There has been a lot of talk about balls lately. Tom Brady has been accused of fiddling with them in #DeflateGate, NFL officials have been investigated about checking them, and Marshawn Lynch and Chris Matthews have been fined for touching them. While the NFL vows to throw the flag at others for grabbing them, they've actually had pictures of the crotch grab up for sale.
No wonder why young men are so confused. Unfortunately, despite all of the talk about balls, young men are not checking their own.
A January survey by the Testicular Cancer Society indicated that only 1 out of 3 young men know how to do a self-testicular exam. The survey included 500 men in the U.S. age 18-34, an age group at higher risk for testicular cancer. While testicular cancer can occur at any age, it is the leading cause of cancer in guys age 15-35.
The lack of knowledge about how to do a self-testicular exam could be in direct correlation with a lack of education about testicular cancer.
In a separate survey this month, 1,000 guys, age 18-34 in the U.S., were asked about who had spoken to them about testicular cancer. Nineteen percent responded that they had been spoken to about testicular cancer by their doctor, 8 percent by their parent, 8 percent by their high school teacher/nurse, 5 percent by their sports coach, 5 percent by their college professor/nurse and 67 percent replied none of the above.
A lack of testicular cancer education is apparent when two-thirds of guys, in the age group at highest risk for testicular cancer, say none of the people that should be close to them have mentioned the disease.
To help overcome this lack of education and to reach guys directly about how to do self-testicular exams, the Testicular Cancer Society does have a free Ball Checker app available on iTunes and Google Play. More information is also available at www.BallChecker.com.
The Ball Checker app also has monthly reminders to do the self-testicular exam and could help young men like Marshawn Lynch and Chris Matthews by reminding them to do their crotch grabbing other than during Sunday game time.