Anybody with epididymitis continued to smoke or return to it?

I know this has been asked before but looking for more current information/experiences with epididymitis (pain for the cords in your balls). My best friend used to smoke heavily up until he was about 20 so 9 years ago, until he started dealing with this issue. Every time he would smoke his balls would hurt to the point he gave it up. He’s mentioned multiple times over the years wanting to get back into it but is afraid of this pain, was hoping someone here has dealt with this and has found their way back to smoking or found a way to stop the pain. He’s turned to drinking heavily in recent years to the detriment of his health and drinks every day but has said he would stop that on a dime if he could smoke again without the epididymitis.