From the Rodale book, Herbs for Health and Healing:
Edit id 1337 Swollen Testicles
Swollen testicles is a painful and potentially serious condition that requires a physician's care, unless it is obviously a temporary situation—perhaps caused by a spider bite, a minor blow to the area or restrictive clothing. Even then, this condition can be serious enough for a doctor's care if the testicles swell a lot, become extremely painful or stay swollen for several days. If this condition is accompanied by chills, fever or vomiting, do not try to self-treat it—go see your doctor. Lumps or "knots" inside the testicles also need to be checked out by a physician. A more chronic condition can be caused by an infection or by structural problems in the testicles, an enlarged prostate, a sexually transmitted disease, mumps or an inflamed urinary tract. A chronic case sometimes leads to infertility. For a case that you feel confident self-treating or for more chronic conditions—after you have seen a doctor—use herbs such as lavender or chamomile to reduce the swelling and pain. These herbs also help fight the infections that sometimes accompany swollen testicles. Doctors usually recommend wearing an athletic supporter to ease the stress on the area, and sitting in a hot bath. In her book Herbs and Aromatherapy for the Reproductive System, herbalist Jeanne Rose tells of a man whose swollen testicles were due to an infection. For a week, he took the antibiotics prescribed by his doctor, but there was little change. The doctor then recommended that he sit in a very hot bath for an hour, two or three times a day. The next week, the ailing man sought the advice of an herbalist, who suggested that he turn this into an herbal bath by adding a strong tea of comfrey, echinacea and mullein. He also started taking a mixture of the infection-fighting herbs echinacea and goldenseal, along with ginseng and yellow dock. He saw definite improvement almost right away, and the pain and swelling noticeably diminished in a couple days. Five days after starting the herbs, he was finally able to walk without pain. If bathing this much is not practical, you can soak once a day and gently rub on an oil a few times daily. The Oil for Genital Infection/Irritation (see chapter 74) is a good one to use, especially if an infection is present. Testicle Bath 1 quart water ¼ cup each comfrey and mullein leaves 1/8 cup chamomile flowers Bring water to a boil and pour it over the herbs. Let steep at least 15 minutes. Strain and pour into your bath. | The Man Root Ginseng is often referred to as the "man's herb," and indeed its name is translated from the Chinese as "man root." Despite the name, however, ginseng is good for women as well as men. There is a great deal of confusion over ginseng. Chinese and American ginseng are quite similar. In fact, the United States ships great quantities of its ginseng to the Orient. American ginseng is often less expensive than the Chinese variety and just as suitable, but it is best to buy cultivated ginseng, which is grown on farms, instead of the wild collected roots—ginseng is being overharvested and is becoming endangered. Try to seek out organic ginseng; because this plant is a valuable crop that is prone to disease, pesticides are used on much of the commercial ginseng. Siberian ginseng is an entirely different plant—it is actually a prickly bush, while ginseng is a small forest herb with one main stalk. Siberian ginseng's name was coined because it shares some, but not all, of ginseng's properties. To avoid confusion, herbalists often refer to Siberian ginseng as eleuthro (which is short for its botanical name, Eleutherococcus senticosus). |
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