A urologist has explained the best time of day for men to check their testicles for signs of cancer.
Testicular cancer is the most common cause of a condition doctors call “cannon balloon.” The disease spreads to the lungs and forms a flood of rapidly multiplying tumors.
A simple 10-second self-examination can mean the difference between life and aggressive cancer, which can lead to cannon-shaped tumors in the lungs.
Dr Vivek Wadhwa, consultant urological surgeon at Spire Little Aston Hospital in the UK, said the best time to examine your testicles is after a hot shower or bath.
This is because the heat relaxes the scrotum and the muscles that hold the testicles. This makes it easier to feel changes.
Men should start with one side and gently roll the scrotum with their fingers to feel the surface of the testicle. You should check for any bumps, dents or unusual features.
Dr Vivek Wadhwa, consultant urological surgeon at Spire Little Aston Hospital in the UK, said the best time to examine your testicles is after a hot shower or bath.
Dr. Wadhwa warned that testicular cancer is possible without a lump and that the testicle may appear swollen and larger than normal.
“Of course, most men have one testicle that is slightly larger than the other, so it is important to be aware that the size of your testicle is different from what is normal for you,” he said.
Men should examine their testicles once a month.
Survival rates plummet from about 96 percent with early detection to just 73 percent once the cancer has spread beyond the testicles to the lungs.
Chronic cough turned out to be testicular cancer
Six months after Ben Payne ran the London Marathon, the 36-year-old started coughing up blood. When they looked at his X-ray, doctors discovered that testicular cancer cells had migrated to his chest.
Florida-based emergency physician Dr. Sam Ghali took to Twitter to warn people about the deadly danger after witnessing the scenario in a young patient.
In a voice recording On the social media site, he told of a man in his 20s who was admitted to hospital with a persistent cough and was found to have advanced testicular cancer that had spread to his lungs.
Multiple growths appeared as cloudy nodules on the chest X-ray – a classic case of “cannonball metastases,” said Dr. Ghali.
If testicular cancer is detected early, for example through self-examination, testicular cancer is largely treatable.
Almost 99 percent of testicular cancer patients who become infected with testicular cancer before it spreads throughout the body survive. This percentage drops slightly to 96 percent if the cancer has spread to the lymph nodes in the back of the abdomen.
However, if the cancer is left untreated and spreads, it often ends up in the lungs.
There are no exact numbers to quantify exactly how many men with testicular cancer go on to develop cannonball-shaped nodules in their lungs.
Whether a cancer spreads to the lungs or other organs depends on the physiology of the individual patient. A subtype of testicular cancer called non-seminomas is more likely to metastasize than seminomas, which tend to grow and spread more slowly.
The cannonball-like lesions can also result from other forms of cancer, including kidney, breast and colon cancer.
Dr Ghali told his 472,000 Twitter followers: “We immediately notice these large, very well-defined, round lesions” in both lungs.
“There are so many you can’t even count them.” This is the classic phenomenon of the so-called cannonball metastases.”
Testicular cancer is relatively rare: about 0.4 percent of men are diagnosed with the disease at some point in their lives.
However, it is the most common cancer in men aged 15 to 44.
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Crystal Leahy is an author and health journalist who writes for The Fashion Vibes. With a background in health and wellness, Crystal has a passion for helping people live their best lives through healthy habits and lifestyles.
