About our e-newsletters
- Free e-newsletters
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- We do not share your e-mail address
Housecall, our weekly general-interest e-newsletter, keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics with timely, reliable, practical information, recipes, blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts and more. Our biweekly topic-specific e-newsletters also include blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts, and other useful information that will help you manage your health.
Housecall Archives
Mayo Clinic Housecall
Stay up to date on the latest health information.
What you get
- Free weekly e-newsletter
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- Recipes, tools and other helpful information
- We do not share your e-mail address
Symptoms
By Mayo Clinic staffA varicocele often produces no signs or symptoms. Rarely, it may cause pain. The pain may:
- Vary from dull discomfort — a feeling of heaviness — to sharp
- Increase with sitting, standing or physical exertion, especially over long periods
- Worsen over the course of a day
- Be relieved when you lie on your back
With time, varicoceles may enlarge and become more noticeable.
When to see a doctor
Because a varicocele usually causes no symptoms, it often requires no treatment. Varicoceles may be discovered during a fertility evaluation or a routine physical exam.
However, if you experience pain or swelling in your scrotum or you discover a mass on your scrotum, contact your doctor. A number of conditions can cause a scrotal mass or testicular pain, some of which require immediate treatment.
- Mohammed A, et al. Testicular varicocele: An overview. Urology International. 2009;82:373.
- Varicoceles. American Urological Association Foundation. http://www.urologyhealth.org/urology/index.cfm?article=116. Accessed Oct. 31, 2011.
- Khera M, et al. Evolving approach to the varicocele. Urologic Clinics of North America. 2008;35:183.
- Robinson SP, et al. Treatment strategy for the adolescent varicocele. Urologic Clinics of North America. 2010;37:269.
- Wampler SM, et al. Common scrotal and testicular problems. Primary Care Clinics in Office Practice. 2010;37:613.
Find Mayo Clinic on