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How Dangerous Is Orchitis & Is It Contagious?

Orchitis refers to the inflammation of anyone or both of the testicles. The problem takes place because of viruses or bacteria. Orchitis may hurt both of the testicles simultaneously. However, in most of the cases, symptoms appear only one from the two testicles. This type of inflammation in the testicle or testicles has a close association with the virus responsible to cause mumps.(1)

How Dangerous Is Orchitis?

Now, the question that comes to our mind is whether Orchitis is a dangerous problem or not. The answer to this question depends solely on its symptoms, complications and the overall outlook of the disease.

Symptoms Of Orchitis

In most of the cases, signs and symptoms of Orchitis often develop suddenly and they include-

  • Swelling in the testicles (both or any one of them)
  • Mild to severe form of pain
  • Tenderness in testicles, which may last for many weeks
  • Vomiting, fever, and nausea

Even though groin pain and testicle pain are usually interchangeable, groin pain takes place in the skin fold between the abdomen and thigh i.e. not in any of the testicles. The causes of testicle pain and groin pain are completely different.(2)

Complications Of Orchitis

Orchitis problem has the following major complications-

Scrotal Abscess: In this type of problem, the infected tissue of a person fills with harmful pus.

Testicular Atrophy: Orchitis may eventually result in shrinking of both of the affected testicles or a single testicle.

Infertility: Orchitis may occasionally result in inadequate production of testosterone or infertility. However, both of these problems take place less likely in the case Orchitis affects anyone from the two different testicles.(3)

Long-Term Outlook Of Orchitis

Most of the men suffering from Orchitis usually recover completely without any lasting effect, while it rarely causes the problem of infertility. However, its long-term outlooks are as follows-

  • Epididymis chronic inflammation
  • Blister or abscess in the scrotum
  • Shrinking of the affected testicle/testicles
  • Death or malfunction of testicular tissue.(4)

Whether Orchitis Is Contagious Or Not?

Orchitis may cause the spread of epididymitis bacteria from the blood of a person to various other locations present in the body. It may even take place in the form of epididymitis progression, because of which we should say that the problem of Orchitis is a contagious one. Here, epididymitis refers to the tube’s infection, which is responsible to carry semen out from the testicles. Doctors often call this condition as epididymo-orchitis.(5)

Conclusion

To conclude, we should say, if Orchitis causes infertility or damages to testicular tissue, it becomes a dangerous disease. Moreover, Orchitis is a contagious type of problem, as it spreads to other body parts in severe cases.

References:

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Team PainAssist
Team PainAssist
Written, Edited or Reviewed By: Team PainAssist, Pain Assist Inc. This article does not provide medical advice. See disclaimer
Last Modified On:May 1, 2020

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