Varicoceles Affect 20% of Men & They Hurt your Testosterone
By Ali Kuoppala | Last reviewed Tue 25 September 2018
Medical Review by Dr. Stefano Pizzo, MD
There’s one very very important topic that gets way too little attention in the natural hormone optimization circles. And that is…
*drum roll*
Preventing and eliminating varicoceles, aka. blocked/half blocked veins and/or venous insufficiency (poorly operating vein valves) in testicles.
What? Were you expecting some breakthrough new supplement? No this is actually super-important topic. It’s known that 20% of men develop this condition during their lifetime, and varicoceles are known for significantly reducing testosterone levels – which if you ask me is not a big surprise – after all 95% of the good stuff is produced in the testicles.
Varicoceles can occur from injuries, sitting too much, poor vascular function, or just by some unknown factors, though whatever the reason might be, every fifth guy has them.
It’s more common to get a varicocele to the left nut, since the veins run in a loop like fashion over the penis on the left-side, but not on the right.
You can suspect a varicocele if the following happens;
- Visible or enlarged vein in scrotum
- Dragging-like dull ache within scrotum
- Feeling of heaviness in the testicle(s)
- Shrinking of the testicle(s)
- Significant one-sideness of the sack
How to prevent and fix varicoceles naturally then?
a) The most common option referred to men diagnosed with varicoceles is a corrective surgery (varicocelectomy). This option is quite low-risk in comparision to many other surgeries and is linked to significant improvements in testosterone levels post-treatment (study, study)
b) One really good natural supplement for eventually fixing (perhaps not in the extreme cases) but mainly preventing varicoceles is called horse chest nut extract (affiliate link). It contains a compound called escin, which has been found to overtime restore normal function of the vascular valves and eventually help remove or at least partly relieve varicose veins all around the body (study, study, study). One study in particular looked at the herbs effect on varicoceles and found that it was associated with significantly improved sperm quality and reduced rate of varicoceles. Similar effect has been noted in another study where male rodents were experimentally varicocele’d.
c) If you check the comment section of this article at AnabolicMen.com you will find one guy commenting how he cured varicocele without surgery using a combination of rutins and horse chest nut extract. The protocol explained might be worth trying before opting for a ball surgery in case you have a varicocele (even though the surgery is considered relatively safe).
Be safe out there brothers!