A man in his early 20s was shocked to find his testicles had shrunk and he suffered erectile dysfunction after he recovered from Covid, a urologist said.
The man consulted Trevor Li Churk-fai and has taken blood tests to find out the reasons behind his condition.
“The patient is in his early 20s, without any bad habits or addictions. He was infected by the coronavirus during the fifth wave of Hong Kong’s local outbreak and showed mild symptoms at that time. He then recovered after staying at home for around eight days,” Li said.
“Later on, the patient found that both his testicles have shrunk after his infection, and his sexual ability obviously worsened,” he added.
If the problems of shrinking testicles and erectile dysfunction are caused by psychological reasons, it still can be cured through counseling or the use hormonal treatment, as doctors can patch patients’ male hormones, and reverse it to a certain extent, according to Li.
Although blood test results showed that the man is also suffering from other non-Covid-related hormone problems, Li did not rule out the possibility that his problems might be caused by related to his Covid infection.
Li also said there is another patient that also experienced erection problems and was likely caused by “long Covid,” a condition that affects about 3 percent of Hongkongers who recovered from Covid.
Li said more studies confirm that male’s testicles are vulnerable to the coronavirus, and 10 to 20 percent of infected patients with serious symptoms reported discomfort or pain from their testicles.
“One of the studies showed as much as one-fourth of recovered patients also found that the semen volume and motility of their sperms have nosedived after infection, but it remains unknown whether it will be a short-term or long-term impact,” he said.
He also said overseas studies showed that patients hospitalised with COVID infection may experience pain in their testicles as one of the presenting symptoms.
Li warned men who suffered more serious symptoms upon contracting Covid are more likely to damage their testicular tissue, and there are some evidence showing erectile tissue might be affected too, as he called for men to get vaccinated as early as possible to lower the chances of developing serious illnesses upon infection.
This was after a University of Hong Kong study found that Covid could shrink men’s testicles and affect their virility as they recover from the coronavirus.
“The patient is in his early 20s, without any bad habits or addictions. He was infected by the coronavirus during the fifth wave of Hong Kong’s local outbreak and showed mild symptoms at that time. He then recovered after staying at home for around eight days,” Li said.
“Later on, the patient found that both his testicles have shrunk after his infection, and his sexual ability obviously worsened,” he added.
If the problems of shrinking testicles and erectile dysfunction are caused by psychological reasons, it still can be cured through counseling or the use hormonal treatment, as doctors can patch patients’ male hormones, and reverse it to a certain extent, according to Li.
Although blood test results showed that the man is also suffering from other non-Covid-related hormone problems, Li did not rule out the possibility that his problems might be caused by related to his Covid infection.
Li also said there is another patient that also experienced erection problems and was likely caused by “long Covid,” a condition that affects about 3 percent of Hongkongers who recovered from Covid.
Li said more studies confirm that male’s testicles are vulnerable to the coronavirus, and 10 to 20 percent of infected patients with serious symptoms reported discomfort or pain from their testicles.
“One of the studies showed as much as one-fourth of recovered patients also found that the semen volume and motility of their sperms have nosedived after infection, but it remains unknown whether it will be a short-term or long-term impact,” he said.
He also said overseas studies showed that patients hospitalised with COVID infection may experience pain in their testicles as one of the presenting symptoms.
Li warned men who suffered more serious symptoms upon contracting Covid are more likely to damage their testicular tissue, and there are some evidence showing erectile tissue might be affected too, as he called for men to get vaccinated as early as possible to lower the chances of developing serious illnesses upon infection.
This was after a University of Hong Kong study found that Covid could shrink men’s testicles and affect their virility as they recover from the coronavirus.