Hey Dr Sue — How do I protect my penis and testicles during sports? I started doing karate and got kicked in the groin during sparring and it really hurt!

I can imagine it hurt quite a bit!

My first thought was to use a cup to protect your penis and testicles. This is used by people in many sports to help protect their genitals.

Since I don’t have those body parts, and I don’t do martial arts of any kind, I decided to reach out to some people who might be able to give me some more information. This included a professional martial artist and a few friends who do marital arts recreationally.

They all agreed that a cup is the way to go. The professional pointed out that if you move into competing you will probably be required to wear one.

Ideally, you wouldn’t get hit in the groin. Some people pointed out that as your skill level increases, and so does that of the people you spar with, hits to the groin should be less frequent.

But since there’s a still a chance a hit might happen, then you want to have a cup.

Keep in mind that a cup isn’t going to mean there won’t be any discomfort if you get hit in the testicles. You’ll still feel pressure, but with a cup on the amount of pain should be much less. A cup will also…