Content

• Steps
• Method 1 of 3: Recognizing Symptoms
• Method 2 of 3: Hydrocele in Adult Men
• Method 3 of 3: Hydrocele in Newborns
• Tips
• Warnings

A hydrocele is a collection of fluid that forms around one or both testicles. This condition is usually painless, but it can cause swelling that can be uncomfortable. Hydrocele can occur in both adult men and newborns. If you think you or your child has a hydrocele, then scroll down to step 1 to find out more.

Steps

Method 1 of 3: Recognizing Symptoms

1. 1 Check if your scrotum is swollen. Stand in front of a mirror and look at your scrotum. If you have a hydrocele, at least one side of your scrotum will be larger than usual. Look at your testicles - one side may appear more swollen than the other.
2. 2 Pay attention to any difficulty you have with walking. The more your scrotum swells, the more likely you will find it difficult to walk. Men who have a similar problem describe it as the sensation of being dragged around by something heavy tied to their testicles. This is because gravity pulls the scrotum downward, as it has accumulated fluid that has not been there for most of your life; therefore, you may feel heavier than usual.
   • You may also experience this feeling of dragging heaviness when standing up after lying or sitting for a while.
3. 3 Control any increase in swelling over time. If you don't start treatment for your hydrocele, your scrotum will continue to grow. If this happens, you may find it uncomfortable to wear regular pants; instead, you may choose to wear wide, baggy pants so that nothing is pressing on your swollen scrotum.
4. 4 Pay attention to any pain you feel while urinating. Generally, if you have a hydrocele, you will not feel pain while urinating. However, if the hydrocele is caused by an infection in the testicle or epididymis (called epididymo-orchitis), you are more likely to feel pain when going to the bathroom. If you begin to experience this pain, then you need to see a doctor right away.

Method 2 of 3: Hydrocele in Adult Men

1. 1 Find out what causes hydrocele in adult men. Men can have hydrocele for many reasons. The three most common are inflammation, infections (such as sexually transmitted infections), and injury to one or both of the testicles. It can also be caused by injury or infection in the epididymis (the coiled tube at the back of the testicles that is responsible for the maturation, storage and transport of sperm).
   • Occasionally, a hydrocele can occur if the membranes of the vagina (the membranes that cover the testicles) build up too much fluid, unable to get rid of it.
2. 2 Be aware that hernias can lead to a hydrocele. If you have a hernia, it can form a hydrocele. However, this form of hydrocele is usually a swelling higher in the scrotum. So that you know for the future, this kind of tumor is 2 to 4 cm from the base of the scrotum.
3. 3 Be aware that filariasis can also be the cause of the hydrocele. Filariasis is a tropical disease caused by filarial worms that enter the human lymphatic vessels. These worms are also the cause of elephantiasis. Instead of fluid in the abdomen, these worms cause a form of hydrocele that is actually cholesterol-laden and can be called chylocele.

Method 3 of 3: Hydrocele in Newborns

1. 1 Understand how the testicles of a newborn should normally develop. In order to understand what is happening with the newborn, it is important to understand how the normal process occurs, then you can figure out what went wrong. The testicles develop in the fetal abdomen, very close to the kidneys, and subsequently descend into the scrotum through a tunnel known as the inguinal canal. When the testicles descend, they are preceded by a sac that forms from the lining of the abdomen (called the processus vaginalis).
   • The processus vaginalis usually closes above the testicles.
2. 2 Be aware that your child may have a communicating hydrocele. With communicating hydrocele, the sac around the testicles (processus vaginalis) remains open, rather than closing as it should. As it remains open, it allows fluid to enter the scrotum, creating a hydrocele.
   • While the sac remains open, fluid can flow back and forth from the abdomen into the scrotum. This means that the size of the scrotum will increase and decrease throughout the day.
3. 3 Be aware that your child may also have a non-communicating hydrocele. In non-communicating forms of hydrocele, the testicles descend, as they should, into a sac (processus vaginalis) that closes around them. However, the fluid that enters the testicular sac is not absorbed by the baby's body, so it becomes trapped in the scrotum and forms a hydrocele.

Tips

• Doctors will do a light test to see if there is a hydrocele or not. They will direct the light behind the scrotum - if there is a hydrocele, the scrotum will glow because of the fluid around it.
• Remember that if you do surgery for a hernia, the chances of a hydrocele forming will be significantly less, although there have been several reported cases in the past.

Warnings

• Although this is usually a painless condition, it is best to treat it so that there are no further complications.
• A long-existing hydrocele can harden, that is, it will become like a stone in consistency.