Does your son have a hernia -- or worse?

(CNN) -- A few weeks ago, I saw a 16-year-old for a routine physical. When I did his testicular exam, I found a left inguinal (groin) hernia the size of a lemon. For the uninitiated, this means the left side of his scrotum was twice as big as the right. When I asked "Jeremy" how long the bulge had been present, he got quiet and said, "I'm not sure -- four months, maybe." When I asked him why he did not tell me about the swelling, he responded, "I don't know." Dr. Howard Bennett Dr. Howard Bennett Cancer survivor, swimming for gold Jeremy was not being evasive or difficult. He did not report the swelling because he had hoped it would go away. This is an example of denial, something all people are prone to. The exact age breakdown for inguinal hernias is unknown, but more than 750,000 are diagnosed and surgically corrected every year in the United States. I referred Jeremy to a surgeon, who repaired the hernia without complications. But the take-home message is clear: If something else had been causing the swelling, such as testicular cancer, not telling anyone about it for months might have had a different outcome.