Some doctors recommend a monthly testicular self-exam for all males age 15 years and older, and most experts agree that at the very least, the testicles should be examined by a physician during routine check-ups.
However, similar symptoms may also occur if there's an injury, swelling or infection of various parts of the male anatomy, so it is important that a physician make the diagnosis if something abnormal is found on a self-exam.
But when Brown spoke to some of these women individually, she realized that they had largely detected lumps by coincidence -- they happened to notice a change in their bodies -- rather than during a formal self-exam at a scheduled time of the month.