WHEN Professor James Green’s son came home from school moaning about how boring his PSHE lessons were, the urologist had a light bulb moment.
Prof Green, Urology Network Director at Barts Health NHS Trust, saw a way to reduce the number of devastated young boys he saw in casualty being told one of their testicles could not be saved.
AlamyProf James Green saw a way to reduce the number of young boys he saw in casualty being told one of their testicles must go[/caption]
Ralph Hodgson/Barts Health NHS TrustProfessor James Green is a urologist at Barts Health NHS Trust[/caption]
It’s Testicular Cancer Awareness Month but cancer is not the only thing men have to worry about when it comes to their balls.
Testicular torsion — painful twisting of the testicle — affects one in 4,000 young men and boys every year.
Aside from the agony it can cause, if not caught within just SIX HOURS of onset, surgeons often have to remove the testicle.
Prof Green says: “I would see all these boys in casualty’s presenting late with testicular pain.
“The testicle was dead because it twists and loses its blood supply.
“I talk to the parents after and they say, ‘Why aren’t we taught about this?’ The boy says the same: ‘If only I’d known, I’d have come earlier.’”
Unfortunately, people often don’t recognise the symptoms — but Prof Green has now designed a teaching programme for schools that is being rolled out nationally so teens, teachers and parents will learn to spot signs of testicular torsion before it is too late.
Key symptoms are severe testicle pain, as well as abdominal pain, vomiting and pain that does not ease up with rest, or lasts longer than an hour.
The other issue delaying treatment, Prof Green says, is that “most men and boys, we’re rubbish at accessing healthcare”.
Teens and their parents often treat testicular pain with painkillers and give it a few hours to settle.
But Prof Green says: “They don’t know you have roughly a six-hour window to save the testicle.
“You can save testicles after that, depending on the severity of the twist, and sometimes we will be lucky and be able to partially untwist it, but in general we say six hours.”
His key message is: Do not hang around.
He says: “Families usually wait, which is sensible with sports injuries, but with testicular torsion it’s not.
“You’ve got to get to casualty.
“As soon as somebody presents at the hospital, we get them to theatre really, really quickly.”
Prof Green hopes educating families will help combat the anxiety, fear and embarrassment around the condition — because the alternative is far worse.
He says that there’s “almost certainly a psychological impact of losing part of your body, especially a sensitive part of your body”.
Long term, it can cause people to worry about how their balls look, and they may request to have silicone testicle implants fitted.
In some cases, young men who lose a testicle can become infertile.
Prof Green adds: “Everything we can do to preserve fertility and allow people to have two testicles instead of one, is important.”
Teaching all children about testicular torsion can, he believes, have benefits beyond treating that one condition.
He says: “If you start teaching about self-examination and identifying lumps and bumps, it’s very easy to segue into testicular cancer.
“That will hopefully help the early diagnosis rate of testicular cancer and improve successful treatment rates.”
To read about testicular torsion and access resources that you can flag to your child’s school, including a video, see testicularhealth.info. Read More