Getting comfortable with health checkups
Kelly Evans knows how important her family’s health is, but she wishes her husband, Nate, was more proactive about his checkups.
“He doesn’t have the time,” says Evans, a 31-year-old X-ray technologist from Harrod, Ohio. “He works a swing shift, so the days he is off, he is home with our 1-year-old son. It’s a matter of time versus his other priorities.”
Work and providing for the family are often prime concerns, so going to the doctor ends up on the back burner. It’s a mindset plenty of men fall into.
“They’re stuck in the thought, ‘I look good and feel good, so no need for seeing a doctor,’” says Dr. J. Steven Blake of Blake Gastroenterology Associates in Philadelphia. “Men are not alone in having issues about keeping or making timely visits to a physician.
"It’s absolutely due to fear and anxiety. The mindset is, ‘I don’t want to know until I have to.’ That’s the worse mindset to have.”
In your corner
A recent Cleveland Clinic survey, called MENtion It, shed light on behaviors and attitudes of men as they related to their health. Of 502 men, 53% said their health isn’t something they want to talk about. Additionally, 40% said they don’t get annual checkups, and only 42% go to the doctor when they’re worried they might have a serious medical condition.
“Men talk to others about their health usually about ‘heroic’ injuries such as broken bones, and injuries sustained during sports and at work,” says Dr. Ryan Berglund of the Cleveland Clinic, and who was part of the MENtion It survey planning. “Very few talk about more serious problems, such as heart disease, bowel or urinary disease. Traditionally, men are prideful about strength and hide weakness, and this may be one manifestation of that.”
Guys should get health checkups regularly, because they must have someone as their “health care quarterback,” Berglund says.
A trained set of eyes and ears can examine you and make sure some things you might think are a potential risk won’t be ignored, he adds.
“Is that mole on your back just a mole, or is it possibly a melanoma?” Berglund says. “Also, your primary physician will be up to date on what routine screening tests need to be done. Do you need your heart and lungs checked? Is it time to get your prostate or colon screened for cancer?”
On top of the game
The survey found that 48% of men turn to their significant others first to discuss a health issue; and 19% admitted to going to the doctor so their significant others would stop nagging them.
“Often, the spouse is present and provides details the patient himself will not volunteer,” Berglund says. “One of the most helpful bits of information to give them is letting them know others have been through what they are going through.
"Men like to have a plan, and giving them one makes them feel more comfortable sharing what they are going through.”
Routine checkups are also critical to staving off serious illnesses.
“Many serious diseases have an interval of time between when the disease is first detectable and then becomes incurable or leads to serious irreversible problems,” Berglund says. “The ideal is to diagnose a disease during this interval. By putting off that visit, you may miss that window of opportunity.”
Evans says her husband has a history of kidney stones, which he tries his best to “stay on top of.”
She encourages him to be more proactive, even if that means some time off work for checkups.
“We remind him we never want to be without him,” Evans says. “I don’t want him to feel less important or that his needs are any less important.”
Key conditions men should get screened for:
| TYPE | RECOMMENDED SCREENING AGE | MALE PERCEPTION |
Blood Pressure | 20 | 35 |
Cardiovascular Disease | 20 | 40 |
Colon/Rectal Cancer | 50-75 | 42 |
Prostate Cancer | 55-69 | 42 |