This is how they do testicular exams in Japan. Fortunately for those of us in North America we use a much gentler technique. Despite this fact, many of us are afraid that someone will spring a testicular exam on us. When I was 19 I went to a walk in clinic for an infection on my foot. While they focused primarily on the foot, before I knew it the doctor was playing game-boy with my nards. While it was a prudent thing to do, this sort of thing happens to be another obstacle that keeps us guys, particularly the younger ones, from seeing a doctor.
What you may not know is that testicular cancer is the most common cancer in men between the age of 15-35. There have been some high profile cases in the past decade or so including the NHL's current leading scorer Phil Kessel, comedian Tom Green (who televised his testicular removal), and most famously Lance Armstrong.
Testicular cancer also happens to have one of (if not the highest) cure rate of all the cancers you could end up with. With early detection, cure rates approach 100% and in more advanced cases cure rate is still in the 90% range. Lance Armstrong's story illustrates this well. When he was found to have testicular cancer, they had found it had spread to his lungs and brain. In pretty much any other type of cancer, metastases to the brain and lungs tend to have grim prognoses. After successful surgery and chemo (which works really well for testicular cancer), Lance went on to win another 6 Tours de France.
Testicular cancer typically presents as a painless mass in the testicle. It can also cause symptoms like a dull ache or heaviness in the lower stomach, scrotum, or groin area. Unless you're having complaints related to that region on your body, you won't likely be asked to drop trou. If you're in the 15-35 age range though, 30 seconds of testicular game boy could save your life.
Us gents are pretty good at many things, but it turns out going to the doctor isn't one of them. There are a few reasons for this, so in the spirit of Movember - a month dedicated to men's health, I think it's time we explored the question. In no particular order, here's what I've found.
Reason #1. You're afraid you're going to get a finger in the butt. While this will almost certainly happen if you've got a problem with your bowels or blood in your stool, it also may be the case for many gent's in the 40+ age range as a screen for prostate and colon cancer.
While this type of screening (along with a PSA test via the blood) has been done for years, there are new and controversial recommendations calling into question their usefulness. US Preventive Services Task Force is a government citing evidence that prostate exams and PSA testing in "healthy men" with no symptoms have no net benefit in helping save lives. Read more here. While I understand what they're getting at (tens of thousands of men experience serious untoward effects, including death from treatment of less aggressive cancers that may not have ever killed them), I think most of us would still rather know if we had cancer. It also can come across in a way that can mislead men into thinking that they shouldn't ever be checked, which is not the intent of the recommendation.
The other thing that bothers me a bit about this "task force" is that they call themselves preventive. Early detection isn't the same thing as prevention. Early detection is great, but if you do your job right on the prevention side, ideally there would be nothing to detect.
So how can one prevent prostate cancer? That's a great question, and one we'll explore soon enough.
