Epididymitis facts

What is epididymitis

Epididymitis is inflammation and pain of the tube at the back of the testicle or sometimes the testicle itself. It is usually, but not always, caused by bacteria that are sexually transmitted such as chlamydia and gonorrhea.

How epididymitis spreads

The bacteria that cause epididymitis can be passed from one person to another during vaginal, anal, and oral sex.

Symptoms of epididymitis

Pain, swelling or redness and warmth of the testicles (balls) or scrotum (ball-sack). You may also have pain when you urinate or discharge from the penis.

How serious is epididymitis

The infection can spread from the scrotum to other parts of the body and can cause ongoing pain and lead to infertility (blockage of sperm). Epididymitis may cause pain that lasts even after you are cured.

How to treat epididymitis

• You will be given antibiotic medicines. We will check your urine for gonorrhea and chlamydia and mycoplasma genitalium. It is important to finish your medication to completely kill the bacteria.
• Your sex partners must be treated. If they aren’t treated, they could give the infection back to you, or infect others.
• Don’t have sex until you finish the medicine. Don’t have sex with your partner while you are both taking your medicine.
• You can treat the pain from epididymitis with hot baths, ibuprofen and wearing underpants that provide support to your testicles.
• Even if your tests for chlamydia, gonorrhea or mycoplasma are negative, it doesn’t mean that you didn’t have an infection. There are several different causes of epididymitis, some that we are not able to test for. No matter which bacteria caused the infection, they all respond to the same antibiotics.
• Come back to the clinic in 3 days so that we can make sure you are getting better. If your pain is worse or you get a fever or feel sick, go to the emergency room.

If you contracted epididymitis from anal sex, and you do not know the HIV status of that sexual partner, you should be tested for HIV. Talk to your clinician about how to protect yourself from HIV and other STIs.

How to avoid getting epididymitis

Plan ahead! Protect yourself!

If you’re thinking of having sex with a new partner:

• Talk about STIs.
• Condoms are effective in reducing the risk of infection.
• Do not have sex if you or a sexual partner has symptoms of an STI (sexually transmitted infection).

This information is provided by San Francisco City Clinic.

Visit our homepage at sf.gov/cityclinic.

Information last revised October 2025