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About 4 weeks ago, after a long road trip in my car, I noticed my right testicle had a dull ache. The dull ache also radiates down my right leg a bit. While not as bad as it was at first the dull ache still continues. I'm thinking this could be epididiymitis, testicular compression from the long drive or TC. Would epididiymitis or testicular compression last 4 weeks?
My recent history 'down there' is that 10 months ago, after a general feeling of not being well for a few days and some sense of urinary urgency , I noticed my left testicle was red and sore and I could feel a lump near the top. That freaked me out so much that I went to the emergency room. There they did an ultrasound of both testes and diagnosed epididiymitis. After two weeks, and being on Doxcycline for 10 days I followed up with a urologist. He also sent me for an ultrasound of my Kidneys and ureters. Final diagnosis: my urologist wasn't so sure I had epididiymitis because my urine test showed no infection but I did have a epididiymal cyst. He said I may have hit my testicle causing it to be painful. In any case, that bout of trouble resolved within two weeks. I should mention the epididiymal cyst disappeared after a few months.
I should mention I am 44, have a horseshoe kidney, hypospadia and very small right testicle (I can't remember the term for that) that hangs quite high compared to the left testicle. The right one has also always been extremely sensitive to any manipulation. I've also had several bouts of cystitis over the past 10 years.
Back to today. Not really sure but suspecting another bout of epididiymitis I saw my family Dr. this week and he put me on Levaquin 750mg and had me go for another ultrasound. I had the ultrasound today and here is where I get really worried. The technician seemed really inexperienced. It took her ages (15 min) after having me put on the gown to call me into the room. I could see her just across the hallway from the dressing room; she didn't appear to be doing much of anything important. When she finally called me into the room she asked me my history but only wanted to hear about my 'testicles'. This seemed odd to me as I have some renal anomalies that may be in play with my current situation. After more time wasting (10 min) she gets started. I have to say I don't think she had done a scrotal ultrasound before. She spent about 30 to 40 mintues on my right testicle alone (remember, it is small and not as descended as the left...I suspect she was having trouble getting images) She also didn't move the wand around much. It seemed to me she was focusing on the inner top part of the teste (epididiymus???) and not going to the underside or right side like when I had my other ultrasound 10 months ago. The left teste took her about 15 min. All in all it was a horrible experience that lasted 50 min to an hour. Is it normal for ultrasounds to take an hour???
Now I'm worried about the results of this latest ultrasound. I'm worried that the tech's inexperience will affect the results. Am I correct in thinking that a physician will read the images she took and make an interpretation? Frankly, I am also worried that the time spent on my right testicle was spent looking at 'something'. Oh how I wish I had gone for my ultrasound at the hospital instead of the imaging shop I went to. I am scheduled for a follow up with my Dr. in 10 days. I'm half expecting him to call me Monday or Tuesday to come in earlier. If the results are poor, would a 2nd ultrasound with an experienced tech be reasonable? I just don't have confidence in the one that did my test today.
Sorry for the long post but my mind is racing over this.
My recent history 'down there' is that 10 months ago, after a general feeling of not being well for a few days and some sense of urinary urgency , I noticed my left testicle was red and sore and I could feel a lump near the top. That freaked me out so much that I went to the emergency room. There they did an ultrasound of both testes and diagnosed epididiymitis. After two weeks, and being on Doxcycline for 10 days I followed up with a urologist. He also sent me for an ultrasound of my Kidneys and ureters. Final diagnosis: my urologist wasn't so sure I had epididiymitis because my urine test showed no infection but I did have a epididiymal cyst. He said I may have hit my testicle causing it to be painful. In any case, that bout of trouble resolved within two weeks. I should mention the epididiymal cyst disappeared after a few months.
I should mention I am 44, have a horseshoe kidney, hypospadia and very small right testicle (I can't remember the term for that) that hangs quite high compared to the left testicle. The right one has also always been extremely sensitive to any manipulation. I've also had several bouts of cystitis over the past 10 years.
Back to today. Not really sure but suspecting another bout of epididiymitis I saw my family Dr. this week and he put me on Levaquin 750mg and had me go for another ultrasound. I had the ultrasound today and here is where I get really worried. The technician seemed really inexperienced. It took her ages (15 min) after having me put on the gown to call me into the room. I could see her just across the hallway from the dressing room; she didn't appear to be doing much of anything important. When she finally called me into the room she asked me my history but only wanted to hear about my 'testicles'. This seemed odd to me as I have some renal anomalies that may be in play with my current situation. After more time wasting (10 min) she gets started. I have to say I don't think she had done a scrotal ultrasound before. She spent about 30 to 40 mintues on my right testicle alone (remember, it is small and not as descended as the left...I suspect she was having trouble getting images) She also didn't move the wand around much. It seemed to me she was focusing on the inner top part of the teste (epididiymus???) and not going to the underside or right side like when I had my other ultrasound 10 months ago. The left teste took her about 15 min. All in all it was a horrible experience that lasted 50 min to an hour. Is it normal for ultrasounds to take an hour???
Now I'm worried about the results of this latest ultrasound. I'm worried that the tech's inexperience will affect the results. Am I correct in thinking that a physician will read the images she took and make an interpretation? Frankly, I am also worried that the time spent on my right testicle was spent looking at 'something'. Oh how I wish I had gone for my ultrasound at the hospital instead of the imaging shop I went to. I am scheduled for a follow up with my Dr. in 10 days. I'm half expecting him to call me Monday or Tuesday to come in earlier. If the results are poor, would a 2nd ultrasound with an experienced tech be reasonable? I just don't have confidence in the one that did my test today.
Sorry for the long post but my mind is racing over this.
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