This is a great question. More men should be checking themselves.

I think is should be a legislated annual requirement.

@Sophief Last time I found a lump. Turned out to be nothing, but scared the shit out of me.
@thriftymaid Ouch!

Sure, but I thought self-checks were pretty good on testes? Is there an improvement in early detection by ultrasound?

It’s not a form of punishment, it’s a preventative strategy. I’d rather be uncomfortable for a few minutes than without testicles.

Testicular cancer is a nasty beast. My daughter’s BIL had it. He fought long & hard. But it finally got the better of him & he died at the age of 31. It was a tragic loss. If there was a way to detect this early on, I certainly think it should be done.

@grumpyfish Self examination is NOT something to rely on. Just as manual self examinations on the breasts aren’t. Small unfelt lumps are left undetected.

Well there is not a radiology test, but given the boys the old once over is important for that.

Men can detect a “problem” with their testicles much easier than women can detect breast cancer, so self exam is sufficient most of time. If you find a lump or your testicle changes size go to the doctor. The cure rate for testicular cancer is something like 85% and is not near as difficult as the treatment for breast cancer in general. The chance of a man developing the cancer is much lower than breast cancer, although I do admit I personally know someone who had it (his girlfriend pointed out to him one testicle was larger, and he said he had noticed also. She made him go to the doctor) and I know a son of a friend of a friend. But, I know many many breast cancer survivors, and two who died from it. I am not comparing the two cancers to say testicular cancer is not to be taken seriously, I only mention it because it is in the original question. Here is the wikipedia for more stats http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Testicular_cancer

@jbfletcherfan How awful. The people I know who had testicular cancer were very young also, one 19, one in his 30’s. Both had a the testicle removed and some radiation and were fine. I think there are different types of cancer, some more aggressive than others.

I see no reason a man can’t get an ultrasound if he is concerned about it, but statistically it probably is not prudent for insurance companies to pay for any sort of screening. Women under 40 rely on self exam and yearly exam at the GYN’s office. Honestly, every woman I know who had breast cancer under the age of 50, including people like Olivia Newton John, friends, and acquaintances of mine all found their cancer and brought themselves into the doctors office. Many times the mammogram was negative and further tests had to be done to find the cancer they were sure they had. An annual mammogram would have done nothing for them. I am not saying no one ever found cancer from a mammogram under the age of 40, I’m sure they do, but there is not getting around that being aware of your own body is very important.

@JLeslie Thanks! That’s the info I was wondering about.

Geez… i didn’t think there would NEED to be a radiogram for this because men are ALWAYS self checking. They’re BORN self checking. I wish I could get my 5 year old son to stop self checking! But all kidding aside, I wonder if guys would really be willing to put their tackle in a machine that squishes them and then they’re told to hold still. hmmm…

@cazzie =) A testicular self-check is a little more involved than most men are doing—it’s not hard, and the earlier you start the more likely you’re going to notice when something’s different.

And, I’d be more than happy to put my boys in a squishing machine if it meant a better detection rate! =)

You talk about Mammograms as though they’re some kind of horrible thing that evil men conceived of, for no other reason than to torture women.

We don’t generally enjoy having a doctor stick his fingers up our rumps either, but if it can detect prostate cancer, we’ll deal with being uncomfortable once a year or so.

@cazzie .. it depends on who is doing the squishing for most of us

you got to be kidding! ummm…

My brother in law (one of my many BIL) has a history of colon cancer in his family. His younger brother died of it about 10 years ago. But he won’t have anything put up his butt. He says.. ‘it’s a one way street and no gay doctor is gonna stick anything up there’...

@sleepdoc um… I’m not sure how to respond to that.

@cazzie… you don’t have to ;)

@cazzie with all due respect to your family, your BIL is an idiot.

No prob, load em up.

I would happily do one of these. No big deal. I am a big believer in preventative health care.

Bring it on. I’d call the nurse Cinderella, she shall go to the balls.

@MrItty Yeah.. well… he’s a character. I still love him to bits, but he’s a hard case.

@all the other men… WOW… I guess we underestimated your King of Pain..

@cazzie You haven’t underestimated anything. We’re not saying we’ll enjoy having our boys squeezed to death…. we’re just saying it’s worth it to avoid dying a slow more-painful death.

I don’t think it is an xray squeeze, they do an ultrasound. FYI http://www.kantrowitz.com/cancer/detection.html

I’d do it. I’ve been biking so much lately that I get worried. :)

But as I also understand it, testicular cancer is not near as frequent nor as deadly as breast cancer. The two are not an exact parallel.

@DominicX That may or may not be true. The bottom line is…take care of yourself & get tested if there’s that option.

If there were a validated procedure equivalent to a mammogram, I would do it as often as indicated. I do check the boys for any anomalies on a regular basis. I would never be so foolish as to refuse a rectal examination to check my prostate. It is no fun for me or the doctor but I want the chance for early detection if there should ever be a problem.