What Is Scrotox? The Procedure Zack Wickham Got On ‘The Valley’

You could say it takes balls to do this on television. The June 10 episode of the Bravo reality TV series The Valley featured one of its regulars, Zack Wickham, going to a clinic to get a “Scrotox” injection. Now, “Scrotox” is not short for a scrotum saying something toxic like “Sorry if you were offended.” Instead, it’s a portmanteau of the words “scrotum” and “Botox” that’s being used to describe an aesthetic procedure where you get botulinum toxin injections into your scrotum.

Why Men May Get Scrotox

Your first question may be why as in why would you do that? After all, getting a needle inserted into your scrotum probably isn’t the first thing that you would do for fun. It probably isn’t the second, third or 35th either.

Well, Scrotox began as a medical treatment for chronic scrotal pain, otherwise known as chronic orchialgia. Various things can cause chronic orchialgia such as infections, trauma and structural issues. While botulinum toxin injections won’t necessarily treat the cause, they can relieve the symptoms of chronic scrotal pain by blocking the release of neuropeptides that can lead to nerve-related inflammation and pain.

But chronic scrotal pain doesn’t appear to be the reason why Wickham needed such a needle into his scrotum. Rather, he was interested in a different type of feeling. Here’s the rationale that he provided: “Apparently, it feels really good during sex and just looks aesthetically better. You know how balls go up and down? I just was like, ‘You know what? Let’s see what happens when they stay down.” Looks like he was interested in essentially saying, “Whoa, Nellie” to his balls.

In addition to the whole down-with-the-balls thing, there are other claimed benefits of Scrotox , such as the injections making your scrotum look smoother, bigger and more filled out as well as hang more loosely and lower. And for those with particularly sweaty balls, Scrotox supposedly can reduce the sweat produced by your scrotal sac.

This may come as a surprise. But a number of men out there seem to have their eyes on the balls, so to speak, and want to change the appearances of their scrotums. This certainly isn’t the only scrotal enhancement procedure that’s become increasingly popular in recent years among men with moolah such as finance bros. In February for example, I filled you in via Forbes on the whole scrotal filler trend. That’s where men have been getting substances injected into their scrotums to make them look bigger and fuller. Because who doesn’t like a gigantic scrotum.

What’s Involved With Getting Scrotox

Getting Scrotox is somewhat less involved than getting filler in your scrotum. The first step in both cases is getting your scrotum numbed by applying a topical anesthetic ointment or cream. That’s because getting a needle stuck into your scrotum has high “ouch” potential. Next, when it comes to Scrotox, the doctor—and it should be an appropriately licensed and certified doctor like a dermatologist, plastic surgeon or urologist and not some random person with a needle—will insert into your scrotum a needle attached to a syringe filled with Botox and slowly inject the stuff through the needle into said scrotum.

The doctor may deliver repeated injections to cover more of your scrotum, depending on the size and shape of your scrotum and how much it looks like Gollum. Naturally, the health professional should check for bleeding or any complications after the injection is done. The whole thing, typically performed on an outpatient basis, usually takes no longer than four minutes or so.

Following the procedure, you can probably safely return to work, unless your work involves jackhammering, repeated blows to the balls or anything that will cause any stress to your scrotum. (Note: if your work regularly involves repeated blows to the balls, you may want to look for another job.) It’s also a good idea to refrain any such trauma, lifting heavy objects, having sex or any combination of these for at least several hours after the procedure. Don’t be disappointed if you don’t have super smooth balls or if your balls haven’t settled down just yet. It can take a few days to a week to see the wanted changes in your scrotum.

How Effective Is Scrotox

As Wickham alluded to, the belief is that all of this may help make sex more possible and pleasurable. After all, who hasn’t been in a situation where a potential partner has said, “Although you’ve got a great personality, great character and great everything, your scrotum is just way too wrinkly for us to date?” And who doesn’t follow the bouncing balls during sex like that dot bouncing on lyrics being projected on a screen during a sing-along? Regardless, it’s not clear what roles scrotal appearance and the scrotum in general actually play in attracting partners and the pleasure people get during sex. Entering terms like “scrotum” combined with “fun”, “pleasure” and “is he hot” into PubMed reveals a lack of peer-reviewed studies evaluating such questions.

There’s also a dearth of peer-reviewed scientific studies assessing how effective Scrotox may be in getting the advertised and desired changes and how long such changes may last. In other words, it’s not clear how smooth a given scrotum will get or how low balls will go for a given person. Anecdotal reports suggest that the aesthetic effects tend to last around three to four months. So if you want to maintain some type of appearance change down there, you may have to stay on the ball, so to speak, with repeat injections periodically over time.

What Are The Potential Side Effects Of Scrotox

Most of the potential side effects of this procedure are related to the fact that you are getting a needle stuck into your scrotum. You could suffer some pain, numbness swelling, tightness or bruising around the area. An infection could result. But in general if the doctor is qualified and careful, this doesn’t seem to be a super high risk procedure.

Of note, a study published in Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology did find that injections of botulinum toxin into the nether regions of male rats led to changes in testicular physiology and lower sperm counts. But you presumably are not a rat, physically at least, and what happens in rats doesn’t necessarily happen in humans. It would be helpful to have more human studies to evaluate the potential effects of Scrotox on human physiology and sperm counts and its safety in general.

To get a sense of the possible side effects of Botox, one could look at what happens when you get it injected in that other important part of your body, namely your face. Botox injections to the face can have rarer side effects like headaches, fatigue, chills, fever or difficulty seeing, speaking, swallowing or breathing. And you’ve probably heard of the “frozen face” look at other possible changes to the appearance of your face with repeated injections over time. It’s not clear which of these potential side effects could apply to Botox injections to the scrotum. That’s because once again the dearth of peer-reviewed published scientific studies of the procedure, especially longer term ones. But so far there’s been no clear reports of scrotums looking surprised all the time.

Ultimately, it’s important to consider all of aforementioned before you hit the sack, so to speak. And balance what’s known and not known about Scrotox? Think about how important the appearance of your scrotum may be to you and the people around you. Will getting Scrotox really make a difference in how you are perceived and feel? Is it worth risking the unknowns about Scrotox? Weighing the relative pros and cons can help you decide whether you want to go through with the procedure or if it just seems too nuts for you.