Varicocele is a varicose or distended condition of the veins of one or both testicles. It is seen chiefly on the left; if both sides are affected the left one is usually more so than the right. The reason why this should be is hard to tell; some say because most people wear the trousers on the right, and others think it is because the left spermatic vein enters the renal vein instead of the inferior vena cava. I am inclined to think it is because the left testicle hangs usually lower than the right, the drag on the veins must consequently be more on this side, and the veins become relaxed in consequence. To this we must add the fact that varicose veins are more common in the left leg than the right one, and what causes these will also cause varicocele on the same side.
Anything which prevents a free return of the blood to the heart will cause varicocele. It may proceed from a diseased or feeble heart; from diseased lungs which will not let the blood pass freely through the veins; from an enlarged or diminished liver; from a tumor in the abdomen; from the pressure of a truss, or from a constipated condition of the bowels, the accumulated foecal matter then pressing on the veins and preventing the blood from returning to the heart from these parts as quickly as it should. Indirectly, distention of the veins is caused or made worse by anything that weakens the tone of the body. Tea, coffee, tobacco, and intoxicating drinks help on its production, as does also want of exercise, or standing all day long in a shop or behind a counter. White bread, potatoes, and milk puddings, such as rice, sago, tapioca, and macaroni, etc., may help it on indirectly by inducing constipation. Excessive sexual intercourse, or much self-abuse may assist in its formation, but not so much as young men are led by quacks to believe.