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Medical Author:

Charles Patrick Davis, MD, PhD

Charles Patrick Davis, MD, PhD

Dr. Charles "Pat" Davis, MD, PhD, is a board certified Emergency Medicine doctor who currently practices as a consultant and staff member for hospitals. He has a PhD in Microbiology (UT at Austin), and the MD (Univ. Texas Medical Branch, Galveston). He is a Clinical Professor (retired) in the Division of Emergency Medicine, UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, and has been the Chief of Emergency Medicine at UT Medical Branch and at UTHSCSA with over 250 publications.

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Medical Editor:

Mary Nettleman, MD, MS, MACP

Mary Nettleman, MD, MS, MACP

Mary D. Nettleman, MD, MS, MACP is the Chair of the Department of Medicine at Michigan State University. She is a graduate of Vanderbilt Medical School, and completed her residency in Internal Medicine and a fellowship in Infectious Diseases at Indiana University.

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When to Seek Medical Care

Mild scrotal pain, urinary symptoms, or any of the other symptoms of epididymitis listed above merit a visit to a health care practitioner because the treatment for epididymitis involves prescription antibiotics. If the doctor is concerned about complications or an alternative diagnosis, the individual will likely be sent to a hospital for further tests. If a boy or man has scrotal pain or urinary symptoms and cannot be seen soon by a health care practitioner, he should go to a hospital's emergency department. Symptoms that require urgent care include the following:

• Severe scrotal pain: This could represent testicular torsion, which is a very serious disease that needs immediate attention. The outcome for this particular diagnosis is time dependent. The faster the man receives treatment, the less damage may be done since torsion limits or cuts off blood flow to the testicle. Seek care immediately.

• Urinary symptoms such as:

• discharge from the penis,

• pain or burning with urination, and

• urinary frequency (more often than normal).

• Fever and chills

• Nausea

• Abdominal or flank pain

• Lumps or swelling in the testicles; one testicle increasing in size

These symptoms may indicate an epididymitis infection, but a health care practitioner needs to examine the individual to help determine the diagnosis and determine if an emergency condition exists (for example, testicular torsion or necrotizing fasciitis).