It’s your body

By Caryl Faye Yulo

It’s your body, it’s your responsibility – something we forget way too often in our daily lives. You’ve been, and will be for a long time, stuck in it since before birth. It’s yours. So don’t be so embarrassed to touch it and check it and know every nook and cranny of it because no one will do it for you, at least not for free.

Once or twice a month will do you good. Check for lumps, bumps, abnormal patches, rashes, itches, growths, freckles and marks appearing or increasing in size – anything and everything. And if you are ever worried or have a question, go check it with a doctor, a real doctor, not the ones online.

And to all the male readers, I know you feel awkward even thinking about someone else poking around down there. In fact, statistics show that men, especially those aged 16 to 44, use health care services less than their female counterparts. To you it might seem like a minor problem or you think you’re just overreacting, but early detection, especially for prostate cancer, will give you greater rates of beating it. The same for the ladies; don’t forget to do your part by checking your breasts regularly. You can go online and download the leaflet on www.breastcheck.ie to see how to do it properly.

They say money makes the world go round, but how are you supposed to do that when you aren’t healthy and well? So in conclusion, health really is wealth. So what are you waiting for? Go out there and take care of yourselves.