Here, you’ll find out eight top causes of groin pain in men, including their causes, symptoms and the most effective ways to treat them so you can get back to doing more of what you love.
What causes groin pain in men?
Pulled groin
When you injure your primary hip flexor or adductor muscles, a groin pull results, according to Hartford HealthCare. It’s caused by abrupt, forceful movement of the front hip.
Pulled groin symptoms include:
- Difficulty walking, running, stretching or jumping
- Pain, especially when closing your legs or raising a knee
- Swelling
- Bruising
Can a pulled groin cause testicular pain? According to Penn Medicine, it’s possible.
To treat groin pulls, Hartford HealthCare suggests the "PRICE" method:
- Protection keeps the injury from worsening
- Rest
- Ice
- Compression (with a wrap)
- Elevation above heart level
Inguinal hernia
Hernias are holes in muscle walls. Harvard Health explains that when fat or intestines poke through a hernia in the groin area, that’s an inguinal hernia.
The Mayo Clinic lists these inguinal hernia causes:
- Persistent sneezing or coughing
- Straining to go to the bathroom
- Weak spots in the muscle wall
- Strenuous activity
Symptoms of inguinal hernias include:
- Sudden, intensifying pain
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- A discolored bulge in the groin
- Fever
- Passing gas or trouble relieving your bowels
Hernias are treated with surgical repair of the hole in the muscle wall.
Kidney stones
“What we know is that … excess calcium in your urine can eventually develop into kidney stones,” Cleveland Clinic urologist Dr. Sri Sivalingam explained in a hospital article.
Kidney stones are irregular-shaped crystalline structures formed in the bladder. Once they move out of the bladder and down the urinary tract, they may cause excruciating groin pain.
The Mayo Clinic says other symptoms include:
- Severe, sharp side or back pain
- Burning pain when urinating
- Cloudy, bad-smelling, and/or pink, brown or red urine
- Abnormal urination habits
- Fever
- Nausea and vomiting
Treatment options for your kidney stones can include:
- Drinking lots of water
- Pain medications
- Drugs to help you pass the stones
- Ultrasound therapy
- Surgery
Trauma to the testicles
When the testicles are hit, crushed, struck or otherwise hurt by some force, this is known as testicular trauma. The Urology Care Foundation notes that the lack of protective bones and muscles around the testicles leaves the area vulnerable.
Symptoms include:
- Severe pain
- Injury or bruising of the scrotum
- Difficulty urinating
- Fever
Your doctor may treat testicular trauma with pain medication or surgery.
Epididymitis
Epididymitis is inflammation of a coiled tube behind the testicles. The Urology Care Foundation notes its causes include:
- Bacterial infection
- Urine flowing backward into the bladder
- The medication amiodarone, an anti-arrhythmic drug
These symptoms may indicate you have epididymitis:
- Pain in the scrotum, testicle, groin, lower abdomen, penis or side
- Swollen, red, warm and/or firm scrotum skin
- Pain or burning when urinating
- Feeling the need to urinate more
- Fever
Since the most common cause is infection, your doctor will usually prescribe antibiotics to treat epididymitis.
Orchitis
Orchitis occurs when one or both of your testicles become inflamed. It’s usually caused by bacterial or viral infection, according to the Urology Care Foundation.
Epididymitis and orchitis often develop together. Signs of orchitis include:
- Mild to severe pain in one testicle that can spread to the entire scrotum
- Testicular swelling and tenderness
Antibiotics and antiviral medications are used to treat orchitis, and interferon may also be given for cases caused by the mumps virus.
Hydrocele
When fluid forms in the sac surrounding the testicle, it’s called a hydrocele. The Mayo Clinic notes that hydroceles can be caused by infection, injury or inflammation in the testicle or groin region.
Symptoms may include:
- Painless swelling of one (or both) testicles
- A heavy feeling in the scrotum
- Swelling that’s less noticeable in the morning
If a hydrocele doesn’t go away on its own, surgery can be performed to remove it. When the cause is an infection or injury, your doctor may also treat it with medication or surgical repair.
Testicular cancer
Excess growth of cells that starts in the testicles is testicular cancer. While the Mayo Clinic says that the exact cause isn’t known, DNA changes in germ cells appear to trigger the disease.
Testicular cancer symptoms include:
- Swelling of either testicle or the scrotum
- A tumor in either testicle
- Back pain
- Swelling or discomfort in breast tissues
- Groin discomfort
- Heaviness of the scrotum
Testicular cancer can be treated with surgery, chemotherapy, immunotherapy and radiation.
“While up to 95% of men with testicular cancer are cured, it’s important to get care quickly if you’re experiencing symptoms because testicular cancers usually grow fast,” Cleveland Clinic oncologist Dr. Timothy Gilligan explained in a clinic article. “If there is disease, the earlier it is treated, the greater the chance for success.”
Resources
Cleveland Clinic: Why Do More People Get Kidney Stones in the Summer?
Cleveland Clinic: 5 Testicular Cancer Symptoms That Aren’t a Lump
Hartford HealthCare: Groin strain (pull)
Harvard Health: Groin strain vs. hernia pain: How to tell the difference
Mayo Clinic: Inguinal hernia
Mayo Clinic: Kidney Stones
Mayo Clinic: Hydrocele
Mayo Clinic: Testicular Cancer
Penn Medicine: Groin Pain
Urology Care Foundation: Testicular Trauma
Urology Care Foundation: Epididymitis and Orchitis
