Let's Talk Balls!
Testicular cancer and young men
Testicular cancer is a cancerous growth or lump in one or other of your testicles. Some things you need to know about testicular cancer:
- It’s most common in males aged 15 – 40 years.
- It affects about one man in 450
- Incidence has doubled in the last 20 years
- 96% of lumps aren’t cancer
- It can nearly always be cured if it’s detected and treated without delay.
Warning Signs
Some things to help you identify testicular cancer:
- A small, hard painless lump on the testicle
- A dull ache
- An enlarged testicle
- A heavy feeling in the testicle.
Check Them Yourself
Get to know the size and weight of each of your balls.
Don’t panic! – it’s not unusual to have one ball larger than the other!
It’s important to do a self examination of your balls once a month.
- It’s best done whilst you’re having a warm bath and/or shower as you’re more relaxed
- Support your scrotum and balls in the palm of your hand
- Now find the epididymis (feels like a cord). It’s a coiled tube that runs along the back of each ball from bottom to top and stores and transports sperm.
- Now using both hands, gently roll each ball between your thumb and fingers checking for any changes e.g. firmness, lumps, heaviness.
If you think that something may not be right, don’t leave it – get it checked out by your GP!
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