> I've never had a semen culture. What's involed?
> Ejaculating into a cup?

Pretty much. Some labs have a room where you can do the deed; others want you to go home (or wherever) and return with the sealed sample.

The culture is so sensitive it nearly always find something -- if only the bacteria that live on your hands. Ideally you're supposed to clean the ol' equipment (or at least from the tip back part way) with a distinfecting wipette.

Which is not to say the test always finds something when something is there. You ought to be off antibiotics at least 4 weeks before you take the test.

The part I never got straight is how the test works. It's a "culture" because (I think) they're not just checking what's there, but putting it in a medium where whatever is there can multiply to make it easier to detect. I believe there is some variability as to how long the test takes (should be 2 weeks or more for a good one, I think), and maybe also variability as to what testing method is used (I think "PCR" -- whatever that is -- is the best).

Part of the problem with semen tests is for some problems "production" is reduced -- so the infection that jams up the tubes may limit the amount of bacteria that is able to be released.

> I've had my urine tested a few times, but I don't know if it
> was a "culture"

A culture takes awhile -- I think a "good one" is 2 weeks, but something like 5 days is a minimum. Again, it's some method for giving any resident bugs a chance to grow. For 10 months the best I got were quicky (in office, while you wait) urine *tests* (not cultures); and all those were negative.

> Let me recap on the anti-biotic thing: I took Cipro for a
> month, no effect. I then took Doxy for a month, no effect (but
> bad heartburn). Years passed and I was put on Cipro XR, no
effect.

The most common cause of epdidymitis in young men is chlamydia -- a huge percentage of unmarried 30 year old men & women have it. And Cipro won't kill it -- it might make it "persistent" (sorta stunned, and temporarily more difficult to kill). Doxy will kill chlamydia, but generally only if taken for a longggggg course (months); especially if you've had it for awhie.

But in my case the cultures revealed enterococci faecalis -- a very resistant lil' monster. Cipro and doxy are useless against it (but Ampicillin is supposed to work).

> I've had "blue balls" before due to build up and excitement
> and it felt like that

Well, whaddo I know? My guess is the congestion was the result of an infection already blocking the tubes. Some uros recommend frequent masturbation while you are on antibiotics (to encourage antibiotic rich blood into the area, and to purge any stagnant pools in which bacterial families may be having a summer party).

> I was misdiagnosed as having a varicocele that caused pain.
> The varicocele was quite large

Boy, I bet that was frustrating -- to think you'd found the answer, and then find out not.

Was the varicocele something you could see -- like a purple vein close to the surface? Did removing it leave a scar? I've read that they can be the cause of pain and removal can be the cure; but I don't know what they look like.

- Charles