Article 136: Massage and Daily Precautions for Hydrocele and Gynecomastia

◇A Guide to Caring for Your Husband's Health as a Good Wife◇

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Treatment and recuperation of common diseases

How to perform massage therapy

1. Lie face down and use the hypothenar eminence of your palm to rub up and down along the spine for 3 minutes. Then, use your thumb to press the Spleen Shu, Liver Shu, and Kidney Shu acupoints for half a minute each. Use one palm to rub the Mingmen acupoint and the lumbosacral region horizontally until a warm sensation is produced in the area.

2. Lie on your back and use your palm to push down from the center of your navel to the upper edge of the pubic symphysis for 3 minutes. Then use your thumb to press the Qihai, Shimen, Guanyuan, and Zhongji acupoints for half a minute each.

3. Using the Shimen acupoint as the center, massage in a clockwise direction with the heel of your palm for 3 minutes, then place your palms on top of each other on your lower abdomen and vibrate up and down for 2 minutes.

4. Lie on your side and use the hypothenar eminence of your palm to rub up and down the inner thigh for 3 minutes. Then use your thumb to press the Xuehai, Zusanli, and Sanyinjiao acupoints for half a minute each.

5. Press the Yongquan and Tiaojing acupoints on the soles of your feet with your thumbs for half a minute each, until you feel a soreness and distension.

6. While seated, use both palms to rub along the intercostal spaces from the front midline to the mid-axillary line, then use your thumbs to press the Qimen and Zhangmen acupoints for half a minute each.

Daily precautions for hydrocele

1. During treatment, pay attention to rest, reduce activity, avoid strenuous lifting, and use a scrotal support to lift the scrotum to facilitate the absorption of fluid accumulation.

2. Maintain a cheerful mood and actively participate in physical exercise.

3. Keep the scrotum clean to prevent infection. Wear loose-fitting underwear and avoid synthetic fiber underwear.

4. Practice moderation in sexual activity.

5. Eat more high-protein and easily digestible foods, such as poultry, eggs, lean meat, fish, and soy products. Eat more vegetables and fruits, and avoid raw, cold, and spicy foods.

Gynecomastia

Gynecomastia, or male breast development, refers to the abnormal development of male breast tissue, characterized by benign hyperplasia of breast tissue, manifesting as unilateral or bilateral breast enlargement, sometimes accompanied by tenderness. This condition can occur at any age, but is most common during puberty and old age. Most patients are asymptomatic, although some may experience swelling and pain.

Causes of disease

1. Physiological: This can occur in newborns (under 18 months), adolescents, and middle-aged men, with the highest incidence during puberty. Newborns experience breast enlargement, sometimes accompanied by nodules, largely due to maternal estrogen influence, which usually disappears within one week after birth. Approximately 40%–70% of adolescent boys develop this condition, termed idiopathic gynecomastia. Patients often have sex hormone levels commensurate with their age and development; therefore, the endocrine factors are not fully understood. It may be due to rapid changes in sex hormone levels during puberty, resulting in a transient imbalance in the androgen/estrogen ratio. In middle-aged and older men, this is less common due to decreased testicular function and relatively increased estrogen levels.

2. Pathological: Can be seen in the following diseases.

(1) Endocrine disorders:

Testicular diseases, such as congenital testicular hypoplasia, orchitis, testicular injury, true hermaphroditism, and testicular tumors, can all lead to decreased testicular function, very low androgen secretion, and corresponding deviations in estrogen levels.

Adrenal cortex diseases: The adrenal glands are an important source of estrogen for men. If there are tumors, tissue hyperplasia, or decreased function in the adrenal cortex, it can lead to abnormally high estrogen levels.

Hypothalamic-pituitary diseases: tumors of the hypothalamus and anterior pituitary, acromegaly, and pituitary chromophobe adenomas, etc., may be related to increased prolactin levels.

Thyroid disease: In hyperthyroidism, male breast development can reach up to 35%, and it is also occasionally seen in patients with hypothyroidism.

diabetes.

(2) Non-endocrine diseases:

Liver diseases: Hepatitis, cirrhosis, liver cancer, etc., accompanied by decreased liver function, leading to a decline in the body's ability to inactivate estrogen, thus causing the disease.

Malnutrition: often occurs after nutritional supplementation, possibly due to insufficient synthesis and secretion of pituitary gonadotropins when protein is lacking, resulting in a temporary increase in gonadotropins after supplementation.

Neurological disorders: such as paraplegia caused by high-level spinal cord lesions, syringomyelia, etc.

Lung diseases: such as bronchogenic carcinoma.

Lymphatic system diseases: lymphoma, malignant histiocytosis, myeloma and other reticuloendothelial system diseases, etc.

Other: chronic colitis, severe skin diseases (such as exfoliative dermatitis, cutaneous fibroblastoma, etc.), autoimmune diseases (such as rheumatoid arthritis, etc.).

Drug effects: Estrogens, progesterone, isoniazid, isoniazid, ethambutol, chlorpromazine and other phenothiazines, tricyclic antidepressants, methyldopa, digitalis, reserpine, spironolactone, gentamicin, amphetamines, griseofulvin, busulfan, cimetidine, etc., can all affect estrogen metabolism and induce breast enlargement.