Talking about your bottom

Unfortunately, we British are still notoriously bad at talking about bottoms and bowels, although we are all too happy to laugh at a bit of 'toilet humour'.

The stigma that is attached to discussing our bodily functions is still a huge issue, and needs to be overcome in order for us to start really saving lives from bowel cancer by picking the disease up in time. It wasn't so long ago that the words 'breast cancer' were taboo, but today, people are much more aware of the symptoms and treatments available for breast cancer, which is fantastic. We need to see the same happening for bowel cancer – we will get there in time, and here at Beating Bowel Cancer we firmly believe that we will put bottoms on the map and, in due course, see people talking more openly about the disease.

But in the meantime, we can only stress that your doctor has heard it all before – and probably worse besides.

“As a GP I'm used to people talking to me about their bottoms and other intimate subjects. However scared or embarrassed you are, the important thing to bear in mind is that if diagnosed early enough, bowel cancer is one of the most curable cancers. Surely a moment's embarrassment is worth potentially saving your life?”
Dr Ian Watson, GP, Member of Beating Bowel Cancer's Medical Advisory Board