Question: I am a 70 year old male, and I have had an adult hydrocele for the last 50 years or so. I had corrective surgery on my left testicle when I was 17. The problem occurred in the right testicle later, and I'm reluctant to have surgery. Are any safe and effective herbal products?
Dr. Hibberd's Answer:
The only way to correct hydrocele, which is a fluid-filled sac around a testicle that causes swelling, is with surgery. Times have changed since your first surgery, however, and it can be done without general anesthesia and with very little discomfort or risk. You will likely go in for surgery one morning and be home in the afternoon.
Many hydroceles resolve without any treatment at all, but 50 years is certainly long enough to wait! Be sure to be examined by a urologist to rule out an associated underlying condition. A simple ultrasound (no needles or discomfort!) is usually all that is necessary. Then, absent an underlying condition that needs correction, you may leave it alone or decide to correct it as you did the other side. Herbal products have no place in treatment of a hydrocele.
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