what if my balls move up inside my body

What if my balls move up into my body?

This week’s Ask Bish is for someone who’s worried in case their balls move up into their body.

Hi, lately I’ve been having issues with my balls and can’t quite seem to figure what’s happening with them or if this has always been happening or it’s just a regular thing. Basically whenever I’m masturbating my right ball will move like downwards a bit and sometimes to the right and my left ball will slightly move to the left but it rarely happens with the left one. Sometimes they won’t move whilst I’m masturbating and will only move when I’m either just about to ejaculate or when I’m mid-ejaculation. Just wanted to know if this is a serious problem and if I need to see a doctor. It doesn’t hurt or anything. It has never moved up into my body or abdomen. Just moves a bit. I’m just scared in case they do move up into my body. If you could help me out that would be great thanks.

Hi there

Thanks for your great question. It doesn’t sound to me that there is anything wrong here – though remember that I’m not a doctor and can’t diagnose you. I think that if I give you a bit more information about how balls work it might help you to work out what is going on for you down there.

Your balls move up and down

Your balls are surrounded by muscles which control them – these are known as cremaster muscles. Their job is to bring your testicles up when they need to, and to be allowed back down. They do this for three main reasons.

I’m quite pleased with this drawing thanks

Temperature

So that sperm can be produced effectively, the testicles need to be kept two degrees cooler (35°C) than the rest of the body temperature (37°C). Your body responds to temperature changes by instructing the cremaster muscles to pull the testicles up if they are too cold, and down if they are too warm.

Read more about balls and ejaculation

You might notice that your balls get pulled right up towards your body after you get out of a swimming pool (shinkage). Or in really cold weather. Then when they get warm again they drop down more so they dangle.

Protection

It’s also thought that your cremaster muscles work to pull the balls up when your body is reacting to a threat. As I’ve written about here, our body can just react when it senses a harm, thanks sympathetic nervous system. One of the clever things the body does is to pull the balls up to protect them. It might pull them right up into your body.

Interestingly this can also happen from laughter and also from stroking your inner thigh from your knee towards your groin. This is known as the cremasteric reflex. There is a version of this for female bodies known as the inguinal reflex (which surrounds the round ligament).

Hard ons

Researchers are still trying to figure out what the testicles’ deal is during sexual arousal. It’s thought that when an erection happens that the testicles are pulled up towards the body. They call this a ‘peno-cremasteric reflex’ and it might happen to kind of compress the testicle to help it move into the sperm tubes.

Read more about the hard on

You describe this happening to you a little when you are ejaculating. If the researchers are correct it might actually start before you ejaculate. Remember that there is a difference between orgasm and ejaculation.

Inguinal canal

Your cremaster muscles allow your testicles to sit in your scrotum or pulls them up into what is known as the inguinal canal. The inguinal canal is basically a long tube that extends from your scrotum into your body. After birth, most testicles drop through this canal into the scrotum (this is when balls ‘drop’). However they also go back up in there. And yes your testicles can go back up there.

But it’s not something to worry about. If your muscles do pull your testicles up there then they will come down when your muscles relax. You might be interested to learn that this is something that a lot of people actually do intentionally. This is known as tucking and can be done by anyone who wants to hide a bulge in their pants. Drag performers, trans women, people who are intersex, or just someone with large balls who feels uncomfortable.

So although you are worried about your body bringing your balls up into your inguinal canal, it’s not something you have to worry about because other people actually do this intentionally (and safely).

Comment below if you like. I moderate all comments before they appear, just so you know!

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11 thoughts on “What if my balls move up into my body?

  1. At around 11 – 18 my balls used to retract a lot and that really freaked me out. I did not dare to bring up the subject to my parents and it made me very scared, because I did not know why this was happening. Usually during very stress full times this would happen more often. During sports, at school, summer or winter. Eventually I did discuss this with my doctor. He was unfamiliar with this and suggested to push my balls into my abdomen, to see where they were going. The mere thought of that made me cringe. I have never been to that doctor again. When I grew older and there was less stress in my life, my balls did not retract that often anymore. And when they did, I stayed calm about it. Relaxing seemed to help. I’m a married man know and I have 3 kids. So no problems caused there. Only during sex (mostly during orgasm) my balls still retract a little, but not into my abdomen as far as they used too. It doesn’t freak me out anymore. I just read your article (I’m 53 now) and understand now what is happening. Thanks for the clear explanation.

  2. Why is there so little information on happily retractile testicles? Probably only people who think they have a problem write in. I have never asked a guy whose testicles don’t pop up beside the penis and farther from time to time. Pre-puberty, the inguinal canal has not stuck closed so they can go up farther. Guys who play with them up and down the canal tend to have them draw up farther and more often and probably all their life without any problems. Except for when the testicle is pushed up and spreads the canal farther up and it feels like a little burn, there should be no more pain than having the testicle move up and down in the scrotum. In fact, when they pull way up, they can feel really cozy and interact differently during sex and many guys really like that. They tell their friends who then practice pushing them along a little at a time and then they get free movement and interesting elevator rides from the cremaster muscles. Yes, torsion could be a problem and the balls should come down to the scrotum after a ride, but it is not a physical debility. If you just get weirded out about the feeling of them going up, then talk to your doctor or tie a loose band to keep them from moving up.

  3. My balls are killing me they are upside in my body I can’t touch my dick or my balls and it’s very painful I can’t mastedbate if I touch the ball it hurts so badly I can’t sit up on the edge of sofaor bed nothing it’s so painful I can’t have sex or relieve myself it’s so
    So annoying

  4. Why do some men intentionally tie up their testicles before masturbation or sex? Is this pracice harmful?

    1. I’m pretty sure I’ve answered that in the above article. Maybe just have a breathe out and read it through again. Your balls are going up into your inguinal canal. If you’re still concerned you could ask your doctor

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