Cremaster Muscles For Testicular Pain?

[CppsDad]

Why are the cremaster muscles discussed so infrequently? I still have a fair amount of testicular pain after all these years (epididymitis pain and dull ache pain), and I think the cremaster muscles may be contributing. I came to the forums to find out how to deal with pain in that muscle, and I found surprisingly few references to it. In fact, there was far less on Google than I expected as well. Is it extremely rare for the cremaster muscles to be the source of testicular pain?

I tried stretching it (e.g. tugging on my testicles), and it caused a lot of pain from the epididymitis to all the way deep inside the pelvic floor. And two hours later, the referred pain was through the roof. Part of me feels like this is a muscle that needs to be addressed.

Has anyone ever done light stretching of the cremaster muscles by gently tugging on their testicles and pulling them in various directions? Is this a safe stretch? It seems so logical. I'm feeling really stupid for not having tried this before. I think I always considered the epididymitis pain as referred from somewhere else, and never really looked AT THE TESTICLES themselves. I was quite surprised to learn that each were completely enveloped by a muscle itself, and that that muscle connected directly into the pelvic floor.

Thoughts?

Mike

[webslave]

cremaster.jpg

The cremaster, or musculus testis, is the muscle that causes the testis to move up and down, for instance when you clench your pelvic muscles. It also causes the testis to rise when coughing. Some men have hyperactive cremasters that cause the scrotum to seem alive and moving around.

There is also the cremasteric reflex wherein stimulation of the skin on the front and inner thigh retracts the testis on the same side. The cremaster muscle also works during fight or flight scenarios, when the man must either fight or run. The muscle pulls the testis towards the body, to protect it

Conceivably, if you constantly tense the pelvis, the cremasters could be pulling up on the testes all the time.....

Wikipedia states

The cremaster muscle occasionally experiences painful spasms or cramps in adult males which can be chronic and debilitating. Treatment for these spasms ranges from minor surgery to injection with botulinum-a toxin to the regular application of heat to relax the muscle. Surgery, including the excision of the cremaster muscle, has apparently been able to provide complete relief from this condition without significant side effects.

[CppsDad]

Thanks, Webslave. The image you supplied is one of the ones I looked at the other day. Surgery is a no-go for me. I'm definitely going to whip all CPPS symptoms with non-surgical treatments.

You still didn't discuss stretching of this muscle, so I'm going to assume it's just not a common approach. Just like with the internal work I've performed over the years, I'm going to have to approach this carefully and intelligently. So far I've done some light pulling and stretching sessions, and the soreness/achiness has been worse than normal for 48hrs now. Therefore, I really do think this muscle is a part of my problem. The achiness around the testicle mirrors the location of my epididymis pain. And the "deeper" pain I've had is right at the location where the cremaster connects into the pelvic floor. I am totally on board with what you wrote about chronic pelvic floor tension affecting the cremaster. It makes sense. LOTS of sense. But normal stretching has not helped this spot for me.

I still am puzzled why it is so infrequently mentioned or treated, though. Oh well. There's a first for everything. I know we are all different in how our pain manifests itself. I will definitely report back when I've had a week or two of treating myself in the books.

Mike

[Cree]

Hi Mike: I am also interested in the Cremaster angle. I have had pain in what feels like the backside of my right testicles where the epididymis sits. It only makes sense that the cremaster would be part of that pain sensation. From what I have researched cremaster muscle dysfunction/pathology and cremaster muscle spasm is so rare that there is almost no medical literature or studies on it. I have read about men having overactive cremaster muscles which improved through Botox injection, but I would think actually finding a urologist to even consider this would be a challenge.

I also have painful ejaculation and I swear it has something to do with the cremaster muscle. For example, every time I have sexual intercourse and my testicles are high and close to my body (a natural reaction to either stress or cold), I have pain during ejaculation (pulling down sensation accompanied by pain) 9 out of 10 times. But when my testicles are fully descended (say masturbating immediately after a hot bath and not in an anxious frame of mind) I have pain during ejaculation maybe 2 out of 10 times. Of course this differential could be due to the fact that my pelvic muscles are very tense, and as a result the testicles are ascended, rather than the mere positioning of the testicles during ejaculation as the cause of the pain.

Who knows, one of the many sinister aspects of this disorder is that everything about it is extremely complicated!

[CppsDad]

Well, I'm one week into my Cremaster Treatment approach, and so far, I don't have any great things to report. But my epididymitis pain is completely activated by the stretching I'm doing, as is the internal, achy, testicular pain I've had for years. I'm convinced I'm onto something, and that the Cremaster and the nerves in the vicinity are where my pain is coming from, but as to whether I can actually defeat it this way, who knows.

I've been pretty consistent about stretching both cremaster muscles every day this week, as often as I can (at least 3 times a day). I'm still probably not pulling at 100% of where I should be pulling, because I'm still testing the limits slowly (which I think is the smart approach). But I do pull pretty hard, though, hard enough to work on trigger points, and it causes pain, and the pain lingers. But in a way, it's kind of like a good pain, like stretching a muscle or massaging a sore back. I don't know, but it just feels like I'm tackling the right spot.

The bigger question is how long it will take to see results in healing muscles through stretching. I was "hoping" I could stretch it for a couple of days and become pain free (yeah right), but I'm sure given how many years this area has been problematic for me that it could take weeks or months if the treatment works at all. So I will just keep reporting back as to how it's going. I'm keeping my fingers crossed big time! I've found a way to treat just about every other area of pain from CPPS over the years, and this is one of those that has just been nagging and nagging at me like a bee at a picnic. I want it to go away so bad!

[CppsDad]

By the way, in looking at some cremaster diagrams, one thing I've found is that the muscle is a LOT LONGER than most diagrams give it credit for. I don't think it's out of the realm of possibility that pain in the cremaster can carry well behind the testicles, and even further in and back. I'm still working away at my therapies, but I have to say I'm currently undergoing a placebo effect or some subtle improvement, not sure which. Tugging on my testicles (gently and carefully) recreates pain so deep and so accurately that NO STRETCH or internal work ever did. It is hitting on all the right spots right now. I don't know if just stretching a muscle can cure the pain, but I'm hoping somehow I'm improving blood flow, maybe reducing inflammation and nerve sensitivity, and making things better overall.

[Cree]

Maybe you could also try applying a heating pad to the muscle along with the stretches. I'm not sure if the Cremaster can have trigger points but then again why not, it is a muscle. I'm going to ask my PT about that. Good luck with your strategy.

[CppsDad]

Definitely report back with what your PT says. I assume it can have trigger points too, or at least have inflammation. We know it can have painful spasms based on Google and associated Botox treatments. I'm still surprised it is mentioned so infrequently on this site. IF it is a key contributor to my pain (TBD), then surely it must affect other guys with the same testicular pain as me.

[webslave]

You could well be onto something, Mike. Let's see how it develops...

[resianam]

Interesting to know. I've noticed there's a lot of muscles in and around the penis and scrotum and I feel a lot of tenderness in these areas, especially after sex. My PT certainly works in some sensitive areas but not on the man parts directly. Should I be afraid to ask her to do this work? Sure, it's a professional environment but still, are there lines we can't cross? Life would be easier if my PT was male in this respect but unfortunately this group is all women. I'm somewhat concerned about a response, though the discomfort is typically enough to discourage it. Otherwise, I suppose I should just try to do it myself but I'm not as good.

[CppsDad]

Judging by what I'm doing, I don't see how a PT can do much better than you can for this particular muscle. I'm literally just pulling my testicles, one side at a time, up, down, out, left, right, whatever I can do. I do it when I wake up in the morning. I do it sometimes when I go to the bathroom. I do it when I get home for the day. And I do it when I go to bed. I don't think you need a PT to gently pull on them. Also, the testicles are so darn sensitive that sometimes I need to re-grip them a few times to be able to get a tug that doesn't hurt the testicles themselves. Honestly, I don't think a PT is going to be able to do it right.

And for those that are interested, here are some pictures I've found that show how long this muscle is (embedded inside the spermatic cord):

[I will beat this]

I wonder if a torn Suspensory ligament could cause some of these pains

[CppsDad]

I don't have a torn ligament as far as I can tell (it would be pretty obvious I think). So I doubt it's the cause of the pain in my testicles and the achiness. But I'm sure it could definitely cause pain if it were torn!

[Cree]

I talked to my PT about the Cremaster muscle pulling technique. She said yes it can have trigger points and excessive tension but felt that it would be very rare, since she's never heard any experts, physicians, or PTs discuss it, or had any patients have any experiences with the issue. Sorry to disappoint. I suppose your technique can't hurt if you are doing it gently and the pain doesn't escalate.

[MajorSky1]

Would like to know if there are any updates on this. It sounds like I have that kind of pain too. It started after a woman pulled on me too hard, twice. Then a month later, during masturbation, ejaculation seemed to cause a spasm while the testicle felt pulled up as the pain continued for about 30 seconds, then it slowly released. The next day, very sore and raw feeling around the epididymis, and up around the Bulbus spongeosus(sp?).

I have a varicocele on the left side, so at first I thought that had gotten injured, but the doctor says more likely epididymitis, non-bacterial - inflammation that takes a long time to resolve. NOT what I wanted to hear.

I don't understand how testicles can get banged all over the place most of your life, but one little thing causes them to hurt every day - and you can't even figure out what the hell it is that's causing it. Frustrating.

Hoping it heals over time and never comes back!