Does epididymitis affect male fertility?

Q: I have been suffering from epididymitis (testicular pain) for the last 6 months. I just want to know whether this will affect fertility? Will there be any problem later?

A:Testicular pain may have varied etiology, epididymitis being just one of them. Epididymis is a part with miles of small tubules carrying sperms from testis, and helps maturing these sperms as well. Epididymitis results from inflammation of epididymis. While some acute inflammations may settle without a bad effect, some, like tubercular epididymitis, may result in destruction and fibrosis resulting in blocks. Testicular pain in your case has been going on for last 6 months. I would like to confirm whether it really is epididymitis or something else, and whether it is tubercular in nature since it has been going on for a long period. Destruction or disease in a paired organ in the body, like testis, is usually compensated well by the partner. Thus your fertility may remain unaffected despite damage to one testis or block in its outlet. It is easy to confirm by a simple test like semen analysis.