10 Testicle Facts, What Are They, and Why They Feel Full

Have you ever ever puzzled why it hurts to get kicked within the balls? Why does one testicle grasp decrease than the opposite? What does it imply in case your balls really feel full? And are “blue balls” really actual?

When you’re inquisitive about these testicle mysteries, there is a medical reply for many of them. We spoke to a healthcare supplier specializing in sexual well being to provide us the details on all issues testicles. These testicle details will shock you — even when you do not have a pair. 

The testicles, additionally known as the testes, produce about 1,500 sperm each second, Michael Reitano, MD, a physician-in-residence on the males’s well being firm Roman, informed Health. That is about 90,000 sperm each minute, 5.4 million each hour, and 130 million day-after-day. The testicles always create all these sperm via a course of known as spermatogenesis. Your testes additionally assist produce the hormone testosterone, which is required to make sperm within the first place. Moreover, this intercourse hormone is liable for muscle growth, physique hair, and deepening the voice.

However every particular person is completely different, and sperm depend does fluctuate. The common ejaculation (which is about one-half to at least one teaspoon of semen) comprises anyplace from 40 to 130 million sperm, mentioned Dr. Reitano. Though it solely takes one sperm to fertilize an egg, having loads of further sperm helps enhance the possibilities of conception. And if sperm is not launched via ejaculation, it is reabsorbed again into the physique.

Why are the testicles outdoors of the physique and so weak? Having the testicles grasp outdoors of the physique helps guarantee a decrease temperature. Testicular temperature have to be about 5 levels Fahrenheit (3 levels Celsius) decrease than the remainder of the physique to correctly create and protect sperm. The scrotum — the wrinkled pouch of pores and skin that holds the testicles — is about 93.4 levels Fahrenheit (34 levels Celsius), whereas the physique is often 98.6 levels Fahrenheit (37 levels Celsius).

The scrotal muscle tissue act as temperature management for the testicles by transferring them nearer to or farther away from the physique because the air will get hotter or cooler. For instance, when the testicles get too chilly, the scrotum will contract and pull them nearer to the physique for heat. And if they cannot take the warmth, the scrotum will chill out and let the testes grasp low.

The left testicle often hangs a bit decrease than the correct one, and it is no accident. “This enables the temperature of 1 testis to alter with out that vitality being despatched to the opposite testis, as it might in the event that they have been adjoining or touching,” mentioned Dr. Reitano. This fashion, the physique can enhance or lower one testis’s temperature with out affecting the opposite’s temperature. 

It is also regular to have one barely larger testicle. The proper tends to be bigger than the left, added Dr. Reitano.

The testicles are essential to copy when you have a penis, however they’re weak as a result of they grasp outdoors of the physique. Dr. Reitano defined that the testicles developed to have a ton of nerves which might be loopy delicate to ache, so persons are extra more likely to defend them.

The muscle tissue within the scrotum will even pull the testes nearer to the physique in the event that they sense any hazard, even when it isn’t all the time precise hazard. For instance, simply stroking the internal thigh can set off this reflex, and feelings associated to combat or flight may create this response. “If a person feels threatened or afraid, the muscle tissue will [contract] with out him even being conscious of it,” mentioned Reitano. 

We all know the testicles are extremely delicate to ache, however all these nerve endings within the testicles may result in pleasure. The scrotal sack across the testes is stuffed with nerve endings and is taken into account an erogenous zone.

When it comes to simply how sexually delicate the scrotum is, Dr. Reitano mentioned scrotum sensitivity is akin to the vulva and labia, the outer folds of pores and skin across the vagina. “We will estimate that the sensations are pretty comparable in that we all know the nerve distribution is nearly similar,” added Dr. Reitano. These nerves make the vulva space delicate to the touch and arousal, however they don’t seem to be an orgasm sizzling spot just like the clitoris. So scrotum play alone in all probability will not make you orgasm both, however it’ll nonetheless really feel pleasurable.

A examine discovered that folks with testes who primarily wore boxer shorts averaged 25% increased sperm focus and 17% increased complete sperm depend in comparison with males who wore different varieties of underwear, like jockeys or briefs.

Dr. Reitano mentioned he recommends loose-fitting underwear (e.g., boxers) as a result of it offers the testicles sufficient house to manage temperature. If the testicles get too heat, they are going to lower sperm depend and high quality. Having extra room in boxers permits the scrotum to maneuver away from the physique to manage temperature, somewhat than trapping the scrotum in opposition to the physique in tight-fitting briefs. 

However tight underwear aren’t the one factor that may warmth up the testes and hurt sperm. Something that turns up the warmth, like recurrently sitting in a sizzling tub for lengthy durations of time, can also lower sperm depend and high quality.

Indicators of testicular most cancers embody achiness or ache in your again, groin, stomach, or scrotum; a heavy feeling within the scrotum; a change within the measurement of 1 or each testicles; or a lump on the testicles. It is also the most typical most cancers in 20- to 35-year-old males.

Sadly, folks usually catch testicular tumors late as a result of they do not discover signs. It’s because testicular tumors can develop with out compressing every other organs or bones close by, making them comparatively painless, mentioned Dr. Reitano. The pores and skin of the scrotum can also be so unfastened {that a} testicular tumor can develop with out constraint. 

Fortunately, testicular most cancers is extremely curable, however self-examinations are nonetheless necessary. To finish a testicular self-exam, look at one testicle at a time after you bounce out of the bathe — that is when the scrotum’s pores and skin is extra relaxed. Use each palms to softly roll one testicle between the thumb and fingers. Regular testicles ought to really feel symmetrical and spherical, and you might discover a skinny, coiled tube behind every testicle. When you discover any onerous lumps or bumps — or modifications within the measurement or form of your testicles — contact your healthcare supplier to get checked out.

Whenever you’re creating within the womb, the testicles usually drop from the stomach to the scrotum. However generally, a child is born with one or each testicles nonetheless of their stomach, often called undescended testicles. Danger components linked to a hidden testicle embody untimely delivery, low delivery weight, household historical past of undescended testicles, and alcohol or cigarette use by the delivery mother or father throughout being pregnant.

Typically undescended testicles will drop on their very own within the first few months of life. However surgical procedure is often wanted if the testicles have not dropped by the six-month mark. Although surgical procedure can resolve the issue early, having an undescended testicle at delivery nonetheless will increase your danger of well being issues later in life. Adults born with undescended testicles are 40 occasions extra more likely to develop testicular most cancers, mentioned Dr. Reitano. They’re additionally extra more likely to cope with low sperm depend and poor sperm high quality.

Extreme scrotal ache, scrotal swelling, nausea, vomiting, a tough testis, and a high-riding testis are signs of an emergency medical situation known as testicular torsion. In case you have these signs, you may need to head to the emergency room ASAP.

Testicular torsion is when a testicle twists and rotates the spermatic wire that strikes blood to your testicle. This twisting motion cuts off blood move to the testis, leading to ache and dying testicle tissue. If the testicle is not untwisted with surgical procedure, often inside 8 hours of signs, you danger shedding your testicle. Different issues can embody an infection, infertility, a cosmetically deformed testicle, and testicular atrophy. Testicular torsion is uncommon and is extra frequent in folks beneath 25. It’s often brought on by an abnormality within the pouch that covers the testis, and testicular torsion could occur randomly, after plenty of exertion, or trauma to the testicle.

In case your balls really feel full and seem bigger, it is often since you’re aroused. However when you’re aroused and do not get any launch by way of an orgasm, you might also expertise an uncomfortable aching feeling within the testicles, often called “blue balls.” Nevertheless, regardless of the title, your testicles do not really flip blue. At most, you would possibly discover a barely blue tint as a result of there’s extra blood quantity.

Blue balls, recognized medically as epididymal hypertension (EH), occur when the blood vessels to the penis and testicles broaden to make room for elevated blood move, mentioned Dr. Reitano. That is how the penis turns into erect for intercourse, and you might also discover the testicles virtually double in measurement. This elevated blood move subsides after an orgasm. But when an orgasm would not occur, you might expertise some gentle discomfort. Blue balls is not harmful, and you do not have to have partnered intercourse to alleviate the signs. Ready it out or masturbating may make the discomfort go away.