
Click to expand...

yeah i really don't think its a varicocele...cause my left nut (the one it's on) hangs lower than the right...and if it had atrophy and shutdown shouldn't it hang higher? and if it had shutdown i'd be feeling the pain and i don't have any...thanks man.
 
Reginald said:
IMHO varicocele is only a matter of varicose veins. 'a short of haemorrhoids into testicles'. I think sooner some chemist will discover some stuff able 'to dry' those veins. maybe it's matter of bad flow of blood. i don't think surgery is the only chance to heal from varico. I believe in the future,and it's possibly some bio-chemist has discovered the cure yet. let's hope
Click to expand...

it is already been done in israel, by dr gat and dr goren. supreme method, but only done in Israel.
 
1 month after microsurgery for me. things seems to be going OK. all the heat and discomfort of the varicocele is gone, testicles are much cooler, the way they are supposed to be. all the bruising and swelling has healed.

i do experience this new, unpleasant feeling sometimes, which is my veins complaining about being ligated. it sort of feels like heat, but it's clearly not, as every time i touch my scrotum to check for heat, my scrotum is cool to the touch, exactly like it should be. so the sense information i'm getting from my sack is clearly the varicose veins complaining, and not them conducting business as usual and filling with blood that doesn't drain.

i asked my surgeon about this and he said the varicose veins will shrink over time. the bag of worms will go away. i'm hoping this occassional feeling of discomfort will go away along with the veins. i have to remember i have 24 silk knots inside my body. LOL. body is not going to like that initially.

slight increase in sex drive for me. i waited 2 full weeks after surgery to masturbate and ejaculate, which was a fine timetable according to my surgeon. i asked him first before doing anything. because your body spends about 75 days in the process of making 1 sperm, it takes about 3 months before you can really evaulate how well the surgery went. so i'll go see my surgeon in february and do another semen analysis. 6 months after is surgery is when you can expect to be about as improved as you're going to get. so i'll be going to the surgeon in may, too, for my last semen analysis. there might be some small improvement beyond that over the next 1 or 2 years but that's about it.

the testicles themselves are still slightly sore to the touch, i can only jog slowly or they complain. i can exercise with weights, dumbbells 25 pounds or an unloaded bar at 45 pounds. i have only been doing standing squats, no weights, no bar, nothing. you have to take it easy as those surgery incisions heal. i'm sure it will be at least 2 full months before i can jog at high speed without feeling any pain. i will try to squat with an unloaded bar this week. should go fine.

the incisions were smaller than i thought they would be. but they're healing as badly as i expected. no complications or infections, but i'll have purple scars that are about 1.5 to 2.0 inches. my skin sucks, i knew going in that i would have some sucky scars.

do you guys know that only about 25% of your testicle volume is used to generate testosterone, and the other 75% is for making sperm? that's why a varicocele can often not have the big effect on testosterone production you might think. this is why having surgery to correct a varicocele might not lead to a big improvement in testosterone production. large varicoceles are a much bigger problem for fertility than for your hormone levels. i will have my hormone levels checked again at either 3 months or 6 months. but i was in the normal range. T was lower than it probably should be for my age, but still within expected and normal ranges for clinical purposes.

my health insurance paid for most of the surgery expenses. the bill was about 5000 or 6000 dollars. my out of pocket cost was only 1500 dollars.
 
by the way, i did get a quote from olga, who is doctor gat's nurse. she said the gat-goren method costs $11,500. confirming what some other guys here have said.

if my varicocele recurs, i will probably consider having their procedure to correct any other veins. i'm not interested in getting cut open again.
 
people don't come back to the forum to tell they improved, people don't come back because they have no more pain from it, and started to live with it.

actually, that is what happened to me...

and of course i hate to have manual stimulation to get it up, and actually pleasure from masturbation is not really there...

in a way i feel free for the first time in my life... in this world sex is not what it should be, if i wanted a nice sex-life i'd be ****ing any sweet looking girl i come across from the age 13. but that's not how life has developed.
so now i'm just enjoying freedom and music!
because being a slave to masturbation and not be able to focus on anything except boobs and asses is not really gonna get you anywhere in life!

all that happened before is that i had my hormones run high and my girlfriend eventually got annoyed because i wanted to do her all the time. i was not even interested in love, just love-making... now it's the other way around and i appreciate life much more like this!
and yeah, it sucks to know that i won't be able to have a girlfriend and satisfy her as back in the days, so eventually i just live my life without girls. but what's the point if you have no libido... girls.... what else you need em for :P

think about it!
 
Hey, I'm really glad I found this forum. I turn 19 in Jan and a few weeks ago I went to a urologist to check out as varicocele I've had since I was 15. It never bugged me much before but recently I started getting these dull aches and random sharp pains when I stand still for prolonged periods of time. The urologist said the operation would be a waste of time since the course I'm, doing at university keeps me standing for long hours and the problem would just recur. Apparently I have nothing to worry about except trouble having kids when I'm older. He said that if that happens they'll do the op then but I keep hearing stories about irreversible problems.

My sex drive is fine, my gf knows about the problem and I can live with the pain but hell, no matter what the doctor says, infertility is a big deal to me. The doctor said that if I insist they'll do the op for me but my parents and my gf keep saying it's better to avoid an op if possible so I have no idea what I'm supposed to do.
 
just an update now that i have gotten all my medical bills. the total cost was about 10,000 dollars. 3000 for the surgeon and 7000 for the hospital and anesthesia. my health insurance paid 2000 for the surgeon and 5000 for the hospital and anesthesia (i think, not exactly sure, even now, 5 weeks later LOL).

i'm looking at 3000 out of pocket for the procedure. worth the money, IMO. results seem to be OK so far.
 
jodywebb said:
eh, my left varicocele showed up when i was 13 or so. it wasn't that bad at first, but got pretty big by the time i was 17 or 18. my left testicle was always smaller, but it didn't bother me, because everything worked fine. more than fine actually. masturbating was awesome.

i had been having sex with girlfriends for years with no problems. it wasn't until i was 26 that i really started to want to get rid of it because it was so warm and heavy and annoying. then when i was 28, things started to go downhill. my left testicle began to ache, and i started to slowly and steadily ejaculate less. the power and pleasure of my maximum ejaculations began to decrease. and my left testicle started to shrink. my right testicles started to having intermittent aches and pangs of pain. i would say they were about a 2 or 3 on a 10 scale of pain, not terrible, but enough to motivate me to get checked out for testicle cancer, which i did not have. those pangs of pain continued for 3 years, enough pain to wake me up at night once a week.

eventually after 3 years of that, a slow and steady decline that wasn't fast or painful enough to really motivate me, my left testicle was REALLY small, and i took action. got scheduled for microsurgery as fast as i could. can't afford goldstein or schlegel, but the guy i got is pretty good i think. he said varicocelectomy is the second most common surgery he does after vasectomy reversal, and he did 44 of those just in 2009 alone. i'm also going to a surgery center specialized for infertility, so the hospital should be decent. believe me, i didn't just get any random surgeon or urologist, though i can never really know which guys are the best. of course i'd rather go to presbyterian hospital in NYC and have goldstein do it, but i just can't afford $20,000 or whatever.

you should DEFINITELY GET MICROSURGERY AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, from a decent surgeon. DO NOT WAIT. go into debt if you have to. it's just money. you can pay the bills later, over time. don't be like me. don't put it off. you can't get your testicle size back. some function back? yes. some peace of mind that the damage has been halted? yes. but never your size. they might grow a little bit, but nothing more than a little bit if that.

general practicioners, and even most urologists, are not good about varicoceles and do not strongly urge you to have big ones fixed in a timely manner. i have been examined by many doctors in my life, and while most noticed my varicocele, only 1 person, a nurse at my college, even told me i should have it fixed. even dr thompson said he would fix it if i wanted - but didn't urge me to do it soon. he even stood to make the money on the surgery and he didn't urge me to do it when i first saw him in july 2009. he was actually surprised when i showed up again in his office in october 2010, pleading for him to check me out, and operate as soon as possible. dude was like "Man, you are motivated!" well of course doctor, i'm about to lose my left testicle! he asked me "What changed in your head, what switch was flipped in your mind?"

i mean seriously. you tell even a good surgeon about your problems, the aches and decrease in ejaculation and the terrifying atrophy, and the guy shrugs. "Eh, I can fix that if you want." WTF man?!

fortunately i don't have any other problems. testosterone normal, all other hormones normal. i'm still well within the fertile range as far as semen analysis goes. i can still easily get big hard erections. i'm still very interested in women and in masturbating. well, not so much anymore now that i realize how badly i'm damaged, that kind of psychologically changed me and wiped out my confidence and sex drive. as far as the experts are concerned i am still OK for clinical purposes. but for my purposes, i'm ruined.
Click to expand...

Hi, After 6 months of having a varicocele on my left testicle, I noticed that my semen volume decreased a lot(the semen also changed it's consistency to "watery"). The force of the ejaculation decreased, and my orgasms where less pleasurable.

Are these symptoms of testicular atrophy due to varicocele? What did your doctor say about this?

My left testice has always been smaller than the right, so I'm not really sure if it has atrophied or not. It sometimes gets "soft" and feels smaller, but seems to regain size when it gets harder(i.e in the morning).
 
Kraken92 said:
Hey, I'm really glad I found this forum. I turn 19 in Jan and a few weeks ago I went to a urologist to check out as varicocele I've had since I was 15. It never bugged me much before but recently I started getting these dull aches and random sharp pains when I stand still for prolonged periods of time. The urologist said the operation would be a waste of time since the course I'm, doing at university keeps me standing for long hours and the problem would just recur. Apparently I have nothing to worry about except trouble having kids when I'm older. He said that if that happens they'll do the op then but I keep hearing stories about irreversible problems.

My sex drive is fine, my gf knows about the problem and I can live with the pain but hell, no matter what the doctor says, infertility is a big deal to me. The doctor said that if I insist they'll do the op for me but my parents and my gf keep saying it's better to avoid an op if possible so I have no idea what I'm supposed to do.
Click to expand...
I wish I had seen this before. I'm 53 and I've had a varicocele since I was 13
that has never been repaired and I have 3 children.
I have a friend who had one of his testicles removed because of testicular cancer and he is also a father.
 
My Story

Hello all, just got re-acquainted with this thread after 6 months of refusing to do any research online regarding my varicocele. My story is similar to a lot on here, noticed a drop in libido about 1 to 1.5 years ago (I'm 28). In investigating why I discovered I had a varicocele, grade 2. One important note, my drop in libido was noticed after a very heavy weekend of sex multiple times per day for a couple days, so I wasn't broken just not as horny as I was used to.

Anyway, after discovering the varicocele and becoming thoroughly convinced it caused low T and libido I was nearly unable to have sex for a few weeks. Then I deployed (in the military) and had no way to test my libido for 6 months. Over that time I decided I'd see a urologist and fix the varicocele, and not think about it otherwise, and definitely wouldn't read any sad stories that would send me spiraling in to more anxiety.

Since returning from that deployment 5 months ago I am able to have sex with my girlfriend multiple times per week, but do ejaculate a bit faster than I used to, and I have stopped masturbating unless we're separated for a week or so.

I had a semen analysis done and was a bit below normal range, so I had the microsurgery two days ago. Also had my balls measured, right side was normal size (gold standard according to doc) and left side was same width but a centimeter shorter.

I was hoping to hear from some others about recovery and state my conclusions (questions below).

Here are my conclusions:
1) Varicocele definitely affects sperm and probably T considering testicular atrophy
2) sever worry and sleep loss and poor diet also have a major impact on T levels and libido. The more I worried about this the less libido I had until I thought I was broken. Finally I told myself I was acting crazy and I was having sex again within a couple days
3) I wake up with short lasting wood a few times a week since worrying about this less, had no morning wood when I worried or when I sleep poorly.
4) Varicoceles need to be fixed to halt damage, once fixed move on and try not to think about it. Even if your T is impacted your stress and anxiety is probably wreaking more havoc on your HPTA than the varicocele. If guys can have kids and sex after losing a testicle we should be fine with a varicocele.
5) Take care of your bodies, working out has always kept me sane, but was a big part of letting me enjoy life with the varicocele.

Questions:
1) For those of you that had the microsurgery how long was recovery. Was the skin around the incision red and tender for a few days? I'm concerned it could be a sign of infection.

Thanks any and all for feedback on surgery, hopefully my story is helpful to somebody.
 
Thanks to all who contributed to this thread. I'm just beginning my research journey. I'm 39 and still at the diagnostic phase. Major symptoms: libido drop, groin pain on left side, softening of nuts, dryer orgasm. Will post once I see the specialist (in Ontario).
 
i have been reading this thread and many others as i am going to have my grade 3 varicocele microsurgically corrected in 2 weeks. I have had the varicocele for as long as I can remember, going back to puberty basically.

The only reason I found out there was something wrong was the fact that in the past 2 years my sex drive has bottomed out and even though I had a baby during this time my wife has asked me several times if i am even attracted to her. i never have had strong sex drive, and testosterone tests indicate levels of 400-420 total test. Of course the urologist I am seeing says that is perfectly normal, and is good enough to have sex daily and twice a day at times. I cant even remember the last time i had morning wood, so it was likely before 1994 when I was drunk for a year.

So after talking to my primary care doc about being more tired and less motivated along with lacking sex drive I started reading all I could. I have low normal testosterone, have never been tested for estogen levels, SHBG levels or free test, or any other hormone aside form TSH and total test. I am convinced the varicocele is the source, since my father in his early 60s has total test 150 ng higher than mine and my brother with hep B has 250ng higher levels than me. In addition my entire life I have had a hard time gaining muscle mass, always had a soft look when I did finally gain some lean mass, and lost a lot of muscle along side any fat lost when trying to lean up.

I am really hopeful that the surgery can at least stop the pain, which is giving me hell right now, but I would really like it if I could get testosterone levels back near normal, but with 20+ years of testicular atrophy I bet my chances are slim...
 
All, here's an update on me post surgery. 9 days ago I had microsurgical repair of the varicocele. I am now very mobile, swelling is way down, left testicle still somewhat sore, Spermatic Vein still very tight, incision feels fine and will be hard to see at all when pubic hair is back.

I have been concerned about still feeling the varicocele as though it hasn't changed at all after surgery. I'll see my doc for post-surgery visit in 2 weeks, until then I've found this online from another persons experience.

"I had the surgery because every once and a while I would get a dull ache in the testicle caused by the vascular congestion of the varicocele. To answer your questions about how its hanging now, its only been 12 days since my surgery, so my scrotum still gets quite swollen by the end of the day which I am told is a normal part of the healing process. The doctor has advised me that in a couple of weeks or months the swelling will go down and the varicocele itself will shrink over time because the veins that caused the problem farther upstream have been ligated (tied off) and blood flow will be shunted to more healthy veins. Already I can tell that it will take some time for the veins to be totally resolved but I am very glad that they will never ache they way they did in the past, especially in the heat.

I was told to avoid sexual activity for a week but I was going to wait two weeks just to be safe, but last night I was so horny I figured I would give it a try. Everything was working normally even though it had only been about 11 days since the surgery."

A post from a Dr. Goldstein said in his experience it can take several weeks for ligated veins to go away, so I'm hoping my veins are just filling up because they haven't died yet....

So, surgery wasn't that bad and I'll keep you posted on whether or not the veins go away or the doc missed some.

Any input from someone with similar experience would be appreciated. Thanks to those that have sent me PM's with their experience.
 
would anybody who has done the microsurgery be willing to post pics of their scars? i'm just curious to see how noticeable it is...

also, now that your testicles don't feel hot anymore, does that mean your sack is always... contracted/tight?

my balls are always so hot and saggy... i'm hoping surgery will make my balls stay closer to my body
 
and how painful is the microsurgery? would i be able to go to class the next day? does the pain require painkillers?
 
jdj16 said:
yeah i really don't think its a varicocele...cause my left nut (the one it's on) hangs lower than the right...and if it had atrophy and shutdown shouldn't it hang higher? and if it had shutdown i'd be feeling the pain and i don't have any...thanks man.
Click to expand...

Left nut usually hangs lower in most men. Something like 80%, and it's bigger.
 
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