Are there alternatives to an epididymectomy?

[Snip1968]

I've had repeated episodes of left sided testicular pain due epididmytis. My urologist clears it up with Celebrex and/or antibiotics. I had a vasectomy in November 2018. The pain started up again 5 weeks ago. I'm on both medicines. The doc mentioned an epididymectomy. I'm wondering about the procedure and any alternatives .

[Galen70]

It can be quite common for men to experience pain following vasectomy. Sometimes the cause is unclear. Not all tenderness is caused by infection. I would want some pretty good evidence that it was definitely infection ( like blood flow changes on Doppler ultrasound ) before I would undergo more surgery . I would also want to research how many men have found epididymectomy a curative procedure - because its possible more surgery might just cause more pain. To me, surgery would be a last ditch option if nothing else worked. Perhaps better pain management ( like for chronic pain, using low dose agents like amitryptiline or pregabalin ) might be a better option.

[Snip1968 in reply to Galen70]

Thank you both. I was at my Urologist's office earlier this week. I was expecting him to order an ultrasound but put me on antibiotics instead. I'll keep taking them like I'm supposed to for 30 days and go back if necessary. If it gets to the point where he wants surgery done I'll probably seek a second opinion. Just to put my mind at ease.

[Snip1968]

Thank you, very useful information.

[Galen70]

Thank you. Theres a second similar study also here : ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/196... . Both suggest of the pain is post vasectomy it may help - other groups less so.

[Snip1968 in reply to Galen70]

Good news, thank you