View from the Surgery

I decided that this November I too would ration the use of my razor, confining it just to my jowls.

For those of you who don’t know and for the half of the population spared the dubious pleasure of needing to cultivate whiskers, Movember is a men’s health charity that encourages those of us with an X and Y chromosome to grow a moustache during this particular month. This is designed to generate discussion and ultimately raise funds for this worthy cause. I understand some £30m has been raised so far for prostate cancer care and research, some £5m from the UK alone.

It is against the rules to start this in late October or to wear the full beard. I knew this might tickle both my patients and my top lip. During the first week in surgery, most consultations went without comment. One might argue that one should never comment on the appearance of another, especially in the context of a professional relationship and I would have some sympathy with this notion. It may be trivial, distracting and overly familiar. Nevertheless some of my more “familiar” patients couldn’t resist wisecracks to the effect that I must have forgotten to shave, wash or consider the feelings of Mrs Moody. I could almost predict which patients were likely to pass remark and the record was one gentleman who bellowed across the busy waiting room “What on Earth is that wriggling beneath your nose, Dr Moody?” This is the month that our practice manager decided to have team members’ photos taken for the website and notice-board. I am deciding if an older snap might be better as I really cannot see this layer of insulation lasting even through the winter.

It may be true, I may resemble a badger with my white and dark hair at war and now doing the same on my face. I’ll stick this out and make my donation at the end of the month (unless colleagues and patients sponsor me to remove it before then!) Please consider donating (money not hair!) to: Movember.com