My 7 Y/o Son Is Having Pain in an Unusual Place for a Child

I don't have children that have had this problem, but my husband has gone through this about 5 years ago now. He works in an industry where he is required to be able to lift 200 pounds or more at any given time. He was at work and called me telling me that he had lifted that amount and had a pain shoot through his stomach and then to his groin but that the pain had not gone away. After a few days of him having what he called annoying, stabbing pains, he went to the doctor and was diagnosed with the varicoceles and that the pain was those caused by those popping up. He was also told that he may have difficulty conceiving children due to the extent of the damage that was caused. Well, we were able to conceive my daughter after only trying for 2 months and we concieved my son "ahead of schedule" after going off birth control less than a month so I don't think that he has a problem there. Anyway, the doctor told him that he had inflammation due to the strain of lifting which caused the varicoceles in both testes, put him on some antibiotics, and he was good to go after about a week. He will get slight cramping now and then if he has strained too hard at work but for the most part they don't bother him anymore. Hopefully this helps.

I don't know much about kids and varicocele, but my husband had one when he was about 20. He had dealt with it for a long time. I don't know if this is normal (I really don't trust the Dr. who he went to), but he had it surgically removed, and now he has a hydrocele, which hurts less and less often, but still hurts. Be sure and find a good Dr, a specialist. The surgery didn't go too badly, just sore for a few days, but from what I understand it was how the Dr. did it that made him more likely to get a hydrocele. Anyway, I hope your little boy is feeling better!

K.

My name is N., I am a nurse and Mom of 6yr son and 3yr daughter. My husband had what sounds alot kike the same problem around last Thanksgiving. It progressively got worse. It did start with some pain with urination, but that seemed to come and go, but the sever pain in the testicles with sitting, standing, with activity, without, it did'nt matter. There was swelling in the testicles as well. I thought it was a hernia. I work i8n preop, so I had him see a general surgeon for his opinion, he diagnosed him with epididymitis, which is similar to varicocele, but can be cured with antibiotics and antinflam. meds. Sure enough, after a few days of treatments, relief. There was no ultrasound needed, but that would have been the next step if the treatment did'nt work. There is no certain reason why this happens in some males, inflamation of those vessels just happen. It may never happen again, or it might. My husband has had no problems since. Suggest that to your doc. If not addressed already. Good luck. I hope the little guy gets well soon.

I guess my question would be to ask you how long the pain has been going on. Obviously this isn't something you want to ignore for a long time. I'm sure you have asked him the obvious questions like if he has been hit there, kicked there, fell onto the bar on his bike, etc. There are a million things he could have done that could cause the pain to have started in the scrotum. Both of my boys have had issues at one time or another with burning when urinating. I have had a few UTIs and kidney infections in my life, so I pay attention when they say it hurts. My oldest son has had it happen more often, but it never has become serious or lasted long enough to where I was convinved he needed to see a doctor. It is hard to know how much pain they are actually in and because they are complaining about such a sensitive area, the littlest amount of pain can cause discomfort. I hope your doctor figures it out with out having to put your son through a million tests.

Well this might be a long shot. My husband is an ex Ford worker and some of the guys used to get what they called a "twisted testicle" not sure if that is the correct term or not. It usually was caused by to much lifting or moving incorrectly - even just the slightest bit. It might be something to look into though, especially if he is pretty active - I have not seen a boy yet who sat still for more that 5 minutes. Hope that helps a little! E.

My son had the same problem but was a little older...around
13. The Ultrasound will help pinpoint the problem. My son
had surgery which completely took care of the problem. He is
now 30 and proud daddy of a one year old. Watch how he acts
when he sits, etc when he does not know you are watching.

The testicles may be twisted! This can happen in hard falls, dropping of the scrotum, or blunt trama to the testies. If untreated it can lead to major problems and even sterility. Keep a close eye on it! My son never had it happen, but a classmate did. They had to do surgery to untwist the vein. Everything turned out fine. My friend said to watch how your son walks and sits. If he leans funny or favors one side, then the discomfort is probably from the testicle pinching. Ask him if it feels like someone is pinching his privates. That was the first thing her son said.
Hope this helps!

Well, M....I am sure sorry to hear your little boy isn't feeling well! I have a nine year old and for about a year or so he complained of pain on and off in his groin area and it would come and go to a certain extent so my husband and I dismissed it to possibly just growing pains. Then he complained about it and it was more present than not so we went ahead and made an appt with his pediatrician. The ped saw him and did a very thorough exam and because he was so thorough he found the culprit - a hernia! I never would have suspected one of those! Apparently, he has had it since birth and no one ever noticed because they were not looking specifically for one. So, I have two points here...First, if your son is complaining about it then it probably really is something especially if he can be very specific about his pain...i.e where exactly it hurts, what makes it hurt more, what makes it feel better. Second, sometimes doctors can miss stuff especially when they aren't sure what there looking for. I would keep doing your own research and continue to monitor your son's symptoms and if he doesn't improve then you might need to take him for a second opinion. My son's hernia was missed by several doctors because they thought his pain was from something else. He ended up having surgery in Jan and is doing great now!
It's not fun when our kids don't feel well. I hope your son feels better and that the further tests show the source of his pain/discomfort. God Bless!

M.........nothing I can say will allow you not to worry, simply because he's your child. My youngest son has been plaqued with the same condition for years. The key is treatment and in my son's case, a round of antibiotics, rest and loose fitting underwear. Since he's seven, try changing him to little boy boxers when he sleeps and work up to all the time. Good luck and be persistent.

M.~

I feel for you. I had a similar situation with my son last year. He was 12 at the time. He called me one day and said that his right testicle was swollen and that he was having problems walking & sitting, just doing usual everyday activities. OMG! When I saw the swelling, I couldn't believe my eyes. It was a quick onset, nothing that showed any "real" symptons. He had complained off & on of lower tummy pain and sharp shooting pains in the scrotum but nothing that would have made me think this was going to happen. We called the dr and they sent us to the ER right away where an ultrasound was immediately performed. After about 4 weeks of pain and multiple trips to the ER, we finally got into the urologist. He ended up having to have surgery and they had to pex (stitch) his testicles in place so they would no longer "twist". THIS IS VERY SERIOUS! Somehow, the spiral-like muscle retracts too tightly causing the testicle to twist which results in loss of blow flow and if not taken care of, a male can lose a testicle within 4 hours. In my son's case, he was in danger of losing both because of another issue that was discovered during surgery. The surgeon said we couldn't have had the surgery soon enough. Your doctor is doing the right thing but you are his mother- listen to your instincts! Plus, he's communicating to you the pain he is experiencing. If you don't think it seems right, push for now. Also, your son's probably into wearing boxers but he needs to wear tighty- whites for the support. It really will make a difference. Best of luck! Please keep us posted as to the outcome...

I have two boys age 12 and 9. They have never had the problem that your son is having, but they have migraines. We use the same method as the hospital uses to determine if they are having migraine pain or regular headaches. Ask you son if on a scale of 1 to 10 (with 1 being no pain and 10 being the worst pain he can imagine) want his pain level is. It is surprisingly accurate way to tell how much pain they are in. We have been using this with our oldest since he was 3. Good luck.

This might sound silly, but which doctor did you see and it what clinic? I am also a military spouse and see docs here on FLW and as I have my own opinion on some there are some that I have found will bend over backwards for you.

My son, when 5 had pain when trying to poo and pain was in abdomen and testicles. When we went to the hospital to get it checked out they said it was a hydraseal, fluid on the testicles... after a ultrasound of the testicles and xray of the abdomen... this was all they could see. The next day after following drs orders to ice the testicles he was in far worse pain when trying to have a bm and we went back they said he had a hernia and needed emergency surgery. So, I hope this is not the case, but I am not sure I would wait until next week, especially if his pain increases. Good luck!

I'm not sure what they do about a varicose vein in the testicle in a 7 year old, but for an adult the way they "fix" it is to do surgery. And often times with a poor result. They go in and "tie" off the vein that is varicose (a varicoseal ligation). However it can often cause a larger varicose vein somewhere else down further resulting in an "enlarged" testicle. If he is in an extreme amount of pain the only thing to do to stop it that I'm aware of is the surgery.

HI. This may not be the case for your son but I wanted to share my story because it is similar to your sons. My son was told he had a varicocele too. I took him repeatedly to the dr because he would periodically get in so much pain he couldn't walk. Sometimes we could get him to change positions and it would ease, but the last time it happened it wouldn't so we took him to the ER. It turned out he had a hernia. He had surgery on it (he was back up and around the very next day btw) and he has had no complaints ever since. I tell you this not to scare you, but to let you know that sometimes the dr.'s miss it so don't be afraid to keep visiting the dr.'s office. Use your mommy instinct-it's usually right. We went to our doctor(actually we saw several different ones) about 8 times, went to the ER twice and had 2 unltrasounds before someone made an accurate diagnosis.