Epididymitis Pain Gets Worse After Exercise – Should You Stop and Rest?

Among male reproductive health problems, epididymitis is not widely known, but it makes patients suffer a lot-scrotal pain, touch pain is restless, and the pain after exercise is even more uncomfortable. Many patients are confused: how to deal with the aggravation of pain after exercise? Is it necessary to take a rest immediately? 

Next, we will solve these questions and clarify the core principles of exercise and rehabilitation for patients with epididymitis.

Why Exercise Can Make Pain Worse in Epididymitis Patients?

Epididymitis is essentially an infectious inflammation of the epididymis, like an "inflamed wound" in the body, which can easily be aggravated by stimulation during exercise. The specific reasons are mainly as follows: 

Mechanical stimulation directly affects the inflamed site: 

Body shaking during exercise will drive the epididymis to move together, such as running, jumping, and other movements, but also make the epididymis and surrounding tissues produce friction and extrusion. 

The inflamed epididymis, which is already very sensitive, will become more obvious under these mechanical stimuli, and pain will follow, which is also the reason why many people "feel scrotal swelling and pain just after running a few steps". 

Accelerated blood flow aggravates the inflammatory response: 

Exercise makes the blood circulation of the whole body faster, and the blood flow of the epididymis will also increase. For the already inflamed epididymis, more blood means more inflammatory factors, which make the pain and swelling more obvious. 

Further aggravation of congestion and swelling: 

Epididymitis itself can cause congestion and swelling of the epididymis, and the increased blood flow caused by exercise can make the congestion more serious, and may also lead to local fluid accumulation, which aggravates the swelling, compresses the surrounding tissues more obviously, and the pain will naturally be stronger. 

Physical fatigue slows down the recovery process: 

Physical fatigue caused by strenuous exercise can temporarily reduce the immune system function. The recovery of epididymitis requires the immune system to fight against bacteria. In the state of fatigue, the epididymis lacks sufficient repair support, the recovery of inflammation slows down, and the pain not only aggravates but also prolongs.

Pain Gets Worse After Exercise in Epididymitis? Here Are Four Steps to Ease It

After exercise, the pain of epididymitis is aggravated. Stop exercise immediately and treat it according to the following four steps: 

Stop exercising and rest immediately: 

Once the epididymal pain is aggravated, stop exercising immediately, find a comfortable place to sit and lie (lying flat first), relax the body, reduce the friction and shaking of the epididymis, stabilize the local blood circulation, and avoid the aggravation of inflammation. 

Elevate the scrotum to relieve pressure: 

Use a scrotum support belt or a towel to lift the scrotum to a position higher than the waist to relieve the pressure caused by gravity, promote blood and lymphatic reflux, and relieve congestion and swelling; when there is no support belt, the towel can be rolled up and placed below. 

Choose cold or hot compresses according to your needs: 

When the pain has just appeared and the skin is not damaged, use a towel to wrap an ice bag for cold compress for 15–20 minutes (pay attention to prevent frostbite); if the pain lasts for more than 1–2 days, use a warm towel for 20 minutes each time, 2–3 times a day, to help the inflammation absorb. 

Pay attention to symptoms and deal with them as soon as possible: 

When mild pain is relieved after treatment, medication should be taken on time and continuous observation should be made; if the pain is aggravated, or fever, scrotal swelling, pain in urination, and other conditions occur, medical treatment should be sought immediately to avoid the development of acute to chronic. 

Exercise and Treatment Tips During Epididymitis

The ache after epididymitis patient's motion is aggravating. How to correct motion, active treatment? This needs to be based on the type of epididymitis, and the two treatment principles are quite different. 

Acute epididymitis: Have a good rest first, treatment is the most important

Acute epididymitis comes quickly and fiercely, and the common situation is that the scrotum is suddenly painful and swollen, and some people will have a fever. At this time, the most important thing is to rest more and try not to exercise, even if it is walking, because the epididymis in the acute stage is particularly sensitive; a little activity may aggravate the pain or even spread the inflammation. 

At this stage, active treatment is needed, and there are three main ways: 

Medication: Most epididymitis is caused by bacterial infection, so antibiotics are the main treatment, such as levofloxacin, cephalosporins, must be taken according to the doctor's dosage and time. If the pain is severe, the doctor will usually prescribe anti-inflammatory painkillers such as ibuprofen, and if the fever and pain are obvious, the doctor will also use antipyretic painkillers to relieve the discomfort.

Surgical treatment: Most of the acute epididymitis can be controlled by medication, but if the effect of medication is not good, the inflammation becomes more and more serious, and even an abscess is formed, then surgery is needed. It is more common to cut and drain the epididymis (to release the pus) or to remove part of the epididymis in severe cases, in order to completely remove the inflammation and prevent it from spreading to the testicles and affecting fertility.

Daily nursing: You can use the scrotum support belt to raise the scrotum. After the acute stage has passed, apply hot compresses every day. At the same time, drink more water, urinate more, don't sit for a long time, don't hold back urine, eat light food, and eat less spicy and stimulating food, which can help you recover.

Chronic epididymitis: moderate exercise after being in a stable condition. If acute epididymitis is not treated thoroughly, it's easy to become chronic epididymitis. Although the symptoms are not so serious, they are particularly easy to repeat. Many people will feel dull pain when they are tired or after exercise.

Medication: Chinese patent medicines such as the Diuretic and Anti-inflammatory Pill from Dr.Lee's clinic has obvious effects in the course of treatment. It has the functions of clearing away heat and toxic materials, promoting urination and treating stranguria, softening and resolving hard masses. It can relieve scrotal pain, uncomfortable urination, and other problems. It can also strengthen the control of inflammation. It is especially suitable for people with repeated attacks of inflammation or who need consolidation treatment.

Way of exercise: This stage generally does not need to lie down every day, but exercise must pay attention to "moderate and mild", try not to do too much exercise. 

More suitable for chronic patients are walking, low-intensity yoga, Tai Chi, and so on, which are slow-paced, less stimulating to the epididymis, can also promote blood circulation, improve physical function and immunity, and reduce the chance of recurrence. Each exercise should be controlled for about 30 minutes. Don't make yourself too tired to avoid causing epididymal discomfort. 

Note: such as running, playing ball, fitness, and other high-intensity exercises, must wait until the condition is completely stable, in the doctor's assessment and guidance, before slowly recovering. Many people are too anxious to resume exercise, resulting in repeated illness, but the loss outweighs the gain. 

Conclusion 

Epididymitis is not a "minor illness". If you find that the scrotum is distended, painful, tender, and experiencing other discomforts, do not delay, and go to the urology department immediately. Early diagnosis and treatment of acute epididymitis, the majority can be cured within 2-4 weeks without sequelae; if dragged into chronic, it not only will affect life because of repeated pain, serious may also damage the quality of sperm, and even lead to infertility. 

Patients with epididymitis need to rest immediately after exercise, plus scientific treatment, and seek medical treatment in time when it is serious. In the acute stage, rest is the main treatment, and in the chronic stage, moderate exercise can be carried out. Only by protecting their own health can they return to normal life faster.