Mr Steve Garnett, Consultant Urologist, discusses testicular lumps and bumps, including hydrocele and epidydimal cysts (3 videos)
What is hydrocele?
A hydrocele is a painless swelling and a collection of fluid around the testicle itself. So, patients usually notice that the testicle is swollen up. It's not painful, but it can be quite large and it's simply due to fluid accumulating around the testicle.
What does a testicular lump feel like?
There are a number of different testicular lumps. So, hydrocele is just a collection of fluid around the testicle itself. And in that situation, you can't actually feel the testicle, you can just feel a smooth swelling around the testicle.
Epidydimal cysts cause a little bit of swelling separate from the testicle. And the only thing that would be really worrying would be if you could feel a lump within the testicle itself.
What causes hydrocele in adults?
Hydrocele in adults is generally unknown in cause. So, it can be due to infection or trauma or other things. But in the vast majority of men, there's no obvious cause. It's just accumulation of fluid, and we don't really know why.