Prostate Self-Examination - Digital Rectal Exam at Home

 

At the outset we should pose the question, "why is the prostate self-exam important? " Most men are reluctant to see doctors. We know the online rectal exam (DRE) may be deterring some men from in the hunt for preventive health checkups. The evidence, which is rather conclusive on this factor, is that whenever a hospital or clinic offers free prostate melanoma screenings that include both the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) blood test and often the DRE, the participation rates from members of the surrounding towns is always much lower than if the PSA blood test is offered exclusively. Then many more men will participate if the PSA alone is offered.

Instead of badgering these men to "man up" and endure a test they find humiliating, we can offer them an alternative. While some are cautious of the value of the prostate self-exam, the fact remains these skeptics do not have any other alternative to suggest aside from badgering the men to get prostate exams from their doctors.

The prostate self-exam will have greater importance and efficacy when men are educated on how to perform these self-exams. Men have to learn how to do prostate exams by watching clips, available on the Internet, in which physicians demonstrate the technique. They also need to viewpoint scores of diagrams of the prostate so they will know what to expect when they complete the self-exam.

We already encourage all men, but mainly those between the ages of 15 - 35, to perform per month testicular self-exam. If men can examine their own testicles, in that case chances are they are mature and capable enough to check their prostates once they learn how and get some experience examining their own prostates.

Gents sometimes think a doctor inserts a finger and then directly hits their prostates. That perception is not correct. The finger (or digit) is inserted through the rectum, but the finger is located next within the bowel, which is separate and distinct from the prostate hic. Essentially the doctor, or the patient in the case of the self-exam, is lifting the wall of the bowel down so that he can feel the posterior covering of the prostate gland beneath the wall of the bowel. However , the exact wall of the bowel effectively buffers the prostate, so every node or suspicious area must be large enough that it can be was feeling through this buffer. Ideally, the examiner would like to be able to impression the surface of the prostate directly, but he has to do a close substitute regarding feeling it through the wall of the bowel.

Issues to Remember

A usual prostate is the size of a walnut. Prostates can enlarge to your size of a lemon. Possible causes for enlarged prostate can include Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia, or hormonal imbalance (too much estradiol or dihydrotestosterone), or prostatitis. As men age they type in a period that we call Andropause; it is analogous to menopause on women. During Andropause, which normally lasts through the end in the man's life, the body produces too little testosterone, which results in an imbalance between testosterone and estrogen.

Estrogen levels in men are measured via the serum estradiol level. Both estradiol and dihydrotestosterone, the amazing form of testosterone, can irritate and cause the enlargement on the prostate. Elevated estradiol levels have been shown in clinical analyses to cause prostate cancer; whereas dihydrotestosterone is known to accelerate the growth of prostate cancer but does not appear to cause cancer once more. A third explanation for why a prostate might be enlarged is if the patient has prostatitis.

The prostate feels similar to the pulp of an orange sliced in two. If you feel anything hard like the seed of an orange against the much pulp, that would be a suspicious area for prostate cancer.

Vital Points to Remember

For the prostate self-exam, the finger must be implanted into rectum with palm of the hand down and fingernail on the index finger on top. It will feel much more natural, in particular the first time you try this, to insert finger with palm " up " and nail down. If you were to clean yourself with a bar involving soap, you would naturally hold the soap with the palm of the grip facing up and the fingernails pointing down. But you will need to quickly learn how to pivot your hand and cause the palm of the hand to take care of downward and the finger nail up, so that you can feel the prostate with the pad on your finger and not the fingernail. It will feel discomforting at least the first five times you attempt to insert your finger on the correct position.

The prostate is not shaped round like a walnut, but instead presents more as the top portion of a heart-shaped problem. Most men will find they have a left lobe, a median lobe over which the ureathra passes and effectively bisects the prostate, together with a right lobe. With a little bit of practice, you will be able to know which lobe you are touching and any minor differences between the lobes.

As you perform the prostate self-exam at home, you will need to tilt forward such that the prostate will jut outward and can be felt more easily. If you remain true straight, your prostate will point down (in the guidance of your legs) and it will be more difficult to feel with the digital rectal exam.

Give yourself a more thorough prostate exam than you are required to obtain from a family practitioner. Go over every available surface with the prostate at least three times and using different circular motions each time. On the privacy of your own home, take at least one full minute and rather two minutes to examine your prostate. Your goal is to be able to locate any cancer node (hard surface) the size of a grain connected with rice. You won't be able to feel a suspicious node to that sum detail with a quick wave of the finger one time over the prostatic. click this article

So when you visit the family doctor's office, and the doctor inserts a finger and moves it quickly over the prostate, considering the whole check taking three or four seconds, that is not a detail prostate check. Something that cursory could not detect cancer the size of a commencement of rice. And that is your goal; your goal is always early detection whereas any prostate cancer is still small.