I've had a hydrocele as long as I can remember. I've had several GP's over the years, and they've never seen any problems with it.

Its never increased in size, even after training March-September for 1 HIM and 8 Oly's this season. I've been a swimmer since 1991, in tri for 4 years.


I've personally never heard of surgical intervention for the condition...

I had one and w/o being too immature about it, I got used to having big ####'s . . . .I mean big. . .until one day. I had some pain and noticed that one got even bigger. The pain turned into an infection (it happens). After taking care of the pain and infection in the hospital for 36 hours I had the surgery correction which was no big deal. Bottom line is if they don't get in the way, it's OK. Good luck.

About 8 tears ago I had an inguinal hernia repair. At the same time the surgeon also cut into the side of my scrotum and removed the hydrocele. Since it was done on an outpatient basis, I had the opportunity to hold ice on my scrotum which significantly minimized the swelling. The surgeon was surprised how fast I recovered. (I was running slowly a week later)

I have read that the hydrocele can also be aspirated with a needle and syringe (pleasant thought, huh?), but that the fluid could return. From what I've heard and read, it is thought that an injury causes the hydrocele as a protective measure.

Not a topic I particularly like to discuss, but I had the surgery and the needle aspiration too, following an unfortunate injury while playing softball... ugh!

Had the surgery, got along just fine (although I understand there is a very big risk of infection from that surgery, so my doctor really tried to avoid that). Everything was good for a while, and really, I felt great and had a very short recovery time. But, unfortunately, after a period of time the problem returned. Did the needle aspiration next and that didn't last long at all before things returned to their prior state.... but..... over a period of months it got better and now things are back to normal. So I guess in the end I don't really know whether it was the surgery, the aspiration, or just the grace of God but it's all good now.

How long ago was your surgery? As I understand my doctor, they don't do needle aspiration anymore because of the high recurrence rate. Also, in the surgical procedure, they sew an opening to prevent recurrence. So they say. How long was your recovery, in terms of days off from work?

I had one years ago and was confined to the couch with an ice bag for a week and it went bye bye and hasn't reared its ugly head ever again.

Had one for 5 years. I never had pain but eventually decided I wanted to have balls that were the same size.

I had the surgery which I will now describe so anyone who doesn't want to read about it should skip to the next posting.

The surgery was outpatient and took about 45 minutes. The doctor used a syringe to drain the Hydrocele and then cut the scrotum and pulled the testicle outside of the scrotum. He then cut the excess sac from around the testicle and sewed the sac shut afterward. Then he tried mightily to reinsert the testicle into my scrotum which after about 10 minutes he decided to increase the size of the cut in my scrotum so that he could push the testicle back in and then sewed my scrotum back shut.

He said I would be sore for a few days, but he significantly underestimated my capacity to feel pain. I was in bed for 4 days and walked gingerly for around 2 weeks but after that the pain was gone. I was prescribed Tylenon 3 w/ Codiene but I was unable to continue to take it after 1 day because I had a terrible migraine that went away once I quit taking the Codiene so my pain was mostly with just vitamin I(advil). I have not had any growing of the hydrocele since and have no pain, but my testicle still is slightly larger than the other.

Wow, I thought I was that rare person who had this, seems its much more common. Mine got quite big, and the first time I had an ultrasound, the Doctor told me they had no clue what it was.

It then went away on its own. Every time it came back, I would schedule a visit to the Doctor, by the time I got to his office a few days later, it was gone. I would imagine it would be bothersome for a triathlete, I know it bugged me when biking and running.

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had one. had it repaired. make sure your anesthesiologist knows you are an endurance athlete else he might not put you far enough under due to your low heart rate. happened to me twice or three times during the same surgery (i think), but i didn't have recollection of it until a few months later.. then it started coming back (maybe)..

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     I have aspirated them and have operated on them many times over the years. There's nothing to loose by having it aspirated (drained) with a needle and syringe in the office. It takes about 3 minutes, there's no significant pain and you can return to regular activities immediately.

Eventually, most will re-accumulate fluid but you can always have it aspirated again. There's no telling how long it takes to re-accumulate but I've had some people go a year or two before they come back.

When you get tired of having it drained you can always have surgery later. Surgery isn't necessarily permanent either though. I've had a couple re-occur. In those cases I usually aspirate them.

Good luck!

Surgery was 7 years ago; I think I was off work in the 4-6 week range. I immediately felt pretty good afterward and if I had been permitted by the doctor I could have certainly returned to normal activities much sooner, but he wanted me taking it easy and not lifting, etc.. I was fortunate as I needed very little pain meds or anything like that; don't think I took much of any pain meds after the first couple of days. And I don't consider myself to have a high pain tolerance and I usually enjoy the pain meds quite a lot :-).

After it came back he said the aspiration probably wouldn't work but it was worth a try, as it only took a couple of minutes and I immediately left the office and went straight to my workout for the day.

Old post but thought I would resurrect it.

I'm having the surgery Monday morning. I have had a small hydrocele almost my entire life. It never bothered me so I never gave any thought to it except whenever I have a physical and the doc mentions it.

I had open inguinal hernia surgery on my right side in November 2014. The right side of my sack swelled up pretty bad. It went down a lot but it's still about twice the size pre-surgery. Once again, docs said if it's not bothering me then I shouldn't worry.

I didn't race at all in 2015 and didn't train much until the last couple of months of the year as I had planned to do the Panama 70.3 last month. Once I started riding for 2+ hours or running 9-10 miles it became uncomfortable. Additionally, seems I was more prone to epididymitis which is painful.

So I decided to have the surgery and figured I'd get a vasectomy while the doc was down there. Not looking forward to it at all. Literally one spot above death on my list of things I'd like to do on Monday.

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Favorite Gear: Dimond | Cadex | Desoto Sport | Hoka One One

Wow, this is an old post. My hydrocele appeared early in 2008. I was training for IMOO. It got bigger. Didn't really bother me too much on the bike, but definitely attracted attention when wearing bike shorts. I saw my urologist in October, wrote that post in November, and had the surgery in February. I was nervous as hell, particularly since my vasectomy a few years earlier was painful. I recall my female anesthesiologist asking why my BP was so high (normally normal) before the procedure. "Because you're about to operate on my balls?" I recall answering. She nicely said she'ld put something in my IV to relax me, and a few minutes later I didn't care about anything.
The surgery was a breeze. Minimal pain afterwards. Quick recovery. And 7 years later - no issues.

9 days post op and I feel okay. I was laid up in bed for a couple of days and was able to shuffle around after that. Went back to work this week. The area hasn't been too painful but sleeping has been tough. I'm a side sleeper so every little shift wakes me up so I'm like a zombie right now.

My bag looks like a baseball with the stitches. The incision was 2.5 to 3 inches long from right to center of my sack. Took pain meds first three days and then stopped. Just being very careful and not overdoing it. I'm still walking around pretty gingerly but each day gets better. I'd like to get back to training in the next week or two. No way in hell I could run or sit on a bike seat right now.

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Favorite Gear: Dimond | Cadex | Desoto Sport | Hoka One One

I had mine done Jan. 8th 2016. Worked out at the YMCA prior to the surgery. Then I actually went out to eat with my lady friend about 90 minutes after the surgery and while we were awaiting for my pain meds to be filled. Needed to wear Jock Strap 24 hours a day for five days. Then able to shift to wearing power core compression shorts during the day. Walking with short steps for almost six days afterwards. Started exercising "lightly" eight days afterwards and needed to wear the jock strap for all workouts. Started swimming 10 days afterwards. Biking? Well, I gave myself about 20 days and then just initially sat upright and moved the pedals. Missed one week and one day of work. Good luck to all that have this.

Anyone have experience with the surgery, recovery time, pain, etc?

I have experience with DIY. Happy to provide details if interested.

Were you all good after the 20 days or so?

Yesterday was the first day I didn't groan with every step or each time I sat up or down. "Breakthrough day!" :-)

I certainly couldn't go jogging right now but I'm hoping to jump in the pool next week and perhaps ride my bike. I was thinking cycling wouldn't be as bad as running???

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Favorite Gear: Dimond | Cadex | Desoto Sport | Hoka One One

Started biking at 20 days by sitting upright and pedaling easy for 12-15 minutes. Gradual increase in time and intensity. Did not and do not bike every day. Gradual increase in bouts in the aero position.

13 days out and tried to ride a bike today with the family. Thought I felt pretty good. That was a very, very bad idea. Made it about 10 minutes and that was pedaling at grandma pace.

Now I've been laid up all day and my balls are killing me.

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Favorite Gear: Dimond | Cadex | Desoto Sport | Hoka One One

I had one removed twenty years ago. There was some concern that it was cancer. It wasn't. But a month later I needed a hernia repair. I don't know what caused the hernia but it could have been related to the op and it could have been me pushing myself to get back too fast.