How to Conduct a Testicular Self-Examination

Each year 7,500 men in the United States are diagnosed with testicular cancer. This simple self-examination helps increase your chances of finding a tumor and benefiting from early treatment.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Full-length Mirrors
• Towels
• Towels
• Towels

1. After a warm shower or bath, grasp one testicle with both hands. Place your middle and index fingers underneath the testicle and your thumbs on top.

2. Roll the testicle between your thumbs and fingers, feeling for any abnormal lumps. An abnormal lump will feel like a hard pea. Don't mistake the epididymis, a ropelike structure on the back and top of each testicle, for an abnormal lump.

3. Check your other testicle in the same way.

4. See your doctor immediately if you feel any lumps.

5. Repeat the self-exam once a month or as instructed by your doctor.

Tips & Warnings

• An abnormal lump may also be a sign of a noncancerous infection. You may find that one testicle is slightly larger or hangs lower than the other. This is normal.
• A testicular self-exam is not a substitute for a medical exam. Any male who has reached adolescence should have an annual testicular exam by a doctor as part of a normal checkup.

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[Jonalynn]

on 11/15/2007 How do I deal with, or help my 34 year old son, married with a newborn daughter, that has had a lump in his testicle for about 5 years now, and refuses to address it with his wife, mother or even go to a doctor?