Testicular Pain - STD related?

[Powers]

Hi there,

I am a 23 year old male.  I had very brief, and stupid, unprotected intercourse with a girl a few days ago. After about 30 seconds, I put on a condom and resumed.  There was no oral received on my part, however I performed on her for about 2-3 minutes.

About 12 hours later, I noticed a pain in my left testicle. It wasn't sharp, but was consistent, like a throb.  It wasn't due to position, as I tried several times to cease the pain by walking, laying, etc.
After having the pain for around 5-6 hours, it went away on its own.

The next day, it returned for several hours, and then went away again.

Now, on the third day, I've woken up with it again.  No real increase in the intensity of the pain (throb), however it is still present, and uncomfortable.

Thoughts?  Could this be related to my sexual experience?  Should I be visiting a doctor ASAP?  As I sit here at work I'm becoming more and more concerned.

Thank you for your help.

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

No infection--STD or any ohter--can start to cause symptoms so fast.  For all STDs it's 2 days or more.  And no STD causes testicular pain as the main symptom, unless there is epididymitis--which always causes enlargement of the testicle and marked tenderness to touch.  Epididymitis is most commonly due to chlamydia and sometimes gonorrhea, but you would have had to acquire one of those at least 2-3 days before onset of the pain--and either of those usually would have caused abnormal discharge of pus or mucus from the penis.  Finally, no STD can cause on and off symptoms of the sort you describe.

If the pain persists, of course see  a healthc care provider for diagnosis. But it really cannot have anything to do with the sexual encounter you describe, unless of course the problem is mainly just anxiety over the event. (And certainly genitally focused anxiety can magnify normal body sensatios to the point of pain.  But you are a better judge than I can about that possibility.)

Good luck--  HHH, MD

[Gladfor the help]

While I am not a doctor, I've have survived testicle pain.  I had a very severe case on the left side and believed it was sexual related.  It was not.  I found great comfort in reading some of the previous posts.  I cannot say what your's was, however, my turned out to be a hernia that was small and very hard to find.  The pain would come and go based on the inflammation level..

Based on what I have read in the past, I believe the doctor will tell you that 12 hours is far to early for an STD to manifast itself and typically does not produce pain in the testicles without severe swelling and tenderness.

I think you can look to other causes.  Hope this helps.

[bob wall]

If powers had vaginal sex for 30 secs then put on a condom is it true from what you are saying his risk from any std are low ?

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

I didn't comment on how high the risk was and he didn't ask.  His questions were about symptoms.  But yes, the risk of transmission of STD for a 30 second exposure probably was low.