Saturday, July 18, 2009

Cop a Feel



This week the footballer John Hartson was diagnosed with testicular cancer. The cancer has unfortunately spread to his brain and lungs and he is seriously ill. Hartson was a bit of a hero of mine. Together with Paul Kitson, he saved West Ham from relegation in the late 1990s.

I was looking at the Miserable Old Fart blog this afternoon and came across this video which demonstrates how to examine yourself for testicular cancer. Eighty five per cent of my blog readers are men so I thought it worthwhile asking: When was the last time you examined yourself for abnormalities in your testicles? If it was more than a month ago, do me a favour, watch the video and cop a feel now!

As Miserable Old Fart points out...
Unfortunately some of the most at risk group will not be able to view this video. It is age restricted because it shows real testicles so people between 15 and 21 are not allowed to view it due to US obscenity laws!

Testicular cancer is most prevalent amongst young men aged 15 - 35, so a large section of those who need to know how to check their own balls are denied on line video advice! That is immoral, disgusting and unacceptably obscene!


I imagine that in total, about 40,000 people will read this blogpost. If a single one of you discovers an abnormality as a result of reading this, and then gets it successfully treated, I will regard posting this as fully worthwhile.

Here endeth the lesson. Excuse me while I go to the bathroom :)

36 comments:

thermalsatsuma said...

If you find something that you're not sure about, for goodness sake don't be too embarrassed to talk to your doctor about it.

Pam Nash said...

Good for you, posting this Iain. I was shocked to hear about Hartson - a relatively young and ostensibly fit guy. A lot of the men I know still feel squeamish about self-exam, indeed the whole topic; so, as you say, if this saves one, it'll all have been worthwhile.

Obnoxio The Clown said...

I feel my balls all the time... :o?

Timothy Belmont said...

What a load of balls! :-)

Sorry to be flippant...

Anonymous said...

Good thinking.

Paul Halsall said...

Nice balls.

I agree with the general sentiment here, Iain, but I have read elsewhere that this particular self exam is of very variable utility.

Still, it's nice to see it illustrated (especially as the word verification is 'wishess')

RantinRab said...

I'll examine mine when the wife gets in. She keeps my balls in her hand bag.

Dippyness. said...

10/10 for posting the video. Much like prostrate cancer, this is something that you chaps don't like to talk about. Yet it's vitally important that you do.
We women are used to being prodded & probed in the medical sense. We don't get embarrassed by it. Men shouldn't either.
The more chaps who come forward and talk openly the better it will be.
Very well done Ian, for tweeting about it.

Anonymous said...

Crikey !! There was me thinking because I 'soap up' by balls properly and frequently I would kinda notice any pain straightaway and have an early warning of any problems...

How foolish can one be ?? I did this because of a previous 'talk' about this on telly with James Bolam telling us to 'check our balls'.

There is clearly more to this than, er, meets the eye..

As another previous health promotion campaign sagely said..

"Don't die of ignorance.."

wordver - drier

Mmm..Yes !

golden_balls said...

I still await the jokes and funny comments about this subject.

Why is testicular cancer not taken as serious as breast cancer etc

Scary Mary said...

"I'm off to the bathroom"

Ooooerrr!

But seriously, why do you have to go to the bathroom to do it? There's not meant to be any embarassment etc?

Anonymous said...

" It is age restricted because it shows real testicles so people between 15 and 21 are not allowed to view it due to US obscenity laws!"

Er.... so in addition to over 21´s, those under 15 are also allowed to watch?

http://ulster-bavaria.blogspot.com/

Anonymous said...

I was arrested and put on the sex offenders register because I was caught self examining.

I chose a field away from houses - unfortunately the field was attached to the local Primary school :(

DominicJ said...

Its not that hard to lie about your age to you tube

Joe Public said...

I think it better that you ask your other half to check you over for lumps & swellings.

Russell said...

Does Ed Balls examine his own, or does he have an 'Under-Secretary' to do it for him?

I'll get my coat.

The Grim Reaper said...

Joe Public said "I think it better that you ask your other half to check you over for lumps & swellings."

It usually leads to the other half giving an appropriate reward. ;-)

bladerunner86 said...

Iain although I think you had good intention with this and I do think it should be discussed I am not sure about posting the video...
Earlier my 15 year old daughter was using my computer and could have easily accessed it.

So... although it gives good advice I wouldn't post this up on the blog... Just give the link.

I am not sure if you are breaking the law if a minor can access the video as it could be considered inappropriate.

bladerunner86 said...

@ The Grim Reaper
"It usually leads to the other half giving an appropriate reward. ;-)"

To be honest given the nature of the post I don't think its entirely appropriate to say things like that.

Iain I think you need to consider the type of response your blog is receiving.

Iain Dale said...

And I think you need to discover a sense of humour.

Iain Dale said...

And with regard to your earlier comment, I can hardly believe you wrote that. This is not some pornographic video. It is a health instruction video.

If I had a 15 year old daughter I would happily show her it and tell her to tell her male classmates about it to encourage them to take the requisite action.

Did that occur to you?

bladerunner86 said...

I don't think I used the word pornographic did I...
I was worried about my daughter viewing content which may be considered inappropriate and the asked a legitimate question on the legality of such content to be viewed in the UK with minors.
Thats not unreasonable is it?

I did praise you on your intentions and believe the message should be given but my questions was specific to the video itself.

It is interesting that in the US minors are protected from viewing such content because of their obscenity laws.

Can you confirm whether such content is legal in the UK?

Iain Dale said...

Of course it is legal. Why on earth would it not be?

The Grim Reaper said...

Bladerunner86 droned "To be honest given the nature of the post I don't think its entirely appropriate to say things like 'It usually leads to the other half giving an appropriate reward.'."

Bloody hell spells. It was a joke, you moron. And as it happens, it's an extremely useful way for a man to get intimate with his partner whilst looking after his health at the same time. What's not to like about it?

Thank god Iain's got a sense of humour.

bladerunner86 said...

I just wanted it confirmed that is all.

I was concerned whether the distribution of such content (which is considered obscene in some countries) is legal here.

You have to be so careful the content on the internet and ask when you are in doubt. It is nothing personal against you Iain.

Thank you for answering my queries.

Anonymous said...

I seem to recall reading somewhere that men who masturbate a lot don't suffer from prostrate cancer so much, as the non-whackers that is. Is it the same with testicular cancer?
If so, me and Obnoxio are in the clear.

Paul Halsall said...

Bladerunner,

Do you even switch on TV in the evening. Have you see Channel 4's fairly straight forward Sex Education show. All before 9pm, all educational, etc. etc.

If you worry about your daughter so much, make sure to keep the Bible away from here. Ezekiel 23;14-22 will give you nightmares :)

Hawkeye said...

There was nothing remotely pornographic about it. The Yanks must need their heads examining.

Thanks for posting it. I do check from time to time but not quite the way shown. Also, I have a lot more hair than the bloke doing the demo and I ain't shaving it off....

bladerunner86 said...

@ Paul Halsall
"If you worry about your daughter so much, make sure to keep the Bible away from here. Ezekiel 23;14-22 will give you nightmares :)"

If you must know - my daughter is very confident in reading the bible because we are all Mormons in our family.
We regularly read the Book of Mormon together and discuss its contents.

Hawkeye said...

"Ezekiel 23;14-22 will give you nightmares"

Actually the whole of Ezekiel 23 is fairly rough. I quite like the bit (v.30) where Alohibah is going to get it in the neck for "...whoring after the heathen...". I presume she would have been OK if she whored after the faithful?

Having said that, whilst the King James verison is better in some ways, the new version is more direct about genitalia and her lovers being hung "...like those of donkeys..."

Anonymous said...

I managed just one minute of this useful film. Could not look at any more I'm afraid. My loss I guess!

Ill leave it to the missus to poke about!

Anonymous said...

I had TC back in 2000,aged 38yrs - felt a dragging pain in my groin and then the right one grew larger over a period of just a month.
Went to the Doc,had a scan two days later and within a week had the right one out.
2 x 5 days radiotherapy followed - during the petrol strike, which was interesting,as there were hardly any cars on the road.
Cancer does not respect age and it was heartbreaking to see the number of kids on the wards.
If you notice anything DIFFERENT,see a Doctor quickly.

Dr Evadne said...

John Hartson was also a Gooner. He was signed as a very self-assured 19 year old by George Graham. He was a very talented, if not short tempered(which was something of a requirement at Arsenal in those days) young lad and I am sure other ancient Gooners will agree, he was well regarded when he managed to get a game. It is a great shame that he is so ill at such a young age. May The Force be with him.

Rob said...

Bladerunner86, it's not illegal as there is nothing sexual in nature there and I wouldn't worry about your daughter viewing it. 15 year old girls are well aware of male genitalia and it's appearance. (Stop sniggering at the back) and would have covered it in science by now.

I'm sure they had someone checking himself on This Morning a few years ago. The more people are aware the better, it's as important for men to check themselves downstairs as it is for women to have cervical smears.

It is very sad to hear about Big John Hartson. As a welshman who loves football he has been a hero to me for years and I hope he gets through this. It's a tough thing to beat but he's a tough man. I did hear that Swansea FC were planning to register him as a player as it was his dream to one day play for his hometown club and unfortunately it never happened during his career. I've even heard Cardiff city fans saying things about him and they usually don't have a kind word to say about a Jack.


Slightly veering off-topic. The best ad I've seen trying to persuade men to 'check the troops' was the Rachel Stevens one a while back. I'm sure it got a lot of men touching themselves. I'll post it on my blog and also link to this blogpost.

scotch said...

Big John was Celtic as well.
This campaign is tremendous and very important. Is it me, or is the anonymous idiot percentage round here going up?

scotch said...

Previous post - delete "anonymous" - It should be clearly obvious to whom I refer.