The male testicles are one big and one small

The baby's health is the most important concern of a family. The baby's health determines the happiness of a family. Once the baby has some symptoms, the whole family will feel irritated and uneasy. When a baby boy is born, if it is found that one of his testicles is larger than the other, will this have any impact on the baby's health? This situation is likely to be cryptorchidism. Let me introduce what cryptorchidism is.

A few days ago, someone in the mothers’ group said that when she was bathing her baby boy, she found that one side of his scrotum was empty and she couldn’t feel the testicles.

In this case, it is likely to be cryptorchidism.

What is cryptorchidism?

If the baby's testicles cannot be felt in the scrotum, it can be diagnosed as cryptorchidism.

The vast majority of cryptorchid testicles can be felt on the surface of the body. A small number cannot be palpated, including about half of congenital monotestis and the other half of testicular atrophy.

Types of cryptorchidism?

There are many ways to classify cryptorchidism. The most practical classification used by doctors is as follows:

Retractile testicles

Due to overactivity of the levator testis muscle, the testicles are often located above the scrotum. However, during quiet rest at night and physical examination, the testicles can be stable in the scrotum. This type of cryptorchidism usually does not require surgical treatment. After puberty, the testicle size and position are normal, and fertility is the same as that of normal people.

True cryptorchidism (more common)

Refers to the testicles staying in any part of the physiological descent process, including intra-abdominal cryptorchidism, inguinal canal cryptorchidism, high-positioned cryptorchidism in the scrotum, and sliding testicles.

Ectopic testicles

Refers to the testicles being located outside the scrotum, such as on the perineum, penis, or transversely.

Anotesticular malformation

Includes congenital monotestis and bilateral atestis. Bilateral atestis is rare and is often accompanied by sex chromosome abnormalities and endocrine disorders.

What harm does cryptorchidism have on the baby?

Testicles are organs that produce sperm for conception and secrete androgens to maintain male secondary sexual characteristics. When testicles are not located in the scrotum, many hazards may occur:

Risk of cancer

Data show that the risk of developing testicular cancer in untreated cryptic testicles is more than 10 times higher than that in normal testicles. Although the risk of testicular cancer does not decrease significantly after treatment, it is more important to facilitate self-examination.

The picture below shows a young man with hidden testicle on the right side and a 20cm malignant tumor growing in his abdominal cavity. It almost took his life and even the doctors were shocked.

Reduced fertility or infertility

The scrotum temperature is slightly lower than human body temperature by 2 to 3 degrees, and only then will the scrotum experience "thermal expansion and thermal contraction". Only the appropriate temperature can be suitable for the development of reproductive cells and the survival of sperm. Therefore, testicles in the abdominal cavity often cannot produce normal sperm. Some may even atrophy, degenerate and lose their function.