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10 Things Your Primary Care Doctor Does That Should Make You Run for the Hills
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Dr Orrange received her BA in Biology at the University of California San Diego and a Masters Degree in Health Sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health She received her MD from the USC Keck School of…
FAST FACTS
The 10 REAL Reasons Men Don't Go to the Doctor
Men die at higher rates than women for all of the leading causes of death. We know the reasons men give when surveyed about why they avoid the doctor: "I don't have the time; it's too expensive, I'm afraid of what I might find out, I'm fine." Here are the 10 reasons I think men stay away from the doctor. Correct me if I'm wrong.
1) You are afraid we will put our finger in your butt. We will, especially if you are over 40 or have any complaints related to your bowel movements. Yes, you get a rectal exam after the age of 40 once a year for a feel of your prostate and so we can check your stool for microscopic blood that you can't see.
2) You are afraid we will examine your balls. We will, if you are 40 or younger. The peak age for testicular cancer is 18-40 so guidelines recommend you get a once a year testicular exam. Don't worry it won't hurt at all.
3) I feel FINE. I am glad you feel fine, but you can feel FINE with high cholesterol, high blood pressure and elevated blood sugars. Your mother or wife won't feel fine when they are taking care of you after you have a stroke. Don't wait until you feel awful to come see us.
4) Going to the Doctor is a chick thing. Many of you feel this way but remember we live longer than you. If doctor visits are a chick thing well, then, nursing homes are a guy thing. You have to get over this. It's true the waiting room magazines are not for guys but when you come see us you will see that many of the medical assistants, doctors, phlebotomists and medical records folks are men. Real men go to doctors.
5) You are embarrassed to talk about what's going on with you. The bright red blood on the toilet paper when you wipe, the red itchy rash in your groin and on your feet, the problems you have at times getting a boner, getting up at night a few times to pee, we hear it all the time. You are not alone and our job is to show you how common this is and help fix it for you.
6) You don't find the office hours convenient. I get this and urge you to find a doctor who is accessible and can work around your office hours. Seriously though, the average guy watches 16 hours of TV a week, you can come for a 30 minute visit once a year and maybe a couple follow up visits as needed.
7) Going to the Doctor is giving in to your nagging wife. I had a patient who gave his wife for her 20th anniversary a copy of his Lipitor prescription, thinking this was a GIFT to his wife that he was taking care of his medical issues. It is true, women rightly so nag their dads, brothers and husbands to go to the doctor because they are tired of square dancing with other women at the assisted living facilities.
8) You don't realize we are here for prevention. You don't have to be sick to come see us and if you establish a relationship with us you have easy access when you do get sick. Once a year we can touch base with you to discuss age appropriate screening which we KNOW helps you stay well.
9) You don't have a relationship with a physician. If you are not attached to a regular physician by the age of 40 you are more likely to get in trouble. Unlike woman who need annual pap smears and contraception, you haven't had to see someone regularly from the age of 18-30. Find someone your friends use or enlist your partners help to find someone that might be a connection. You want someone accessible and younger physicians are much more likely to email so look until you find the right match.
10) You think we will pick on you for your habits. Drinking a 12 pack on the weekends, not exercising and eating bad foods, among other things. These things are not as uncommon as you might expect. We will put you on a long leash and let you pick and choose the habits to get rid of as needed.
See you soon!
Dr O.
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Displaying comments 62-43 of 62
Got a Question?
I wish I was near you because I’d like to meet you just to see if you are as big an idiot in real life as you appear here.
Part of the reason men stay away from doctors is mostly a total lack of respect for their privacy and the very little modesty accorded them by the medical community and lady you are a classic example. Would you write such a post about women NO! you’d be taken to woodshed by all.
You insensitive B###H!!!!
comments as I feel they are grossly unprofessional. I'm hopeful other organizations I've written to as well will most certainly agree and
beyond your satiric attempt realize the evidence of moral unfitness.
Puts it into persepctive, don't you think!
If a Dr said he/she wanted to examine my tits, I'd get up and leave...
I think doctors need to understand that patients are people and we're free to accept or decline these exams and tests.
Doctors in this country need to change their attitudes before they alienate the entire population.
We're not children to be scolded, if we don't do as you say...
It's clear to me that enormous dishonesty surrounds much of these preventative exams and tests. Doctors for their own reasons establish these tests as the Law (bad practice, money, fear of being sued) - and the individual is forgotten - it becomes you NEED, SHOULD or MUST have these tests and exams.
Have you ever heard of the term "informed consent"?
In fact, informed consent is required for these tests and exams.
I also wouldn't assume that all women present for annual smears and contraception - some of us are smart enough to do our reading and get to the truth. Sadly, you won't get the truth from a doctor - conflict of interest!
Look at some articles by Dr Angela Raffles - 1000 women need to be tested regularly for cervical cancer to save ONE woman! Annual screening and screening women under 25 or 30 means LOTS of women harmed by false positives - this is an unreliable test for an uncommon cancer - 95% of US women face biopses in her lifetime. (R.DeMay, "Should we abandon pap smear testing", Jnl of Cl. Pathology 2000) Of the 1% of women who'll get this cancer, 0.66% are helped by the Test and a third, 0.33% will have had one or more false negative test results. I didn't get this information from a Dr, but from a lawyer acting for a woman left with cervical stenosis after biopies for a false positive. This woman not surprsingly, was not asked whether she wished to participate in screening - it was "required" and she received no risk information.
In the UK, Doctors have been forced by the GMC to come clean with women. They must disclose their conflict of interest, the low chance of benefiting from the smear Test and the high chance of an incorrect test result and unnecessary biopsies, which can be harmful. (emotional distress, sexual problems, fertility issues, problems in pregnancy, incompetent cervix)
The Dr must obtain informed consent and respect a woman's decision to decline the Test.
In the States, the need for informed consent is ignored - and many women feel pushed into this unreliable testing. Pelvic exams are unnecessary in asymptomatic women and are not carried out in other countries. (apart from Germany)
If you want to stay healthy, do your reading and make informed decisions about your health. Following guidelines is far more likley to harm you, than to help you.
I think perhaps, men worked it out before we did...
I don't follow these guidelines, never have...I've done my reading and protect my health.
Many women feel trapped because doctors withhold birth control pills until they submit - report this beahviour and even consult an attorney - it's unethical and improper and won't stand up in court - the ONLY exam required for BCP's is a history and blood pressure check.
Men and women need to stand united against the scare campaigns and unethical and dishonest behaviour.
I can understand why many men avoid the doctor, just as I can understand why many women avoid the doctor.
I agree with Doctor Sherman...well intentioned , but very condescending and demeaning....part of the real x number of reasons men don't go to doctors...So How about gender of provider(s) and male modesty as a reason?...It is a lot more common than you probably think.
I agree with Doctor Sherman...well intentioned , but very condescending and demeaning....part of the real x number of reasons men don't go to doctors...So How about gender of provider(s) and male modesty as a reason?...It is a lot more common than you probably think.
Yes it IS condescending and demeaning though it is undoubtedly well meant.
So guys are afraid to go because they might 'get a finger in the butt.' Dr Orrange, do you enjoy a finger in the butt? It is in fact equally valid to say some women avoid gynecologic care because they are afraid of a finger in their c-nt. That sounds crude and demeaning, but why say it about men? When women avoid health care it is considered a serious health problem due to matters of access, insurance, cost, and unfounded anxieties. When men do the same it is a matter of jokes. Yes women are better at it, because they can't avoid it if they want children. Men don't face the same issues, for better or worse.
It would be far better to come up with constructive suggestions rather than try to shame men into getting preventative care. Does USC offer and advertise a men's health clinic? There are 5-10 times as many women's health clinics available. Are men made to feel comfortable when they go? Is same gender care an option? My urologist admits that many men are embarrassed when young female assistants (who may be just out of high school) assist by holding a guy's penis out of the way for procedures. Would you go to the gynecologist if he/she was assisted by an 18 year old guy?
There are many things that could be done to convince men to get more routine and preventative care. Shaming and demeaning men is not likely to help.
Joel Sherman MD
Men are people too.
Men for thousands of years have had to see themselves as invulnerable in order to provide/protect and go to war or protect the perimeter. Those failing to follow this path were sometimes shot on the spot. Is it any wonder that men continue to have a powerful part of themselves that perceives their invulnerability? This coupled with the new research on the dominance hierarchy and its impact on men is leading us to see a man's resistance to going in for health checkups in a very different light and calls for very different solutions. Certainly shaming is at the bottom of the list of helpful actions.
I strongly urge you to learn more about men and boys before you write something like this. Do no harm.
He was being 'his own doctor' thinking he had heart burn...I am really angry that he did not go into the doctors to go and check it out..instead he went and got some milanta, and dropped dead in the middle of a car park...3 main arteries to his heart were blocked..he left 3 girls behind, and was also my sons God Father...
If only he had gone in, he could of gone for a triple bypass..but no he did it his way...and for that our family is now not the same..
I now see more doctors than I ever did in my first 50 years on this Earth. Maybe if I had seen them more in my first 5 decades I wouldn't be making the rounds now. Good article.
Let's be brutally honest here, sometimes going to the doctor can be the WORST thing that a person can do. Doctors make mistakes, medications have side effects and hospitals more people die in hospitals than any place else, even people who go in for routine, non-life threatening conditions.
I'm not saying that we shouldn't go to the doctor or even address medical problems, I'm saying that the answers aren't as straightforward as some of the comments might suggest.
Men are bigger than women, statistically anyway. Larger people tend to have more heart problems. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,293...
Men tend to be risk takers. It's not only a side effect of the testosterone, it's also a societal expectation. We're the ones who are asked to go to the "front lines", we're the ones who are supposed to protect and defend, we're the ones who sometimes have to travel great distances to perform our jobs, and sitting on an airplane is proven to contribute to blood clotting problems.
And let's face it, men tend to be more stressed by the potential of professional failure and stress is one of the leaders in contributing to health problems.
But the good doctor would suggest that we can eliminate all of those risk factors, just by running to the doctor every few months.
Ok doctor, I've had the television camera up the backside, and he told me to not darken his doorstep for ten years.
I've been to my doctor regularly for the last ten years and it didn't prevent my angina/stents. For the last 5 years (when he first started prescribing them) I've been taking the BP meds, cholesterol meds and trying to do what he told me for ALL of those ten years and yet it didn't prevent the angina.
"Why?" one might ask.
Perhaps we haven't been addressing it aggressively enough, but it certainly wasn't because of not seeing a doctor.
Dr Orrange's rant was an interesting generalization, but one that doesn't always fit into the reality of life.