Hydrocele

My son, who is now 56 years old, had a hydrocele when very small (under one year old I believe). It went away on it's own and never presented any problem after that. By the way, he is the father of 9 children, so it did not affect fertility at all.

My oldest son was 13 when this was diagnosed and he had to have it taken care of. I wish we had known earlier so he wouldn't have had to go through this type of operation during his middle school years. If the Dr.'s are telling you to watch it, okay, but I personally would probably get it taken care of sooner rather than later.

Two of my three boys have had this surgery. One was six at the time and also had a hernia repair at the same time( they often find this when correcting a hydrocele) my other one was about 15 months when he had it done. One of his testicles had never dropped down and the one that was had a hydrocele. With both of my boys that had this done, the surgeries were quick and went just fine, no complications of any kind. The recovery was quick as well. I know as a mom you are going to worry, that's what we do right? But try to rest easy, this is a common procedure and I'm sure it will go fine.

J.

I went through this. There is a simple, out patient surgery that can fix it. Wasn't a big deal to the boy or to me.

My oldest son had the same thing and it was quite startling at first. They did an ultrasound to make sure there was just clear liquid in there, and thankfully there was. It did take some time to go away, but eventually it did. I would give it some time and try to avoid any surgery there if possible. I'm not sure how old your son is, but watch for the testicles to descend in a proper time. My son (the same one with this) ended up having surgery for undescended testicles last year. I'm not sure if there is a connection between the 2, but just advice as it was not something I was aware of at the time. Good luck! C.

Pam, My husband had one of these. If it comes down to surgery, it is really not that big of a deal. The make a small incision (or 2) and drain those fluids. Then they put in a very small drain tube for a few days to a week. After that, you go back in and have that tube removed. It was an outpatient deal done in a room right at the clinic normally, but considering his age, they may need to sedate him so it may be done at the hospital. He will be tender for a week or 2, but it isn't as bad as it sounds.
Hope this eases your mind a bit!
T. D.
I am a single mother of 4 young children with the oldest being 10 and the youngest is 18 months.

My son had 2 at birth and we were told to watch them as most fluid would be reabsorbed by the time he turned 1. Only one did reabsorb and we did end up having surgery at 18mo. to take care of the other one. I am glad we had it sooer rather than later because it did make him very upset every time we had to change his diaper, etc. I would recommend getting a second opinion and maybe asking if it better to take care of it sooner rather than later if they really feel it will eventually need to be done. I would also wonder if having it done later would affect potty training or just having an overall fear of anything near his diaper area (like my son did for months)..... anyway, hope this was at least a bit helpful, good luck!

My son had one at 8 weeks old. It went away on its own. I'm not familiar with them in older children. Good luck.

My son had a hydrocele when he was about 6 months old and they told us to watch it as it will probably go away on its own. And it did go away until he was about 2 1/2 when it re-appeared one day. The Dr thought it was a hernia that time but thankfully it was the hydrocele again. We had it surgically taken care of since the risks of surgery were minimual but if was not taken care of could have caused sterilization in his left testicle. The actual surgery took about 15 min and the worst part was when the anesththesia started because my son was fighting it with all his might. Anyways he was fine that afternoon, running around and playing. My son is almost 4 now and honestly does not remember even being at the hospital. Watch it for now but don't worry if it doesn't go away as it i very common and easy to fix. Good Luck

My son was diagnosed with the same thing when he was born. We were told to wait until he was one, and see if it self-corrected. It did not and he ended up with a hernia because of the initial problem. Anyway, he had surgery to repair both issues and he did amazing. It was outpatient and he was trying to get up and walk the same night! Just make sure your doctor is on top of things and trust your judgement as a mom! Good luck!

Has your son had hydrocele since birth or is this something new? It's very,very common at birth, and the fluid is slowly absorbed by the body. If this is the case, I probably wouldn't think too much about it. However, if this is new in your 2 y/o son I'd ask your doc some more questions. Would he be worried about testicular strangulation? Why would this suddenly start?

My son had the same thing and we were told the same thing. It grew to be almost two times the size of the other side so we decided to have it surgically repaired. He did very well with the surgery (we as the parents actually made it through ok as well...:-) The only rough part was when he came out of anesthesia which wasn't all that fun. We went home, he laid low for the day and was back at preschool the next day and did very well. Now the only sign he ever had anything done is the small scar he has. If there's anything else I can help with, feel free to email.

I just read the other responses and thought I'd add a little...my son also had this since birth and we were told it would reabsorb. It did not. He was potty trained by the time we decided on surgery and he suffered no setbacks and had no problems. We also decided to go ahead with the surgery rather than wait because he doesn't to this day remember anything. He knows he has a scar, but he doesn't remember the actual surgery.

P.,
My youngest son had a hydrocele when he was 4 months old, it showed up just after his checkup. It was really scary! Right away we called a nurse line and they don't tell you much ~ it could be a hernia, it could be that something is twisted or it could be a hydrocele. We, of course, freaked out and went to the ER. The ER Dr. did an Ultrasound and said it was a hydrocele and to watch it. Our 6 month check up came and we talked to our Dr. about it, he then told us he had noticed it at the last checkup, but didn't feel it was anything to be concerned about and didn't say anything to us!! ARG! Anyway, the hydrocele went away by the time he was 12 months.
It's always really scary when something is not right with your child, but have hope that it will all work out and it will.

My son had this. It was related to an unknown hernia. It was called a communicating hydrocele. This meant fluid passed to and fro from the hernia. We were not aware until it swelled up unexpectantly this past fall. He had surgery to correct it, all went well. The surgery for him wasn't optional, and we were glad, as we didn't want any harm to his testicals and/or future sterile issues. My son had just turned 10 at the time.
H.