The 10 REAL Reasons Men Don't Go to the Doctor

[Anxious Patient]

I only put this in the male nursing forum because I didn't find any other forum that fit the subject matter. Plus I thought I'd get the demographic readers that could challenge or add to the list. Anyway, an outspoken female doctor lists the reasons:

1. You are afraid we will put our finger in your ****

2. You think we'll pick on you for your bad habits

3. You refuse to give in to your nagging wife

4. Going to the doctor is a chick thing

5. I feel fine

the rest here:

http://www.dailystrength.org/blog/232-10-real-reasons-men

[systoly]

Oh come on. This is funny. I don't care if it was meant to be serious - it made me chuckle.

[POTR]

This is a sore subject for me. The REAL reason men don't go to the doctor is due to the great double standard in patient modesty. The simple fact of the matter is that many men have encountered a callous disregard for their dignity when it comes to intimate exams. By callous disregard I mean a general failure to provide privacy, appropriate draping, or an attitude that men are not as modest as women. Many men have experienced doors to the exam room being left open, staff barging in during exams, strip as you go exams, or, worst of all, the idea that it is OK to injure men because of the reality of a certain aspect of being male, the dreaded erection at the wrong time. (See my thread on "EEK! There is a woman in my room!) The tendency of men to find it difficult to express concerns of an emotional nature only adds to the problem. It is embarrassing to admit that you are embarrassed. Consequently, many men have a collective experience of associating healthcare with being humiliated.

...

But, I still have vivid recollection of the days when the doc, using the strip as you go technique, would tell you, nearing the end of the exam, to drop the gown, stand up, totally naked, turn your head and cough, and then bend over the exam table, still fully naked, and have a gloved finger inserted into your rectum, and at the tender age of 19. All the while the exam room door is partly open. What do you think that does for my confidence in healthcare, and for my ability to turn to the healthcare system for these exams at a time when I really need them? :angryfire

...

That's why men don't go to the doctor.

Yes, and even more fun for those of us who joined the military, the "strip and stand in line exam dance" with 50 or 60 other guys you've never met. Let's all stand in a great big circle around the room. Turn left at the end and bend. Wait for the (hopeful) glove change while your "face to face" with Mr. Johnson next door. Lots of fun.

[tbrd450]

We end up doing the only thing we, as men, are permitted to do about this stuff -- we "laugh."

But gender double standards are not funny. Male modesty inconsideration is not funny.

The dehumanization of large groups of naked people -- male people -- forced to endure an exam together (military exam) isn't funny. It is sad. We laugh because crying is not one of our options.