Six tips for testicular self-exams

Toronto Public Health recently launched the “Check Your Package” ad campaign aimed at creating awareness about testicular cancer and the importance of monthly self exams. Ads for the campaign, which include a photo of a man’s midsection, were denied by Facebook and deemed distasteful and threatening.

“Testicular cancer is the most common type of cancer among men 15 to 35,” says Dr. Henry Krieger, a medical oncologist with The Scarborough Hospital for 35 years. “In most cases, the cancer is curable if detected early. It is important to bring awareness to the significance of self exams.”

When conducting a self exam, check for swelling or enlargement of a testicle; a hard lump on the front or sides of your testicles; an increase in firmness; and pain, discomfort or a heavy feeling in the scrotum or lower abdomen. If you have any of these symptoms you should consult a doctor.

Here are the steps to conducting a monthly self exam:

1. Look at your testicles in the mirror and get familiar with their size, shape and feel.
2. After a bath or shower, hold the scrotal skin in the palms of your hands.
3. Check one testicle at a time.
4. Using both hands, gently roll each testicle between your fingers.
5. Gently roll your thumb over the top of the testicle. You should be able to feel the epididymis, the tube that carries sperm. This is a normal lump at the back of each testicle.
6. Repeat monthly.