Varicocele Specialists.com - What causes varicoceles?

Your guide to the nation's top varicocele doctors,
and what to know before you go.

What causes varicoceles?

Varicoceles most commonly develop during adolescence when the testes grow dramatically and therefore need more blood delivered in order to supply the increased need for oxygen and nutrients. Since more blood is going into the testes, there is also more blood draining away from it. If the valves are not functioning properly, the extra blood cannot be handled by the veins and the blood pools in the scrotum.

If large varicoceles develop in a man after adolescence he must be examined to make sure that there is no tumor in the abdomen pushing and compressing the veins making the blood unable to properly flow back to the heart.