Scared that epididymitis might be testicular cancer

Hi I’m a long time lurker on the forum due to health anxiety issues however this is my first ever thread.

Found a lump and I’m freaking out!

Ok so, last week I noticed some pain in my testicles. I went to the er and the doctor was pretty sure it was an inflamed epididymis and put me on some antibiotics for 2 weeks. So now with 1 week left the pain has subsided quite a lot which is nice. However this evening I noticed a small lump on the top of my testicle. It’s located on the top half of the testicle. The lump feels a bit weird like it’s not spherical, it’s kinda thin and long of that makes sense. Like a little worm. It’s pretty hard. Now I’m freaking out about testicular cancer. Could it be anything else? Should I wait calling the doctor until I’m finished with my antibiotics next week?

Male 18 otherwise healthy, non smoker

Hey. What you felt are your epididymis. They go from the top, round the back of the testicle and to the bottom. If you feel the bottom, towards the back you'll feel a similar thing (people refer to it as if it feels like a "bag of worms"). The epididymis can also feel firm especially with the infection. Also note that the more you prod it, the firmer it will feel.

By all means speak to your doc for peace of mind. It's also good you check yourself as it gives you an idea to what is normally there. 👍

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Originally Posted by Whizz

Hey. What you felt are your epididymis. They go from the top, round the back of the testicle and to the bottom. If you feel the bottom, towards the back you'll feel a similar thing (people refer to it as if it feels like a "bag of worms"). The epididymis can also feel firm especially with the infection. Also note that the more you prod it, the firmer it will feel.

By all means speak to your doc for peace of mind. It's also good you check yourself as it gives you an idea to what is normally there. 👍

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Hi whizz thanks for answering!
So a little update, the lump is now gone and the pain has decreased since I finished my antibiotics (still a little uncomfortable from time to time) it’s just that now the testicles feels kinda hard?! Or at least I think they are hard or maybe I’m not so sure how hard/firm they should be but that’s the only thing that worries me rn… At least they feel the same now and the swelling is gone now. If both testicles feel equally firm should be a good sign right?🤔 I’m also very dumb reading up on people getting misdiagnosed and people that die from tc even though it has a high success rate. But seeing your answer helped me quite a bit😁

Anyway mostly wanted to thank u for the response!