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For various reasons, mainly due to genetics, I grew up essentially without any friends my age, and certainly not any friends of the opposite sex. Although female friendship and intimacy has been a very strong desire since early childhood, I never experienced anything like that until my late 20s or early 30s (and even then, very, very little of it).

However, at some point in my late 20s, there was a period of a week or so in which I did get some physical contact with women my age. Although this was restricted to hugs, it caused huge emotional and physiological effects on me. On the physiological side, I noticed almost constant excessive excretion of Cowper's fluid, to the extent that I needed to change clothes every hour (and each hour could see large amounts of this substance in the clothes), throughout the day. (Even when I was alone, I was obviously thinking about this new kind of physical contact.)

Now, within a day or two, I started experiencing mild pain in the inguinal region on the right side.

I have always believed this to be a consequence of the sudden hyperactivity of my right bulbourethral gland, but I have never researched it properly.

Is this a reasonable hypothesis? I notice that the Wikipedia article on the gland doesn't mention anything about this.

(Please note that I am not seeking medical advice; I'm merely being curious.)

--Andreas Rejbrand (talk) 14:32, 24 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

You should ask a urologist. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 15:53, 24 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

That would be ideal, yes, but I don't know any urologist. And it wouldn't make any sense for me to see a urologist as a patient, since this is merely me being curious in general; I don't experience any clinically significant problem. In fact I very much doubt I would even be allowed to see a urologist if I did go to the vårdcentral, since the Swedish health care system does not have enough resources to see patients just because they want to discuss biology. Andreas Rejbrand (talk) 11:27, 25 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Where does your health care system get its resources? ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 12:23, 25 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Tax money Andreas Rejbrand (talk) 13:53, 25 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

And do you pay taxes? ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 18:06, 25 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Of course.

But to the best of my knowledge, the Swedish health care system has not much spare capacity. (Situationen är ansträngd.)

I believe there is a shortage of specialist staff, and too often patients have to wait to see a specialist or perform some examination or medical intervention. Sometimes even suspected cancer patients have to wait a bit longer than medically optimal (and certainly longer than they'd prefer themselves). So if I would insist to see a urologist just to satisfy my curiosity about the possible physiological mechanisms that can make bulbourethral hypersecretion to cause nociception, then I'd take up resources that could have been used for prostate cancer patients.

You don't want to do that. And I am note really that interested, either. Andreas Rejbrand (talk) 19:43, 25 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Their shortage of staff is not your fault. If I were in your shoes, I would find a urologist and schedule an appointment. It might be next week, it might be six months. But unless the doc thinks you've got a real problem, it shouldn't take up too much of his/her time. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 22:07, 25 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

You are asking other people to give opinions on whether your theory about a medical condition you have is correct. In most people's book, that's asking for WP:MEDICAL advice, which you will not get a response to. Bazza 7 (talk) 16:50, 24 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

I respectfully disagree. Andreas Rejbrand (talk) 11:16, 25 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Instead of assuming that help won't be forthcoming, the OP anywhere in Sweden can telephone 1177 to contact his commune's family advice service that offers interviews with variously qualified relationship psychologists and sexologists. Website www1177.se describes the service in individual communes. Also, without me presuming anything about the OP's situation, Sweden offers a very sympathetic and confidential counselling service to young adults, details of booking and cost at https://familjeradgivningen.com/samtal-for-unga-vuxna/ . Philvoids (talk) 15:22, 25 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

I'm afraid you misunderstood my question. My question is strictly about biology. A relationship psychologist is unlikely to know very much about the ways nociceptors can be triggered by a sudden and prolonged production and excretion from the bulbourethral glands in human males. Sexologists may have some knowledge, but likely not much at the cellular level (if any). I'm also afraid your second comment is even more off-topic. Andreas Rejbrand (talk) 15:34, 25 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

I most deliberately deny you a biological answer. That's my response because some lucky psychologist adviser or sexologist whom you prejudge as unqualified can look forward either to learning from your self analysis of your unique and medically educational case, or to saving everyone's time by posing questions or tests that you may not have thought of. Philvoids (talk) 17:00, 25 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

I thought the "Science" Reference desk of Wikipedia was supposed to be a place where you can ask questions about human physiology. But maybe I was wrong. Andreas Rejbrand (talk) 19:33, 25 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Have you read our article on blue balls?  ​‑‑Lambiam 17:37, 24 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you for your reply. I don't think I have ever heard of epididymal hypertension (I have been a medical student myself, so it's possible I have heard of it but forgotten it). This condition indeed seems highly related to my observations. But I'm not convinced this is it. The sensation was clearly located on the right side and quite far from the scrotum, but referred pain could maybe account for that. Andreas Rejbrand (talk) 15:41, 25 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Our article on Pre-ejaculate cites this study, which includes reports of similar excessive secretion in other young sexually-inactive men. JMCHutchinson (talk) 18:57, 27 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you for your input. Although this doesn't say anything about the mechanisms by which bulbourethral hyperactivity can cause mild nociception, it certainly adds some additional evidence that the bulbourethral glands are indeed at the centre of the phenomenon. If I have to guess, I'd suspect that the hyperactivity causes a mechanical (enlargement, swelling) or chemical (waste products, pH etc.) alteration in the vicinity of the gland, triggering some mechanical or chemical nociceptors. Andreas Rejbrand (talk) 23:47, 27 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]