Thanks to ?Movember,? men now have a legitimate excuse not to shave (well, at least for one month).
Movember, also known as No Shave November, is a national campaign that encourages men not to shave for 30 days to help raise awareness and funds for men?s health issues, specifically prostate and testicular cancer.
Kurt Gelfand is a physical therapist at Oconee Physical Therapy and Sports Rehabilitation who was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2011 after successfully fighting bladder cancer in 2009 and 2010. He had prostate cancer surgery in November 2011 and continues to heal from the complications of that surgery. His tests this year have all come back clear and, for the first time in three years, he can say he is cancer-free.
After his experience with prostate cancer, Gelfand founded Save Our Dads, a prostate cancer awareness group formed with the goal to force men to think about prostate cancer and their health.
?Movember is a special time for prostate cancer survivors,? Gelfand said. ?It encourages dialogue and aims to increase early cancer detection, diagnosis and treatment. Movember tries to reduce the overall number of preventable deaths and helps to fund research as our weapons against prostate cancer continue to increase.?
Movember started in Australia in 2004 and now is an international movement that has raised more than $174 million worldwide and over $7.5 million in the U.S. Movember estimates that growing one mustache equals approximately 2,413 conversations about prostate cancer and men?s health.
Men start the month off clean-shaven and for the rest of the month grow the best mustache they can and seek out sponsorships for their mo-growing efforts.
All funds raised are directed to programs run directly by Movember and its men?s health partners, the Prostate Cancer Foundation and the LIVESTRONG Foundation.
With the growth of the mustache, men that never before have had facial hair are given an opportunity to explain why they decided to grow a mustache each time they are asked why they quit shaving.
For men who never shave, the clean-shaven face at the beginning of the month will spark enough questions that they also can talk about the cause.
While there is a website to sign up at to raise money, Gelfand also encourages men that do not want to sign up on the site to grown mustaches as a way to spark conversations.
?Personally speaking, it is very important to me, because when I go to sleep tonight almost 100 men will die today from prostate cancer in the U.S.,? Gelfand said. ?Over 241,000 men will be diagnosed with this disease as the year. I have aggressively promoted Save Our Dads, and every day I find intelligent, insured men who still refuse to go to their doctors unless they are sick.?
This November, Gelfand said he will aggressively go through his contact list and speak to men about growing a mustache and encourage a dialogue about prostate cancer awareness.
He even has plans to talk to Athens Academy about allowing his son Brent, a high school senior, to temporarily break the dress code to celebrate No Shave November and to honor his dad.
?To all of the men who participate, no matter how bad we may look with hair on our lip, let?s have fun with it this month, and in the end, if we got one stubborn man to go get screened, and he had early stage prostate cancer diagnosed, we saved a dad, and it was all worth it,? Gelfand said.
For more information about Movember, visit us.movember.com.
For information about Save Our Dads, email kurt@oconeept.com.
? Follow faith, health and Blueprint reporter April Burkhart at www.facebook.com/AprilBurkhartABH
Source: http://onlineathens.com/health/2012-11-05/men-grow-mustaches-raise-awareness-about-mens-cancer
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