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Men are filling their testicles with litres of saline in a growing trend otherwise known as ‘ballmaxxing’.
While men’s balls are typically the size of a small egg or plum, an online Reddit community of nearly 10,000 men has shown them inflating their scrotums to the size of grapefruits.
They typically photograph their penis and ball sac with one or two needles inserted and taped into their sac, administering saline drips they’ve purchased online. This causes the testicles to swell for a time, often to a point of enveloping the penis, making it appear much smaller.
Rooted in the body modification kink, this can be both a sexual or non-sexual practice, but it comes with significant risks.
‘Ballmaxxing or scrotal inflation with saline is considered to be quite dangerous, and doctors generally warn against it,’ Dr Shirin Lakhani tells Metro.
‘The scrotum area is very sensitive and contains delicate structures, including the testes, blood vessels, and nerves, which are not designed to accommodate fluid distension.’
Despite the dangers, the allure of ballmaxxing is growing, so we asked experts to tell us what they know about it…
Why do people engage in ballmaxxing?
Although athletes at the Winter Olympics were accused of enlarging their testicles to get a new suit (and a sporting advantage), that’s not what this trend is about for the majority of participants.
Sex expert Gigi Engle, author of Kink Curious, tells Metro that ballmaxxing can certainly be considered a kink, falling under the umbrella of body modification.
This involves altering the body temporarily or permanently for sexual arousal via the sensation or the aesthetic gratification.
‘It’s linked to “freakshow” type body modification which celebrates extreme size,’ Gigi explains. ‘Things being larger than life is part of the erotic appeal.
‘People can be very turned on by their balls being inflated or looking at them once they’re inflated.’
Men in the anonymous community seem to enjoy the weight of their scrotum once it’s full. One wrote: ‘It feels so good to be that heavy.’
Another said he enjoyed the feeling of his penis being ‘buried within’ his scrotum because it was so swollen, while someone else enjoyed the ‘tingling’ of the skin of the sac stretching.
She adds there can also be a BDSM dynamic to ballmaxxing, where a female or male dom enjoys making a partner inflate his testicles, and enjoys the large genitals, while the submissive enjoys the sensation and being dominated.
But ballmaxxers might not do it for sexual reasons at all. ‘There’s a direct link with our perceptions of what makes you masculine,’ Gigi explains.
‘Having big balls and a big d**k is linked to being “more of a man”. The phrasing of having “big balls” suggests you’re braver, more assertive, and dominant, which is part of it, too.’
A step up from ‘scrotox’
It’s important that ballmaxxing isn’t confused with men getting botox injections in their scrotums – a phenomenon named ‘scrotox’.
As of 2025, scrotal Botox had seen 46,000 online queries in the last four years, while Beverly Hills-based surgeon Jason Emer claiming he performed the procedure multiple times every week back in 2016.
It’s intended to give men smoother skin, less ball sweat and a lower-hanging look for their testicles. Ballmaxxing takes this to a whole new level, and uses saline rather than injectables to achieve the full effect.
Dr Shirin Lakhani, a sexual health specialist and aesthetics clinic founder, says there’s always been an intrigue around scrotum enlargement with men.
‘It’s a consistent enquiry I get at my clinic,’ she says. ‘I’ve seen an increase particularly in men over 40, but I think procedures and plastic surgery have become more popular with men in general, and there’s less of a stigma now.’
What are the dangers of ballmaxxing?
Despite this increase in interest, sex expert Gigi says ballmaxxing in the kink world is still a relatively niche interest.
Not only this, but she stresses it’s extremely risky to practice when you’re ‘shooting saline into your balls’.
‘There are several health risks that can run with injecting your scrotum with saline, including bacterial infection, as introducing any unregulated fluid, especially outside of a medical practice, can cause infection, abscess formation or cellulitis,’ Dr Lakhani explains.
As well as infection, you could give yourself tissue or nerve damage because of the amount of liquid stretching the scrotal skin and underlying structures, which could result in microtears and bruising.
The doctor adds you can damage the testicles themselves as well as the sac, too. ‘Pressure from fluid accumulation may impair blood flow, potentially affecting testicular function,’ she adds.
More obvious symptoms include discomfort, with a lot of men on the Reddit forum complaining of a burning sensation, as well as pain, swelling and inflammation.
Erectile dysfunction is another possible issue due to the blood flow being disrupted by the pressure of inflation. If that wasn’t enough, there are also more life-altering and life-threatening complications which can arise.
‘Injecting saline into your scrotum can disrupt structures and blood flow, which can lead to erectile dysfunction, infertility, and even life-threatening possibilities such as blood clots or gangrene,’ Dr Lakhani adds.
Gangrene is where the body tissue dies due to a lack of blood supply or infection, and surgery would be needed to remove all the dead tissue to stop the spread.
It’s because of all this that Gigi warns, if you’re attempting this at all, the saline should be administered by a professional.
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