Diagnosis

If symptoms appear which indicate the presence of an epididymitis, a visit to a doctor is recommended for clarification. The doctor will primarily try to rule out serious diseases that require immediate treatment and thus prevent dangerous complications. Through the exact recording of the individually occurring symptoms and an exact assessment of the affected testicle, the attending physician can usually already make a diagnosis of an epididymitis.To be able to look at the epididymis, an ultrasound of the testis can be performed. An inflamed epididymis is usually greatly enlarged. An examination of the urine can determine the type of inflammation and if necessary the therapy can be adjusted.

What is the typical course of an acute epididymitis?

Acute epididymitis is usually caused by bacteria that enter the epididymis through a urinary tract or prostate infection or via the blood. Usually the inflammation occurs on one side. At the beginning of the acute inflammation there is swelling, reddening of the affected area and severe pain in the epididymis.

In addition, patients often complain of pain when urinating, chills, fever and general fatigue. As the pain progresses, it can radiate to the lower abdomen and the groin region. The acute epididymitis often spreads to the other epididymis as well. If no immediate treatment is given, a chronic epididymitis may develop. Consult a doctor as soon as the first symptoms of an inflammation appear, such as swelling and pain in the area of the testes.

Therapy

Before a therapy of the epididymitis is carried out, first of all diseases should be excluded, which could cause serious complications with wrong therapy. Especially in young patients, testicular torsion should be excluded. An epididymitis is always treated by taking antibiotics.

In addition, the testicle should be elevated and cooled. Besides a symptom relief these measures have a positive influence on the course of the disease. If the antibiotic is effective, the disease and the symptoms typically improve within a few days.

Part of the recommended therapy for epididymitis is cooling the affected testicle. Cooling the testis has a positive influence on the course of the disease and improves the underlying symptoms. The cooling is carried out by ice wrapping.

It should be noted that the ice does not lie directly on the skin of the testicle. It is also important that other therapeutic measures should be taken in addition to cooling. Apart from cooling, therapy with antibiotics is particularly important, as well as elevating and immobilizing the testicle.

Usually an epididymitis heals well even without surgical measures by the administration of antibiotics. In rare cases, an abscess may form, which may have to be surgically removed. Even in cases of chronic inflammation of the epididymis, it may be that the epididymis must be removed by surgery as a last resort.

It should be noted that surgical removal of the organ leads to a partial loss of sperm production. If both epididymis are affected and have to be removed, the affected person is considered infertile. For this reason, in some cases, the removal of one epididymis is considered in order to prevent the inflammation from spreading to the organ on the other side and the resulting infertility of the affected person.

Acute epididymitis is a medical emergency and you should urgently consult a doctor. In case of epididymitis, the doctor will prescribe bed rest, painkillers and often an antibiotic. Antibiotics such as Doxycycline, Ceftriaxone, Ciprofloxacin or Azithromycin are used to treat the bacterial infection.

An epididymitis cannot be cured by homeopathic remedies alone. In any case, antibiotic therapy is indicated. You can take homeopathic remedies in addition to antibiotics to relieve pain and shorten the course of the disease. Aurum preparations such as Aurum chloratum natronat, Aurum colloidale, Aurum iodatum or Aurum metallicum are suitable homeopathic remedies to supplement the therapy. Ask your doctor or pharmacist before use.