Embarrassing Bodies - Season 4

This week the Embarrassing Bodies team are scouring the beaches, both home and away, to find some embarrassing beach bodies. First into Costa del Sol’s Clinic is Russell whose huge hernia stops him from enjoying the summer sun. A hernia happens when an internal organ pushes through muscle weakness.

Kicking things off this week is Oisin, who is visiting the Embarrassing Bodies Clinic with a skin condition that causes tumours to appear all over his body. This condition is known as type 1 Neurofibromatosis, a rare genetic disorder that affects the nervous system.

This week the Embarrassing Bodies team are taking their services north, to the seaside town of Scarborough. The first patient through the door is 26 year old Russell, who has put up with an oozing and painful ulcer on his shin ever since a biopsy left an open wound two years ago. Enter Dr Dawn, who takes a swab from his leg and predicts that hospital treatment will be needed. Professor Val Edwards-Jones identifies the staphylococcal aureas organism in her analysis of the sample. While this explains the smelly discharge from Russell’s leg, he is referred to an immunologist to try and establish the cause of the problem. Russell sees an immunologist and a dermatologist, who determine that pyoderma gangrenosum syndrome is responsible for his leg ulceration. Immune cells have been attacking Russell’s skin and the condition has been complicated by his poor immune system being unable to deal with the added bacterial infection. Russell is told that there are probably only around 30 people in the world who have had this problem. He goes into hospital for two weeks, followed by six months of injecting antibiotics at home.

First into the clinic is 50 year old Mark, who after 30 years of putting up with phimosis (a tightening of the foreskin around the penis) has finally decided to seek help. This condition affects around 10% of uncircumcised men and Dr Pixie advises Mark to visit a urologist to decide which treatment would be best, which can include the use of steroid creams, stretching methods and circumcision. Mark opts for circumcision and joins the 12,200 men who have this procedure for medical reasons every year. It is a simple operation where the doctor removes the foreskin, keeping the glans permanently exposed and now Mark is able to have sex without experiencing any pain at all.

There's a fertility theme in the clinic this time as Dr Pixie investigates why one woman who's hoping to conceive has intense pain during sex, and why another woman seems to have a baby bump, although she isn't pregnant. Out on the road, Dr Christian makes a rare home visit to meet a newborn with a club foot, while the mobile clinic reaches Llandudno in North Wales where the doctors advise on a breast feeding nipple dilemma. And Dr Dawn arranges a photo-shoot for three gorgeous, heavily pregnant women to explore the medical myths and reality of having a baby.

Dr Pixie meets a woman with a pair of testicle-like cysts on her head. Dr Christian deals with a young woman suffering from incontinence. Dr Dawn helps a man who just can't hold on to his leaking bowels. The mobile clinic seeks out Britain's biggest thrill seekers at Thorpe Park. Dr Christian goes to war on falling male fertility rates, testing a group of paintballers. And the show meets a man whose cerebral palsy hasn't stopped him from carving out a career making people laugh.

Dr Christian meets a girl with asymmetric breasts and looks after a man whose penis has curved right around, while Dr Pixie takes on a shocking case of painful scalp pustules. The mobile truck reaches Great Yarmouth where the doctors discover why curry helps a man with a painful bottom. Then Dr Dawn and Dr Pixie both put their own bodies on the line as they undergo different types of mammograms to test for breast cancer. And, in the series' ongoing celebration of extraordinary people, the programme features a man with narcolepsy to discover what life is like when you can't help nodding off.

Dr Pixie sees a man who's struggled with an itchy bottom for 20 years while Dr Christian deals with an enormous pair of breasts Dr Dawn talks periods with three young women who volunteer to measure their own menstrual flow to assess what's constitutes a normal amount. The doctors meet a man who can't stand the sight of his own reflection. The mobile clinic arrives in the Welsh seaside town of Llandudno ready to sort out some bothersome boils and investigate the nose and ear picking habits of local residents.

The clinic meets a man with a large lump in a private place, a woman with an embarrassing vaginal discharge, and a case of a hairy female bottom. The nation's favourite doctors return to the Costa del Sol to tackle more embarrassing beach body problems, and waiting to see them in the mobile clinic is David, who is worried about a large lump on his testicle. And all three doctors are on the beach to remind holidaymakers of the dangers of fun in the sun. Back in the UK, the show meets a man who has to breathe through a hole in his neck.

When Maria first came visited the clinic in 2009 she was very embarrassed about the excess hair she had developed on her face and back. However, this was not just a physical problem for Maria, as this embarrassing hair growth has caused her problems at school and had severely knocked her confidence. After Dr Pixie referred Maria to a specialist, she found out that she had polycystic ovary syndrome, a condition that needs to be controlled with medication for life. Thankful that the cause had finally been identified, Maria was still anxious to have her hair removed as quickly as possible whilst waiting for her treatment to take effect. She was treated with a series of laser treatments to remove the hair and to stop it from growing back, and over a year later the results are amazing. She is now a lot more confident and now feels she can talk to people without feeling embarrassed. 5% of men are more likely to check symptoms that are worrying them on the internet, than they are going to their GP. Thankfully, Ed put aside his embarrassment to see Dr Christian at the clinic with his penis problem. After losing 19 and a half stone in weight, Ed had been suffering from a buried penis which made having sex and going to the loo very problematic. After seeing a surgeon, Ed had the excess skin removed from around his penis and 6 months later, he is visiting Dr Christian to give him an update on his condition. Ed is very happy with the results, and his confidence has 100% improved. But Ed is still having problems with his penis after his operation which he would like sorted out. Ed is having problems when he has an erection due to the tight skin around his penis. Dr Christian identifies the cause of this as the scarring Ed has from his previous tummy tuck which has caused the skin to tighten. Dr Christian advises more surgery to address this problem, but stresses that although this is a routine procedure there are always risks involved with any operation, so any decision has to be thought through carefully. To help women get their breast troubles off their chest, Dr Dawn and Dr Pixie set up a special breast awareness mobile clinic. Leah visited the clinic about the discharge and pain in her breast and although Dr Pixie said this blockage was not cancerous, Leah was absolutely right to get it checked out. Breast cancer comes in many forms with the symptoms varying from woman to woman. The main symptoms of breast cancer are lumps, orange peel skin and inverted nipples but any changes in your breast should be looked at. 1 in 8 women are likely to develop breast cancer, and these figures are on the rise so it is important to self check regularly and go to your doctor early if you have any concerns Prostate cancer is the most common form of cancer in men in the UK. When Richard came to see Dr Christian he had just been diagnosed. After having a case of prostatitis, Richard’s doctors found out that he had prostate cancer despite displaying no symptoms of the disease. A few weeks after seeing Dr Christian, Richard had key-hole surgery to remove his prostate and after the analysis on his prostate, he was told that his cancer has not grown outside the prostate. 15 months later, he visits Dr Christian again to tell him that he has been suffering from erectile dysfunction and incontinence after his surgery. But with this operation, it can take up to two years to fully recover, so with time and patience Richard should see an improvement in these symptoms.

When Dean first came in to see Dr Dawn he’d been struggling with a bowel problem for over a decade. He’s been spending a total of 3 hours every day on the loo, answering the call of nature ten or twelve times every single day. Worryingly, he’d also been passing blood every time. After a quick examination, Dawn sent Dean to get a gastroscopy – the inserting of a camera into his stomach in order to investigate the problem. With nothing untoward reported Dean had a similar procedure, this time with the camera inserted anally, followed by an ultrasound. It’s this final test that revealed the root of the problem. A fistula on his anal canal had been disrupting the operation of his sphincter muscle. Rather than going under the knife Dean was referred for a course of biofeedback treatment, designed to retrain his bowels through a series of exercises and dietary improvements, coupled with a course of anti-diarrhoea tablets.

Pixie learns from 58-year-old Brenda that her vanishing vagina has reached sticking point. Christian talks to Slavek, whose droopy face is really starting to get him down. He also attempts to help 69-year-old Brian with his embarrassingly large purple nose protuberance. Dawn talks to Carly who is worried that she could hurt herself or her boyfriend with her sleep walking.

Christian meets 65-year-old post-operative transsexual Jenny-Anne, who explains that even though she has under gone gender reassignment surgery on her genitalia to become a woman, she still feels trapped in the wrong body. Pixie meets 18-year-old Amy whose life-saving surgery for ovarian cancer has left her with an odd shaped bulge. Dawn meets 5-year-old Elliot, who has a strange shaped tongue.

Pixie talks to Michelle, who is traumatised by having to make trips to the toilet. Christian gives Amir a shocking diagnosis after he comes into the clinic with lactating nipples. Joseph shows up at the clinic with two lumps on the shaft of his penis that will have to be surgically removed.

The doctors talk to 26 year-old Jerusha, who suffers from chronic pain in her vagina, 24 year-old Duane, who learnsthat the copious tags on his penis are caused from excessive friction on the area and 36 year-old Adele who has suffered with dizziness for two years. The Embarrassing Bodies truck is in Derby this week where the doctors offer more advise.

25-year-old Eniola comes to the clinic unhappy with the way her breasts have grown after she suffered severe burns over her entire body as a baby. Pixie talks to 18-year-old Matilda and learns about her story of being born with a cleft lip and palate. Hayley is suffering with blue varicose veins that are running up her legs and into her vulva.