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Facial hair was grown to raise awareness of prostate cancer
AUSTINTOWN
The Men of Movember were smiling for a couple of reasons as their mustaches and beards, grown in November to promote prostate-cancer awareness, were shaved off.
First, the campaign to raise awareness was a success, said Warren attorney Patrick Wilson, one of the lawyers at Harrington, Hoppe & Mitchell Ltd., who participated in the local Movember campaign.
“We got more people in the firm to participate, and everywhere I go, people are talking about prostate cancer,” said Wilson, who is treasurer of the Trumbull County Bar Association and hopes to involve more attorneys in the effort next year.
Second, they unanimously agreed they were glad to get rid of the facial hair that neither they nor their wives like all that much on a permanent basis.
“Just in November,” said John Koenig, executive vice president and chief operating officer for Mercy Health, formerly Humility of Mary Health Partners, who said he has seen many normally clean-shaven male hospital employees sporting facial hair during the month.
“Mustaches, especially on men who don’t usually have one, are a conversation starter ... and an opportunity to say ‘I’m growing it to raise awareness about prostate cancer and the need for age-appropriate screenings,’” said Dr. Daniel Ricchiuti, a partner at N.E.O. Urology Associates in Boardman.
The ceremonial shave-off took place Tuesday at Partners for Urology Health in Austintown.
“We do it because prostate cancer is not something guys like to talk about,” Dr. Ricchiuti said.
“But it’s really important that they talk to their doctors about prostate-cancer screening. Prostate cancer is very treatable,” he stressed. “Most of the time, we can cure it if it is caught early, but that means guys need to get checked when they’re feeling good and don’t have any problems. Getting guys to see a doctor when they aren’t feeling sick is sometimes an issue,” Dr. Ricchiuti said.
Their whiskers were removed with old-fashioned straight razors wielded by professional barbers from the Excalibur Barber Grooming Lounge in Southern Park Mall in Boardman.
The campaign, sponsored by Man Up Mahoning Valley, Mercy Health (formerly Humility of Mary Health Partners) Cancer Centers, the Mercy Health Foundation and NEO Urology, officially runs through Sunday.
The serious news is that 1 in 7 American men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer, including an estimated 233,000 this year, 29,480 of whom will die, according to Man Up Mahoning Valley. Prostate cancer is second only to lung cancer in killing men, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Also, reports Man Up, black men are twice as likely to get and die from prostate cancer than any other race.