How to understand testicular self-exams

• Men need to check for testicular cancer by doing monthly self-exams.

• Roll each testicle between fingers, feeling for any lumps or unusual growths. Testicles should be smooth.

• It's natural for one testicle to be bigger than the other.

• Testicular cancer usually strikes men earlier in life, typically between the ages of 15 and 34.

LISA:  I’m Lisa Birnbach for howdini.com. Do you know much about testicular cancer? Do you have any idea what age it strikes? With me is Dr. Brent Ridge of Mt. Sinai Hospital. With this and other information you need to know. What about testicular cancer, one hears about it more and more.

BRENT:  The age group for testicular cancer is really between the ages of fifteen and thirty-four. That is when you are at the highest risk. And oddly that is usually the point in a man’s life where they usually feel invincible.

LISA:  Right.

BRENT:  Which is why testicular cancer is so dangerous because it is not found soon enough. They’re not doing their self-exams. They’re not going to their doctor on a regular basis. And that’s one of the public information messages we need to get out there is that men need to do their testicular cancer exams, know your body.

LISA:  What does the self-exam involve?

BRENT:  The self-exam is best done in the shower, and really it is just a matter of rolling the testicles between the hands and feeling for any lumps and bumps, anything that feels abnormal. The testicle shape should be perfectly smooth; it’s normal for one testicle to be larger then the other. So don’t get concerned about that, but if there are any lumps or bumps, or any tenderness that’s when you should be concerned. That’s when you should go to your doctor and have them examine them.

LISA:  And are boys typically taught to do this like girls are taught to do breast cancer exams?

BRENT:  Unfortunately they’re not. Some really good pediatricians will start doing this training, but a lot of times it slips right through the cracks.

LISA:  I had no idea. Learn something everyday. Thank you Dr. Ridge.

BRENT: Your welcome.

LISA:  For howdini.com I’m Lisa Birnbach.