June is Men’s Health Month

I want to do a quick little time warp for a minute or two. Let’s go back five years to 2018.

2018-2019 had been a whirlwind for me and many of these issues are men’s health-related issues. Since June is Men’s Health month, I figured I would focus on Men’s Health issues. One of the biggest issues that men face is going to the doctor in general. Most men, me included, hate going to doctors, in fact, men are half as likely to go see a doctor regularly as women are, so preventing certain diseases might be a bit more challenging for us guys. I personally find those male doctors are for the most part not very in tune with most male patients and tend to dismiss male health concerns rather quickly without investigation. I don’t think it is intentional, and I don’t fully blame the doctor either. The doctor needs to learn how to pull out the required information from the patient. If it is a female patient, a hetero male doctor naturally will tend to show more concern if a woman is in pain. But if a guy comes in for a visit, the doctor will say the standard, so what brings you in today? The male patient will likely talk around the actual problem and often the patient and the doctor don’t form a connection and the real problem isn’t discovered.

This means that many men don’t get annual check-ups, don’t see a doctor for that pain, and are less likely to have something like cancer symptoms checked out.

First, I think we need to see why men, are more likely to skip going to the doctor. Most men are raised to not complain about pain or an ache. Most men are burdened with the notion that seeing a doctor is a sign of weakness. It isn’t manly and seeing a doctor is for babies. Basically, men have been taught all through childhood to not see a doctor. And as an adult, a man will make just about any excuse to not see the doctor.

All this leads to most men not being in tune with their bodies. An ache or pain is often the body’s way of alerting you to a problem and if you ignore that pain, then the problem could become worse.

A new survey highlights the negative attitude many men have about seeking medical care. Nearly two-thirds of respondents said they avoid going to the doctor as long as possible, and 37 percent said they withhold information from their doctors. Experts say this is an ongoing issue that keeps doctors from detecting life-threatening issues early, resulting in bigger health dangers and sometimes death. (Source)

I lost my father-in-law from that very issue. He ended up having a stroke from a huge clot in his jugular vein, that he had been ignoring for years. Another reason is that many men are embarrassed to see a doctor and tell them what is wrong. If it is a male doctor, then we feel we come off whining to them and if it is a female doctor, we feel as if we aren’t manly.

I have many cases in my medical history when that has been the case. In fact, I once has a very bad UTI that started to spread externally. Now, when I’m talking UTI, it turned out to involve my kidneys, my bladder, my urethra, and now my penis and groin. When I went to the doctor the first time, he was reluctant to give me anything, because “men usually don’t get UTIs. Ok, but didn’t you use the word usually? So doesn’t that mean that there is a possibility that I have one? Do you want to run a test?

So I basically left the doctor’s office without actually treating the problem and a few tips as to why I might be having pain when I urinate, but I could tell that he thinks that I have been playing around outside my marriage, which I hadn’t been. A week later I go back and see the doctor again, this time, it has spread externally and I have a very nice rash to prove it. I explained, that he didn’t want to look or run a test, he just wrote a script for antibiotics and a topical, which worked, but all this could have been avoided, if I went to the doctor earlier and the doctor listened and ran a test.

It isn’t always the male docs that are this way, I went in to see my family practice and got a female PA. My complaint was testicle pain. No joking, she did the exam through my jeans and she was about three inches too far down my leg to even feel my testicles. She said that she doesn’t feel anything wrong, but she did at least refer me to a specialist. I was so happy that my jeans are healthy.

Alright, guys, enough of the backstory, on to the good stuff.

This is where Roman (Ro) comes into play. Ro was launched in October 2017 as Roman by Zachariah Reitano, Saman Rahmanian, and Rob Schutz. It started off to treat the 18 million men in America diagnosed with erectile dysfunction. Since then it has grown to treat other common male health issues to include, including Erectile Dysfunction, Premature Ejaculation, Cold Sores, Genital Herpes, Hair Loss, Testosterone Support and Quit Smoking. Roman is very similar to “hims” (https://www.forhims.com/) that treats Hair Loss, Erectile Dysfunction, Premature Ejaculation & Performance Anxiety

The process is actually very simple, a patient fills out a dynamic online visit answering questions about their health, lifestyle, medical history, and symptoms A physician will review the results and prescribe medication if appropriate. Medications will then be shipped in discreet packaging and the medicines will be refilled monthly or quarterly. In many cases, the doctor will either online chat or use the computer’s video camera to talk with the patient to help with the diagnosis process. All online and without doing to a doctor’s office. Give them a try at  https://www.getroman.com/

If you have a medical problem, get it looked at, it isn’t that big of a deal. And do yourself a favor, see a doctor when something hurts, and your family will thank you.