Doing a Testicular Self-Exam

Doing a self-exam and evaluating the results requires finger-tip sensation, good fine-motor skills and adequate thinking/reasoning abilities. If you struggle with any of these, you should have a caregiver do the exam. Tesicular exams help you learn what is your baseline. Changes may occur due to infections, cysts, fluid collection, or less commonly, cancer.

1. Perform a testicular self-exam at least once each month.
2. Check your testes after a warm shower. Heat helps to relax your scrotum.
3. Hold your scrotum between your thumbs and fingers of both hands, and gently roll your testicles around. If you are unable to perform the exam in this way, ask your health-care provider how you can use a technique that works for you.
4. Feel for any strange lumps along the front and sides of the testicles.
5. You should feel the epididymis (feels like a tube) along the top and back of each testicle.
6. If you notice any of the warning signs on the checklist below, tell your health-care provider.
   1. Hard lump
   2. Testicles feel bigger
   3. Testicles feel different or heavy
   4. Dull ache in groin or abdomen
   5. Pain or swelling in scrotum
   6. Breasts feel tender