Health3 min(s) read
Published 09:36 12 May 2026 GMT
A doctor has spoken out against the latest online trend that poses a serious risk to men and their genitalia.
Some men have begun injecting saline into their scrotum to increase the size of their testicles as a part of a risky trend dubbed “ballmaxxing”.
Healthcare professionals have warned against the trend, which can cause gonad glands to swell to the size of melons and result in dangerous, permanent damage.
“Ballmaxxing” involves running a bag of saline solution into the scrotal sac through a needle, making it balloon to several times its usual size.
As the fluid absorbs within a couple of days and testicles reduce again in size, online supporters frame the trend as harmless, but professionals are adamant that it can be seriously risky.
Dr Baldeep Farmah, who runs a vanity programme for men in their 20s and 30s, warned that the bizarre trend is one of the most reckless body modification trends for men.
Dr Farmah said: "There's nothing wrong with men taking ownership of how their bodies look. That's a healthy instinct.
"What's not healthy is getting that instinct met by anonymous accounts on Reddit telling you to put a needle in your scrotum at home. Ballmaxxing is one of the most reckless things I've seen come out of these communities.
"It's framed in the forums as harmless because the saline absorbs in a day or two.
"The damage to tissue, nerves, and blood supply doesn't absorb with it."
The aesthetic medical professional warned: "Permanent reproductive and vascular damage from compromised testicular blood supply isn't a hypothetical risk."
The scrotum has a stretch limit and can tear if it is forced to hold several times its normal volume of liquid, because once the skin reaches its stretch limit, it splits.
“Ballmaxxing” can cause serious tissue and nerve damage, as inside the testicles are the spermatic cord, the testicular arteries, and a dense network of nerves, and any added pressure to the area can damage them. Even if the outcome is pain-free, it could still have caused bruising and soft-tissue injury.
Gangrene and embolism are also serious risks of “ballmaxxing,” as when bloodflow to scrotal tissue is cut off long enough, the tissue dies and could become a surgical emergency.
Dr Farmah also warned that sepsis, a life-threatening infection, is a serious risk, particularly posed by at-home kits of unknown sterility administered by a non-medical professional.
He said: "If you take one thing from this, take this: don't do it.
“There is no aesthetic upside that outweighs gangrene, sepsis, or risking permanent reproductive damage for the rest of your life.”
