Details of My Hydrocele Surgery

Thought I’d post this in case anyone else has to go through the same experience. I know that at least one of the members here had this a few years ago and gave a brief account of his experience. Since this effects men only and is not a terribly uncommon occurrence I wanted to reassure anyone in a similar situation with some details of what happened to me. I posted all this on another forum so this is just a copy and paste. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. I’ll break it into separate posts as there is a bit here. I can only post in this section so if someone needs to move the thread please do.

A hydrocele is a buildup of watery fluid around the testicles. Sometimes it is just one, other times it is both. The buildup is painless and generally is not dangerous. The scrotum and/or groin will slowly swell. There are two types of hydroceles: a Congenital hydrocele develops at birth while a acquired hydrocele develops later in life. Acquired hydroceles are most common in men over 40, it occurs in 1-2% of men.

Part One:

Had this hydrocele for 6 or 7 years now on the right side. Had no idea what it was but didn’t cause any problems so didn’t get to the doctors until yesterday.

Well, he confirmed it and even had an attempt at drainage.2 different sites but couldn’t get anything out. Was really quite painful. But to be honest it seemed like a very cursory attempt and I think I could have done it better myself. Of course he immediately recommended surgery.

I told him about aspiration followed by sclerotherapy and he was quite fond of the idea. Unfortunately as a GP he said he wouldn’t do it and I should see a urologist and discuss it with him. I told him to write in the referral that due to moderate size (maybe lime sized) and no complications the urologist should consider aspiration and sclero.

So now I’ve got myself a referral to a urologist in a couple of weeks so hoping I can talk him into drainage and sclerotherapy rather than surgery, which I can’t afford anyway. I will be telling him I will not be having surgery and if he doesn’t want to drain it, I will be doing it myself.

I have some 25g needles here and 1ml syringes, I was going to leave the syringe open and just attach a 2ft tube to the end and do a gravity drain like so many here have tried. Not sure if the 25g is big enough, I don’t mind the longer draining time as long as the end result is the same.

Went to the urologist today, obviously he doesn’t recommend aspiration and sclero, but he did give a hint as to why my last aspiration was unsuccessful.

He did say in some cases the fluid can be quite thick and difficult to aspirate through a needle. Looks like that could be why the GP was unsuccessful despite 2 attempts and a rather large needle. He was also concerned that as well as the hydrocele a cyst may be present. In either case the recommendation was for surgery.

The urologist I spoke to last week recommended I have surgery (obviously) and I told him to get a quote for the hospital and his fees etc so I could decide.

He doesn’t seem to be in any hurry to get this sorted. After several calls over the last few days to his staff and being told repeatedly that they haven’t got around to getting my quote together yet I decided to take matters into my own hands.

I managed to get hold of a 20ml syringe and some 23g needles.little thin but the only other thing I had was 25g’s which wouldn’t do.

Found some EMLA Cream (Dermal Anesthetic) in the cupboard so I rubbed that on and left it for about 10 mins then wiped off and used plenty of alcohol wipes to sterilize the area. No problems at all. Felt NOTHING!

I had the right testicle and ‘cele pushed up between my legs kind of squeezed my legs together to hold everything in place to free up both hands. Grabbed a LED torch and found my spot. Was still pretty nervous despite the complete lack of pain, so the first stick went in fine but when I pulled back on the syringe only a little came out and I pulled the needle out with it. Inserted again right next to the first site and managed to get about 40ml out - not everything but about half. I didn’t realize the amount of force needed to pull back the syringe. Still, not too bad for a first timer.

Now I have done it once I can really understand you guys saying it isn’t a big deal. To be honest I was pretty apprehensive about doing it myself, especially after my GP tried twice and seemingly missed both times draining nothing. I’m really quite pleased with myself and to have an almost normal looking sac again is great

Disappointing result from my last drain, looks like it’s almost back to full size after only a few days. I can’t be draining this thing every week so I have booked in for surgery next week. Will be going in on Wednesday, will keep you all updated. Not really looking forward to the recovery but not much choice now.

Rick the doc said I may have an epididymal cyst to go with my hydrocele so I’ll have more news after the operation. Although the cyst is pretty much the same as a hydrocele from my understanding just occurs above the testicle. Draining is a possibility according to my doctor but it is harder to aspirate than a ‘cele because of location and the generally smaller size.

I really feel for all you guys in the States, I have no insurance but I’m getting the surgery in a private hospital for around $2500. Thats the total cost including hospital fees, surgeon and anesthetist. Having to pay 10+K for a simple OP in what is supposed to be the richest country on earth is a sad fuckin’ joke.

12 Hours post OP. I can’t really describe it as painful, uncomfortable for sure but certainly not agony. Starting to get a little swelling now so we’ll see how the next couple of days progress. The is no drain and it seems he used a horizontal incision.

If I lie on my back and don’t move around too much it’s not even really uncomfortable, hardly even noticeable. Haven’t been sleeping as much as I would like, just a few hours so far so I’m going to try and get a good nights rest and see what tomorrow brings.

Will update with progress over the next few days as I didn’t get to talk to the surgeon after the OP so I don’t even know if there was an epididymal cyst to go along with the hydrocele. My only complaint so far was the lack of info I received about after care. No paper work, very little verbal advice about what to do or expect, pretty much nothing.

Will ring the surgeons rooms tomorrow and follow up, see if I can find out what the hell he actually did.

Another quick post OP update. 48 Hours since surgery. Still uncomfortable but not really too painful. Just taking paracetamol every 4 hours and that seems to be enough. Could have gone back to work today in all honesty but I think it would be a wise precaution to wait until Monday.

Spoke to the surgeon yesterday afternoon and he confirmed very straight forward hydrocele and no epididymal cyst. No complications everything exactly as expected. The swelling is actually larger than what the hydrocele was so I’m looking forward to that subsiding.

I still have a water proof plastic bandage over the wound which hasn’t come off yet, there is very minimal drainage but I do have a medical pad inside my underwear in case anything decides to leak out. The Doc said the bandage will just fall off in time and all the stitches will dissolve so not to worry about them. Have a follow up appointment booked in for next Wednesday. Will keep you updated.

I would have preferred the drainage and sclero as opposed to this operation but unfortunately you don’t always get a choice. I can say that so far I’m glad it’s over and not unhappy I had it done. The lead up to the surgery and worry about it was much worse than the op and recovery has been.

It’s been a full week now since the surgery and I am pretty much back to normal, very little pain and still pretty swollen but I feel fine and am healing quickly as confirmed by the Doc at yesterdays post op check up. Stitches are starting to fall out and no signs of infection.

Very interesting m0ses. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks 74, just wanted to reassure anyone in a similar situation that it really isn’t that bad.hopefully save someone the stress and anxiety. Little anxious to get back to PE been off for about 2 months now. Haven’t lost anything, will be starting some very light stretches next week and progress from there depending on PI’s.

Thank you for posting this. I have a hydrocele on my right testicle that has been slow growing for about 10 years. It is starting to get a little uncomfortable. Is it really 10K+ for surgery in America? I have health insurance, but it’s high deductible (4000). I’m also concerned about losing PE progress.