IMPORTANT Information on “The Prostate Self-Exam”
1. The Prostate Self-Exam
2. Self-Exam with Partner
Prostate Cancer, Health and Supplement Support Facts
Prostate Cancer
Prostate cancer is one of the most common cancers. Almost all men, by the time they reach the age of 80, will have prostate cancer, and some of the treatments are controversial.
Detecting prostate cancer, like all cancers, depends upon a combination of examination by a physician and laboratory testing. The gold standard has always been the digital-rectal examination. In this test, the physician inserts a finger into the rectum and feels the prostate for any lumps. It’s amazing how accurate this is, considering that you really can’t get your fingers all the way around the prostate gland.
Frequency
Many men hate this exam, and consequently don’t have it often enough. Physicians often forget to do it as part of the routine physical. If you are a man over 50, ask your physician to examine your prostate gland as part of your routine visit. Many doctors feel this should be done every year.
Similarity to Breast Cancer
With breast cancer, we encourage women to examine their own breasts, not as a substitute for a doctor doing this exam, but as an interim measure. If a woman feels a breast lump between her regular examinations, then she at least has given her doctor a leg up in treating her disease.
The prostate also can be examined by the patient or his partner at six-month intervals in between the regular yearly exam. If indeed you feel a lump, you then have a six-month jump on treatment. This is not talked about a lot because many people have trouble dealing with these parts of the body.
Prostate Self-Exam
It’s easy for a man to feel his own prostate gland. It’s a walnut-sized organ at the base of the bladder. It can be felt with the tip of a finger inserted into the rectum. Its texture and firmness should be similar to that of the flesh between your thumb and the rest of the hand when you make a tight fist. If you feel anything that is as firm as the knuckle, then that needs to be brought to a physician’s attention.
Once you establish the outside borders, then make sure your finger touches as much of the in-between tissue as possible. The prostate gland overall is fairly firm, as I mentioned, and you are feeling for any hardness or inconsistency in texture. If any part of it feels harder, bring it to a doctor’s attention. If you’re not sure, or you have any other questions, mention to your physician that you are doing self-examination or partner examination, and you want to confirm the results.
Self-Exam With Partner
Occasionally, you see hospitals welcoming husbands and boyfriends into their breast self-examination classes. The idea is that perhaps the woman is more likely to get her breast examined if her partner is doing it. The same goes here.
It’s not difficult to teach your partner how to examine your prostate gland. Aesthetics aside, this is something every individual couple has to decide if they want to do.
Many men can tell when their prostate is being touched because it’s very sensitive. If you’re having someone else do it, you’ll know immediately when they reach paydirt. If you’re doing it yourself, it will also be obvious.
Most folks are surprised by how deep they have to reach. You’d have to have long fingers, indeed, to reach completely to the far end of the prostate gland, but in medicine we are content to touch as much of the surface as possible.
As with breast self-examination, you want to cover all surfaces, and you should be consistent in how you approach it. Use a sweeping motion of the finger on one side, and then switch to the other side, to make sure that you cover as much of the surface as possible.
Patient Feedback
If you’re doing this on someone else, the man can tell you when you’ve touched the prostate. At that point, feel for the rounded shape and the borders of the prostate, which, as I’ve mentioned, shouldn’t be much larger than a walnut. If it is larger, the man could have enlargement of the prostate gland, which should be brought to a doctor’s attention.
Once you establish the outside borders, then make sure your finger touches as much of the in-between tissue as possible. The prostate gland overall is fairly firm, as I mentioned, and you are feeling for any hardness or inconsistency in texture. If any part of it feels harder, bring it to a doctor’s attention. If you’re not sure, or you have any other questions, mention to your physician that you are doing self-examination or partner examination, and you want to confirm the results.
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