Testicular Cancer affects over 8000 people in the US every year. For any man, it sounds like a dangerous subject, and one very few of us care to educate ourselves about. Yet it is imperative you do so. The possibility of loosing our testicles is a scary situation for any man, but if you ignore it, you?ll be loosing a lot more than just them, but its not all bad news. Testicular cancer has the highest survival rate among all the other cancers, going as high as 90%, and even 100% if detected early enough, but if left untreated, you have a much higher chance of dying, and this is the main cause of death from the disease. So hopefully after reading this article you?ll understand that it?s not all as bad as you think and you?ll do something about it.
First of all let me clear something up. If you get testicular cancer, the only option is for surgery. Chemo is rarely ever used, and only when it?s in such an early stage, that it has any effect. However, if you find it soon enough and it hasn?t spread, the good news is that you?ll only have to have one testicle removed. This has barely any resulting effects on the male, and prosthetics ones can replace it so you don?t appear abnormal. In other words you can still have sex and no one will know the difference. Yet, and hopefully this will encourage you to check and do something about it, if you don?t go and get it sorted fast enough, you?ll end up with it spreading, which can cause you to loose both testicles, and even your life as it can develop into a more serious form of cancer.
The most common symptom of testicular cancer is a small lump on your testicles. This is normally the shape of a pea, but can be as large as a marble. Others can include heaviness of the testicles, a numbing feeling in them, abdominal pains, a build up of fluid in the scrotum and a general increase in size in one of your testes.
So how do you go about checking I hear you say? Well below is a quick guide to help teach you how to check for cancer.
? Stand in front of your mirror and check for any swelling on your scrotum skin.
? Examine both your testicles with each hand by placing your index and middle finger under the testicles with your thumbs on top.
? Roll the testicle gently between the thumbs and fingers (don?t worry if one seems bigger than the other, that?s normal)
? Next find the Epididymis. These are the soft tubes that are located behind your testicle and which carry the sperm. Locating these will stop you from thinking these are lumps.
? The most common place for a lump is to appear on the side of your testicles, although it is possible to have them on the front.
? If you find anything, see a doctor immediately. You might not have cancer, but it?s going to be safer than doing nothing about it.
You should perform this check whenever you can. The simplest way of regulating it is to do it after a shower of a bath, as it will relax your scrotum and make it easier for you to not get confused between a lump and something on the scrotum.
The bottom line is check and don?t be afraid. Fear shouldn?t be an excuse to not do it, as if you don?t, you?ll regret it and your fears going to increase ten fold.
