Testicular Cancer Self Exam

Most cases of this disease appear between the ages of 15 and 40. Well, what might make you think there was something wrong?

Perhaps the first thing you would notice was a slight enlargement of one of the testicles. Possibly it would feel firmer or heavier, or you might actually feel a lump. One of the traps with early cancer is that it's not painful. Only about one in ten patients with testicular cancer experiences acute pain in the testicle. However, there's often a dragging sensation or heaviness in the scrotum or bag, or a dull ache in the lower abdomen or groin. Sometimes a blow or a knock to the testicle makes it ache,

and this leads to the discovery of the lump. Occasionally fluid appears in the sacs around in the testicle, and in this case the swelling called a hydrosilm. It's usually rapidly noticeable, but again, painless. However, very few hydrosilms are caused by malignant tumors.

It's not unmanly or immoral to examine yourself. You need to get to know your own anatomy, so you will notice any changes. You will find out that your scrotum contains other tissues, for example this structure, the epididymis. This collects the sperm from the testicle, so they can travel up the cord towards the prostate gland, and eventually to the outside of the body. So if you haven't examined yourself before, and you find such normal structures, which may feel like lumps to you, don't panic. Remember, you're feeling for a lump in the testicle itself,

or a changing size rather than the structures that normally surround it. We suggest that you examine yourself about once a month. The best time to do this is when you're having a bath or taking a shower, or shortly after, when you're nicely relaxed, and the skin of the scrotum is loose. Otherwise, you won't be able to feel properly. Also, using wet hands increases the sensitivity of the fingers. So that you'll be able to examine yourself properly, we're now going to show you a man demonstrating the technique of testicular self-examination.

As you can see, he's holding the testicles and scrotum in the palm of his hand, comparing one side with the other for equal heaviness. When you first do this, you may find that one testicle is in fact larger than the other. This isn't unusual. Remember, the reason for examining regularly is to detect any change. Now examine first the one testicle and then the other. Using both hands, gently roll each testicle between the thumb and fingers. It might be helpful, first of all, to locate the epididymis behind and above the testicle,

but do this gently because it's rather tender. Use gentle pressure during the examination if there's any pain, then you're pressing too hard. Check for any small lumps, slight enlargement, or a change in the firmness of the testicle.

Now repeat the procedure on the opposite side. So you see, it's quite simple. It only takes a minute, and if you were to get into the habit of doing this once a month, then you'd be likely to pick up any small change that might mean a cancer. So that's what you should do regularly, but what would happen if you did find something wrong? Well, the first thing to do is to see your own doctor straight away. It's important at this stage that you're not frightened or put off from going.

After all, it probably won't be a cancer. You must overcome any embarrassment. I'm sure your doctor won't mind in the least talking to you about it. When he sees you, he'll probably want to examine your testicles in much the same way as we've shown. If your doctor does think there's something wrong, he'll send you to see a specialist at the hospital who will arrange a few simple tests. He may wish to get an ultrasound test done. This can detect small tumors, but it's also very useful to look for more common things like cysts,

collections of fluid, swellings, and infections. As you can see, the doctor is using a probe which emits sound waves. This is gently rubbed against the scrotal wall which has been smeared with a jelly to allow the sound to penetrate and to look inside the scrotum. The test is not at all uncomfortable and it's a very effective way of deciding whether or not a lump is a tumor. Well, if you look across this is the testicle on the right-hand side. You can see the oval thing. We move across to the left-hand side.

This is the testicle, the lining, down here are some of the tubes. Everything looks okay.