Hong Kong, April 29 (ANI): Trevor Li Churk-fai, a Hong Kong-based urologist recently revealed that a man in his early 20s, after recovering from COVID, was shocked to find that his testicles had shrunk and he suffered erectile dysfunction. He took blood tests of the man in order to find out the reasons behind his condition.
Li also said there was another patient who also experienced erection issues which were likely caused by “long COVID,” a condition that affects about 3 per cent of Hongkongers who recovered from the virus.
Earlier, a University of Hong Kong study had found that COVID can lead to the shrinking of men’s testicles and affect their virility after recovering from the virus.
Li has stated that the patient did not have any bad habits or addictions, “He was infected by the coronavirus during the fifth wave of Hong Kong’s local outbreak and showed mild symptoms at that time. He then recovered after staying at home for around eight days.”
Following the infection, the patient later found that both his testicles had shrunk and his sexual ability obviously worsened. As per Li, if the mentioned problems are due to psychological reasons then it’s possible to be cured through counseling or the use of hormonal treatment because doctors can patch patients’ male hormones.
Li didn’t ignore the possibility that his problems can be related to his COVID infection although the results of the blood test showed that the man was also suffering from other non-COVID-related hormone problems.
The urologist stated that international studies have shown male testicles’ vulnerability to the coronavirus. 10 to 20 per cent of infected patients with serious symptoms reported discomfort or pain from their testicles.
He said, “One of the studies showed as much as one-fourth of recovered patients also found that the semen volume and motility of their sperms have nosedived after infection, but it remains unknown whether it will be a short-term or long-term impact.”
Li even said that patients hospitalised with COVID infection can experience pain in their testicles as one of the presenting symptoms.
In conclusion, he warned men who suffered more serious symptoms upon contracting Covid are more likely to damage their testicular tissue, and there is some evidence showing erectile tissue might be affected too, as he called for men to get vaccinated as early as possible to lower the chances of developing serious illnesses upon infection. (ANI)
