Injury to the Testicles does not Increase Risk for Developing Testicular Cancer

Dear Ask The Doctor: I am 30 years old. My testicles were hit when I was 10 years old. So now my right testicle is smaller than my left. Dear Doctor, am I going to be sterile? And any chance of cancer? Please answer me! This is my nightmare!

Dear Nebiyou: Injury to the testicles has not been scientifically shown to be a risk factor for developing testicular cancer. However, injury to the testicle does carry a low risk of decreased fertility. I also not that you have had previous surgery on the testicles in childhood. It is unclear why this surgery was necessary, but there are certain conditions present in childhood that carry an increased risk of infertility as well, such as Cryptorchidism. In this condition the testicles do not descend into the scrotum naturally and surgery must be performed to fix them to the scrotal sac. You can assess your fertility by a simple test called semen analysis. This test will determine your sperm count among other factors of fertility.