Study: Female cyclist developed 'third testicle'

PRETORIA, South Africa, Oct. 9 (UPI) -- Researchers in South Africa said a female cyclist was diagnosed with a cyclist's nodule -- a condition often referred to as a "third testicle."

The researchers, from the Steve Biko Academic Hospital in Pretoria and the Little Company of Mary in Pretoria, said the condition is often referred to as a "third, supernumerary or accessory testicle" because it manifests as a "tender, firm, soft-tissue nodule" measuring about 1.18 inches in diameter "in the paramedian region of the perineum."

The team wrote in the South African Journal of Sports Medicine it was unusual for the condition, which is caused by friction, to be diagnosed in a woman, but the 29-year-old female patient complaining of a painful mass was found to have developed a cyclist's nodule.

The researchers said the condition is treated with steroids and, in severe cases, surgery. Patients often give up cycling as a result of the condition, but the woman, who was treated without surgery, told doctors she was able to successfully avoid discomfort by changing her bicycle seat.