Do the Covid vaccines actually cause ‘swollen testicles’ like Nicki Minaj claims?

If you’ve been following the drama on Nicki Minaj’s Twitter feed for the last day or so you’ll be aware that the Trinidadian-born rapper has caused quite a stir in relation to her comments about the Covid-19 vaccine.

The drama all started on Sunday evening after Minaj confirmed that she wouldn’t be attending the Met Gala after revealing the event was requesting all attendees be vaccinated. Minaj said that she isn’t vaccinated yet and won’t be until “I feel I’ve done enough research.”

The 38-year-old then followed that up with a truly mind-boggling claim which has since seen the star thoroughly mocked on social media and television. Minaj claims that her cousin’s friend who had taken the vaccine is now “impotent” because his “testicles became swollen.”

Minaj, who has more than 20 million followers on Twitter, has been widely condemned for spreading this misinformation with even British politicians and scientists calling out the comments.

Despite all this, it still begs the question: Does the Covid vaccine actually cause swollen testicles?

There is overwhelming evidence that the vaccines against coronavirus are safe and effective, with some minor short-term side effects for most people. There have been reports of much longer and sometimes rare fatal complications with the vaccines but thus far there is no evidence of the vaccine swelling up men’s testicles.

However, catching Covid-19 itself has been found to cause some swelling of the testicles and a decrease in sperm count. A study into coronavirus found that six patients who had died of the disease had few traces of sperm but a more recent study, conducted in June of this year, found that there was no decrease in sperm from people who had taken the vaccine.

Can the Covid vaccines cause impotence?

Furthermore, there is no evidence of the vaccines causing any signs of impotence but once again Covid itself could cause some problems in the genitalia. The World’s Men’s Journal of Health published a study in July that found that, even after a Covid infection had cleared up, it could still cause some erectile dysfunction, even in mild cases.

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Speaking to People, Dr Leana Wen, an emergency physician and public health professor for the George Washington University, said: “There have been studies that have linked scrotal discomfort and low sperm count to having Covid-19. In addition, there has been an association between scrotal swelling and congestion to having Covid-19. So, to emphasize, these are not associated with the vaccine but with the disease.”

What caused Nicki Minaj’s cousin’s friend testicles to swell up?

Without any clear diagnosis beyond what Minaj has said, it’s hard to know what caused this man’s particular medical problem. Many have already suggested to Minaj that the swelling could be because of an STD like gonorrhoea, chlamydia and syphilis.

As Healthline reports, other causes of scrotal swelling can be attributed to trauma, testicular cancer, enlarged veins, orchitis, hydrocele, hernia, epididymitis, congestive heart failure and skin inflammation.

Without seeing the testicles in question, this man’s problem is unlikely to get the proper diagnosis it deserves and, after the last few days, we doubt Minaj is willing to dig herself a bigger hole by sharing a picture of the scrotum on her social media.

So for now, the man’s ailment is likely to remain a mystery – but we can say that it’s highly unlikely that it was caused by any of the Covid-19 vaccines. However, he can probably rest assured that most of the internet is now concerned about the size of his testicles.