Retracted testicle in 8 year old

[Ozgirl75]

My DS had previously normal testicles, passed all the normal baby checks etc and I have to confess that I haven’t looked at the area for 3 years or so.

Last night he mentioned that he could only feel one testicle so I had a look and I couldn’t find the other one either. In the shower I had another rummage and kind of lightly pulled it down from up near his body. It stayed for a bit and then off it went up again.

Has anyone else had this, and if so, what did the Dr do? I’m going to take him this week - it doesn’t cause any pain and he hasn’t been hit there.

Hi, my friend's son had this. They can move up and down and this can happen spontaneously. I'm not sure what other causes there are but in this boy's case it was kind of mechanical in that the chord holding the testicle was a bit short. The doctor monitored it for a while but as he got near to puberty it still wasn't reliably staying put so he had a small operation. The reason they do this is so that sperm production isn't compromised which isn't an issue prior to puberty. He also passed the baby check, had no pain and didn't know when it had first gone back up.

Please try not to worry - at eight even if he does need an operation he's still within pre pubertal range which as far as I know means less likelihood of problems - certainly the doctor treating my friend's son was happy to monitor for quite a long time prior to that so can't have thought that leaving it causes issues.

Definitely take him to the doctor though. If he does need the operation it's a quick procedure although he will be sore for a couple of weeks afterwards. Also keep an eye to make sure it stays in place post op!

Bless him, it's not pleasant and actually is one of those things that there is very little awareness of - we should all be checking our boys, really, but no one ever tells you.

Thank you so much for your message, that’s very reassuring. And I agree - if he hadn’t mentioned it to me I would have had no idea. We’re quite an open family about bodily things but I can imagine this would easily go unnoticed.

Thanks again.