No Shave November

[Rezzy]

Yes, those are nice gestures, but what do they actually do for these people? Rezzy, I'm sorry, because I know I'm ruining the mood of this thread and Eclipse,let me know again if I'm overstepping my boundaries here but I feel like less focus needs to placed on the gestures we do and more on addressing the causes of the problem and trying to solve it. Like, in the case of prostate cancer, Rezzy herself said that it's easy to deal with if seen early but why is it still one of the leading causes of cancer related deaths for men the US? Why are men so hesitant to bring themselves to get examined for something that, if left unchecked, can kill them? I'm making the assumption here that men are insecure with letting someone insert a finger up their anus, regardless of the gender of the person doing the examination. If this is true, then something needs to be done to remove the stigma associated with this. I remember when Res was talking about the concept of toxic masculinity and while I have some disagreements on the concept, I feel like this is a very real and life-threatening example of it.

Again, I apologize for doing this. But this happened to someone close to me.

Eclipse, I've probably been trying your patience over the past few days and if you feel like you need to give me a warning for doing this, you're justified in doing so.

Edit: And now I just saw all the posts that Rezzy made while I was typing this and I feel like a fucking idiot.

I think a lot of it has to do with taking the stigma away from talking about cancer. If we bring it to the forefront, people will know what they need to do to get tested, and not be ashamed of having contracted the disease. Many middle-aged men might not even be aware they should be tested. How many guys do you know who haven't seen a doctor in years? By raising awareness, you might have kids, wives, girlfriends, etc telling the men in their lives that they should go get tested, and that could save lives.

It's better nowadays, but cancer has long had this stigma where you couldn't even talk about it. In Monty Python's Flying Circus in the 1960's they censored the word "cancer". They dubbed over it, like they had dropped an F bomb. If you can't even talk about cancer, how are we supposed to learn?

As a doctor, I see plenty of people coming in for something that will likely kill them, that could have been easily managed if they had only been in to see a doctor earlier. It saddens me, and I think being more proactive, not just here, but in general, will do wonders for the health of the world.

Last, but not least, by people talking about it, many are motivated to donate money to research to help prevent and treat cancer.

[Anacybele]

I'll try not to come off poorly here, but I think this is a sign that we need to talk more about prostate cancer.

Breast cancer awareness is great nowadays, and rightfully so. It can be seen in men, but is extremely rare. I don't mean to make this a men vs women issue, because it isn't. We should all be supporting each other. And there's enough love to go around for both issues. I don't mean to downplay breast cancer by talking about prostate (or testicular) cancer. I had to go visit a doctor in the past for it before, actually, since I did a self exam and found a lump.

Prostate cancer is actually more common than people think. 1 out of 7 men will get prostate cancer in their lifetime. It's rare before 40 and the mean age of diagnosis is 66. I think you may be thinking of testicular cancer by being the one more common in young men.

Hopefully, I don't come across as a know-it-all, but medicine is my forte, and I'm happy to teach people about the basics.

I don't mean to make this a men vs women issue either, sorry about that. And yeah, sounds like I was thinking of testicular cancer here, my bad. I guess It end to mix the two up.

Good thing around 80% of all lumps women find in their breasts are non-cancerous, huh? Glad you were lucky.

[Rezzy]

I don't mean to make this a men vs women issue either, sorry about that. And yeah, sounds like I was thinking of testicular cancer here, my bad. I guess It end to mix the two up.

Good thing around 80% of all lumps women find in their breasts are non-cancerous, huh? Glad you were lucky.

No worries. I'm happy to help teach. That's the whole point of movements like this.

Yeah, most lumps turn out to be nothing, but checking is the only way to catch them early.

[Balcerzak]

This is kind of a weird subject for me, because my grandfather had prostate cancer and my father has had polyps, so as I understand it I'm more in more of an at-risk group for it. However a few years ago when I turned thirty when I went in for a physical my physician told me it's not an issue and I shouldn't even get tested until at least 40. It feels like it was weirdly downplayed, and what good is "awareness" going to do if there won't be any tests run?

[Rezzy]

This is kind of a weird subject for me, because my grandfather had prostate cancer and my father has had polyps, so as I understand it I'm more in more of an at-risk group for it. However a few years ago when I turned thirty when I went in for a physical my physician told me it's not an issue and I shouldn't even get tested until at least 40. It feels like it was weirdly downplayed, and what good is "awareness" going to do if there won't be any tests run?

It's very rare before 40, so maybe your doctor didn't want you worrying about it for the decade, but when you turn 40, it would be a good idea to get tested.

As a doctor, I generally try not to cause a patient undue stress by dwelling on things that we have to take a wait and watch approach. We must first do no harm, and trying to scare patients could be construed as harm.

[Balcerzak]

Fair enough I suppose. I just don't think I can even rely on self-exam or anything considering I couldn't tell a prostate apart from a hemorrhoid, so I was actually more worried when he just refused to do a test and said "don't worry about it" than I would have been getting an exam and having it come back clean, is all.

Anyway, I don't think this is really fair, considering I already had a full beard going in to November (didn't even do the customary shave as part of my Halloween costume, then grow it back thing I usually do), but maybe I'll beard-post later if I remember.

[Water Mage]

Like no body hair at all? Like axillary, pubic, and leg hair, too?

They don't mind leg, but rest has to go. Facial hair and axillary are especially vile to them.

Granted, shaving axillary and pubic hair is usually thr healthier choice.

And there are ways of removing from any part of the body. Have you ever your entire body waxed?

It's incredibly painful, especially the first time, but damn it's effective! Much more than shaving.

[Yojinbo]

Do you keep your stache full time or keep it shaved always?

I always shave it off right away, it just doesn't suit me.

[Rezzy]

Fair enough I suppose. I just don't think I can even rely on self-exam or anything considering I couldn't tell a prostate apart from a hemorrhoid, so I was actually more worried when he just refused to do a test and said "don't worry about it" than I would have been getting an exam and having it come back clean, is all.

Anyway, I don't think this is really fair, considering I already had a full beard going in to November (didn't even do the customary shave as part of my Halloween costume, then grow it back thing I usually do), but maybe I'll beard-post later if I remember.

I don't think you can do a self-exam for prostate, unless you're very flexible, although testicular self-exams are a good thing to do. He probably didn't want to do the exam, because the likelihood of a false positive is far more likely than the actual disease at your age. If your were to examine 1000 30 year old men, you might get a positive result in 30 of them, and if even one of them were a true positive, that would be surprising. Not to mention, the cost associated. Doctors take a lot of flak for performing unnecessary tests.

They don't mind leg, but rest has to go. Facial hair and axillary are especially vile to them.

Granted, shaving axillary and pubic hair is usually thr healthier choice.

And there are ways of removing from any part of the body. Have you ever your entire body waxed?

It's incredibly painful, especially the first time, but damn it's effective! Much more than shaving.

There's no actual medical benefit from shaving body hair, apart from ascetics. It may actually be detrimental, due to micro-abrasions and chafing due activity in the pelvic region.

I guess that's why they call it a Brazilian. I can't say I've ever been waxed. It's not really my thing. Scottish body hair is a bit hard to get rid of.

I always shave it off right away, it just doesn't suit me.

I see, I guess you could go for the Lincoln look.

[Excellen Browning]

Im now seriously considering not shaving for the rest of the month. Breast cancer getting a lot of awareness is great, but afaik more people get prostate cancer and there's been almost no awareness campaigns for that.

[Rezzy]

Im now seriously considering not shaving for the rest of the month. Breast cancer getting a lot of awareness is great, but afaik more people get prostate cancer and there's been almost no awareness campaigns for that.

Go for it. Unfortunately, it seems the disease it not very well understood by the general population.

[Papa Wolf]

Well, as you know, I haven't shaved since before Est was born.

[UNLEASH IT]

Rezzy I'm trying to convince my Dad to go get his prostate checked. He's 53 btw. He has problems with urination so I'm getting worried. Any advice?

[Rezzy]

Rezzy I'm trying to convince my Dad to go get his prostate checked. He's 53 btw. He has problems with urination so I'm getting worried. Any advice?

Don't scare him, but let him know that a large percentage of urinary troubles in men are caused by prostate issues, and it is easily treated if caught early. Hopefully, it's BPH benign prostate hypertrophy and not more serious, but it should definitely be checked.

[NekoKnight]

I wasn't aware of any awareness campaigns but I haven't shaved since Halloween. My girlfriend tells me that my beard appeal peaks at 10 days....too bad! You're getting triple the beard power!

[Skynstein]

As someone with history in my family: 40 is the age for people with history, 50 for people who don't. Lost my father to it.

The thing is that the most effective exam requires a doctor inserting the finger into the man's anus. Most urologists are men. I guess you can identify the problem here. The vast majority of (straight) men find it demoralising, so they postpone examination until it's too late. Prostate cancer is a silent disease and symptoms tend to appear only when the cancer is already quite developed.

[Rezzy]

As someone with history in my family: 40 is the age for people with history, 50 for people who don't. Lost my father to it.

The thing is that the most effective exam requires a doctor inserting the finger into the man's anus. Most urologists are men. I guess you can identify the problem here. The vast majority of (straight) men find it demoralising, so they postpone examination until it's too late. Prostate cancer is a silent disease and symptoms tend to appear only when the cancer is already quite developed.

I'm sorry.

I think that's why would should work towards removing the stigma around it. There's nothing to be ashamed of either with talking about it or with being examined.

[Balcerzak]

Well, now that November is over, I guess I should carry through with that whole providing a pic thing. Bear in mind I'd been working on this for much longer than just the one month, though. Probably not the best picture, but I've never been a selfie wizard.

[spoiler=beard]

[Rezzy]

Well, now that November is over, I guess I should carry through with that whole providing a pic thing. Bear in mind I'd been working on this for much longer than just the one month, though. Probably not the best picture, but I've never been a selfie wizard.

[spoiler=beard]

I want to pet it; that's quite impressive.

I need to get the husband to post his on here.

[Tangerine]

Well, now that November is over, I guess I should carry through with that whole providing a pic thing. Bear in mind I'd been working on this for much longer than just the one month, though. Probably not the best picture, but I've never been a selfie wizard.

[spoiler=beard]

Bal,

This is amazing.

[Elieson]

That beard puts mine to shame, Bal