Posted , 53 users are following.
Has anyone had Microsurgical Denervation to help with chronic testicle pain?
Seems like a better solution than removing the testicle but has potential issues given the nerves are tightly integrated with muscle, blood vessels and tissue.
7 likes, 534 replies
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danewead gg78506
Edited
I have had testicular pain in both sides for around 20-months – primarily on the left side. It was discovered that I had three inguinal hernias pressing inward, damaging the nerves going to the testicles. I had the hernias removed, but nine months later, I am still experiencing pain. I can go pain-free for a few days, then experience pain shooting into the testicle and pain in the inner thigh.
I had several nerve block shots that didn’t work. And also had pelvic floor therapy. I have tried everything from diets to shots to different sitting positions – nothing worked.
It was recommended to me to do the microscopic denervation of the spermatic cord. I had this procedure done on March 29, 2021 – ( I am writing this response on April 19, 2021). So far, the procedure has not worked. I have more pain in my testicle than ever before. Pain to the slightest touch – sitting down and standing up hurts – because my testicles are moving.
I had an ultra-sound done, and thankfully there is no sign of anything wrong with the testicle – however, I am still having incredible pain.
I could option to remove the testicle, but there is no guarantee that the pain will be gone. Plus, it would be removing a healthy organ and complications with testosterone. It doesn’t make sense; the denervation was to stop the pain signal – but it seems worst.
I don’t know if anyone else has had this problem – or has solutions on what to do. I am open to any suggestions.
4FOXS8K gg78506
Posted
Hi all,
33 year old just recently had Right microsurgical spermatic cord denervation. So I'm in the Navy and had an accident while on my ship and dislocated my right testicle. Didn't know that was a thing. Went to ER and they misdiagnosed me as just having testicle pain. I suffered for almost 2 weeks before I could see a urologist. Immediately she she knew what it was by me saying it was like a burning pain above my right testicle and said I needed surgery. They performed a procedure to put the nut back down in the sack. I continued to suffer taking Gabapentin 900mg 3 times a day with minimal effect on the nerve pain. Finally they approved me for the denervation. I had it performed 3 days ago and I'm in so much pain. The doctor told me the odds of successful nerve removal was 60 percent. I guess I'm in the 40. The surgery took 3 hours and was done with sedation. I woke up in a jock strap and a 3 1/2" cut above my groin. Currently my right testicle is in more pain than when the accident occurred. The small burning turned into a hellfire of pain in my inguinal canal. My right testicle 3 times it's normal size and the whole right side is yellow and bruised. Hopefully if you decide to get this you have better luck than I did.
paul27735890 4FOXS8K
Posted
Give it time to heal mate it sounds like the swelling and pain is from the surgery and should subside so there's still hope. Stay positive
paul27735890 gg78506
Edited
Hi Pauline,
I just wanted to see how things were with your son? Did you manage to get him some kind of relief?
I myself ended up having surgery to cut my cremaster muscle which divides a lot of nerves in the process but unfortunately it didn’t give me much relief. It has helped relax the testicle slightly but I still get pain and inflammation. I am due to have a spermatic cord block in a few weeks and if that helps I’ll look at having pulsed radio frequency denervation so I can let you know how it goes.
I found a report about a 17 year old who found relief from PRF treatment which might interest you.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4024696/
I also recently had a video call with Dr Sijo Parekattil who is the worlds leading pain specialist for scrotal pain. He said he uses a technique called cryoablation which freezes the nerves and sometimes botox injections too. Unfortunately he’s based in Florida but still an option as a last resort.. I’ve already spent over £25,000 trying to get myself cured of this horrible illness so I dont mind going to the US if I have to.
Anyway I hope this info is some use to you.
pauline44734 paul27735890
Edited
Hi Paul
No relief for him Im afraid .Hes presently in the bath screaming out in pain .Ive read that article to .I spoke to Dr Rolfe in Cambridge who said he was the only Consultant who could work on under 18 tear olds about that article .But after speaking to my sons pain management doctor he said he couldnt help as my son had already had the nerve block mentioned and it didnt work .
when hes 18 I might have more options .Beginning to feel its hopeless .
paul27735890 pauline44734
Posted
Pauline does he have inflammation and scrotal tightness/swelling or do his testicles hang normally? If there is swelling and tightness he may benefit from cialis which relaxes the muscles and increases bloodflow. I've discovered a lot of men have found relieft from chronic epidydimitis and prostatitis with it. Started it myself and its really helping but my problem is a lot of inflammation with the pain.
pauline44734 paul27735890
Posted
Mo inflammation or swelling .What is that ? We did think it might be prostatitis but the GP wont consider it says hes too young .
paul27735890 pauline44734
Posted
Inflammation of the epidydimis. If there is inflammation then it could be scar tissue or prostate related. For me when I have a bowel movement my testicle will swell up painfully and become inflamed. Taking drugs which relax the muscles like cialis seems to help. The doctors will usually look down the nerve pain route but there's only so much they can do about that. I would enquire about cialis or another muscle relaxant. Viagra also has the same effect but is much short lived. Google cialis 5mg a day for prostatitis and it seems to be a common treatment.
pauline44734 paul27735890
Posted
Our Doctor is not interested .Ive applied to get medical cannibis from a private clinic to help his pain as now I think there isnt going to be a fix .His pain is nerve related nothing to see and no swelling.
Fox23 pauline44734
Posted
hello pauline,
any news about your son?
I just had the denervation surgery on my left side with Mr Amr Raheem in London.
he told me everything went great. now I just have to wait and see if it was effective.
he told me he cut everything that can be cut to be sure.
i can update you on my recovery if you are interested. maybe that could give you an idea on what to expect from the surgery for your son.
best regards
pauline44734 Fox23
Posted
Hello
So pleased to hear from you ! You have been in my thoughts .Please let me know how you get along .We have had the medical cannabis approved just waiting for it to be delivered .
I hope and pray you recover well ..Pauline
Fox23 pauline44734
Posted
Btw there is a guy in my town that found a good doctor in belgium that performs the microsurgical denervation. He did both sides in one sugery like 2 months ago.
since the international andrology london can't operate your son under 18, you could try and see if he does.
the doctor is located in the capital city Brussels.
pauline44734 Fox23
Posted
Hi
Thanks for the information .How are you today , are you still in hospital ?
Fox23 pauline44734
Posted
Hello pauline,
just wanted to keep you updated on my recovery. Looks like the surgery went fine and a recent ultrasound confirmed that there is no damage to the testicle or veins that run in that area. so the surgeon did a great job. I am already feeling some pain relief which is great but it is still too soon to say more than that. I am already able to wear tighter underwear without feeling too much pain. that wasn't possible befor the surgery. I always had to wear loose underwear due to the pain. Just to explain how much better I feel after the surgery.
Hopes are high for your son too. It is a good clinic from my experience.
best regards
pauline44734 Fox23
Posted
Hi
I am so pleased for you !! Thats wonderful news .
How did they test it would be a good route for you ? Did you have the spermatic nerve block first ?
Keep in touch please .
Fox23 pauline44734
Posted
Not really like that.
because I already had a similar procedure a year ago in a other clinic. but they didn't cut the nerves. it was a neurolysis and it gave me partial pain relief 6-8 months after that surgery. before this surgery they tested me with the nerve block to see if I would feel better. I had some relief after that so they decided to do the surgery.
however like I said this was not that successful so I tried to repeat the surgery in London cutting more nerves.
since I already did surgery before in an other clinic they didn't test me with the nerve block in London.
pauline44734 Fox23
Posted
Hi
How are you feeling now ? Were you in hospital for long ?
My son is on medical cannabis now .Hes still having pain but they start on a very low dose and move up so Im hopeful .
I feel like we are always looking for something new its exhausting .
Take care and again so pleased for you .
pauline44734 paul27735890
Posted
Hi Paul
Just thinking about you wondering how you are ? My son is on medical cannabis now .Hes just started 3 weeks ago and the dose is low to start but Im hopeful .
We had Covid recently its horrible but recovered now .Hope you are good .
Fox23 pauline44734
Posted
Hello,
Oh god sorry to hear that!
I am fine, thanks. haven't seen much improvement in the last week, but it is still a bit swollen so I guess I have to wait a little bit longer to see further results.
I only did one side right now so I am not expecting complete pain relief.
the pain started on the testicle that had no surgery so far. so there is also a chance that the pain is just caused by one testicle and just spread across the whole area.
let me know how it is going with the medical cannabis.
paul27735890 pauline44734
Edited
Hi Pauline,
Thanks for your message. I have been up and down to be honest. I had my cremaster muscle cut in October to stop the painful retraction but unfortunately I am still getting pain and inflammation. To make matters worse when I'm not having a flare up my testicle now hangs really low and that it also uncomfortable! I'm slowly getting used to it though but I will be avoiding any more surgeries. I am possibly going to have a spermatic cord block soon and after that a hypogastric nerve block to try and break the pain cycle. The hypogastric block was recommended by a leading pelvic pain specialist who I saw privately and has now moved to Australia. Worth a try I suppose. My pain and inflammation is only really there during the AM and when my bowels are full so its hard to pinpoint the triggers apart from going to the toilet etc. I have tried cannabis oil but it actually made me worse, possibly because it stimulates the nerves down there. The most success I've had is with tadalafil 5mg daily which increases bloodflow to the genitals and seems to relax the scrotum. I will update you with any developments, currently on the NHS waiting list for the injections because I have spent way too much trying to resolve this myself... close to £25k now! All the best to you and your son, make sure he realises this ordeal will make him a stronger person in the end and he has a good future ahead of him. Cheers, Paul
Fox23 pauline44734
Posted
hello pauline,
hope this message finds you well. to update you on my recovery, I feel already a bit better. the touch of the testicles is much less painful than before. on both testicles even though I only had surgery on one so far. The doctor said it sounds pretty promising that I had some relief and I should feel better gradually in the next months. I am still in pain though but the intensity is much less and it shifts from day to day. I fell that it is still a bit swollen and hard to the touch so I guess part of this pain is still from the surgery itself.
how are you and your son doing?
best regards
pauline44734 Fox23
Edited
Hi
Sorry for the late reply . My sons not doing well hes in alot of pain .The cannabis oil isnt really helping him much . He will be 18 soon and I will start again looking for help as not many urologists would touch him as he was under 18 .I dont really want him to have the denervation operation really it seems to risky and I havent heard of much success but something has to happen as he has no life .
Fox23 pauline44734
Posted
hello, great to hear that he is turning 18 soon. but i am sorry that the oil is not helping.
from my experience I can say that the denervation surgery is not too risky. I've done it 2 times on one side and none of the 2 doctors did any unintentional damage in that area.
I did it almost 3 months ago so I am still in recovery. i usually take much much longer to heal than an average person so I will sitll expect more pain relief in the next months.
I have to say that since I did this second surgery I am able to wear tight underwear as before the pain started so that is a success.
and I also started doing some physical exercises. overall the pain is much better than before.
I have to say I still feel some burning sensation some days where the scar is, but that could improve overtime. my testicles is still a bit swollen but I had a medical check lately and they told me it's fine it will improve over time.
so I guess the pain could still improve as well.
I would definitely recommend you to try a nerve block so they can see if the surgery would be a success. I know the surgery sounds scary but Dr. Raheem is the best doctor at this surgery and from what I heard he had a lot success doing this procedure.
keep in touch and best regards