Talk the talk

Learning objectives

After reading this feature you should be able to:

• Identify lifestyle advice to improve men’s health
• Tailor your pharmacy to enable you to engage more effectively with men
• Manage some of the more common health conditions affecting men.

Many men — some studies suggest as many as eight in 10 — would rather suffer in silence and even put their lives at risk than engage with healthcare professionals.

With recent research suggesting that around one in four men in the UK actively avoid a consultation with a pharmacist or doctor about a health issue, is it any wonder that 20 per cent of the male population will die before they reach the age of 65 years?

When men do manage to pluck up the courage to talk to a health professional, the top 10 sources of discomfort concern discussions about:

• Sex-related genital complaints
• Non sex-related genital complaints
• Rectum – anything that requires a stool sample/internal examination
• Mental health
• Urine infections
• Bad breath and wind
• Snoring
• Weight issues
• Bodily odours.

Behavioural studies and anecdotal evidence show that embarrassment remains one of the main reasons preventing men from making that all-important appointment. Other reasons include claiming they are too busy, worried about time-wasting, being a burden on the NHS, or unable to get an appointment around work hours.

Dr Graham Easton, a GP and professor of medical education at Queen Mary, University of London, says men find it difficult to talk about any health problems and often leave it until crisis point before plucking up the courage to book an appointment.

“I think sometimes men are worried that we might need to do some sort of intimate examination – a finger up the bottom or an examination of the testes, for example – and would rather leave going to the GP until they feel their symptoms are too serious to ignore.

“Many men are afraid that if they go to the doctor they will discover something bad, like a cancer. That fear is often enough to make them delay or avoid making an appointment in the first place.”

He acknowledges that there are also often practical issues at play, such as difficulties in arranging a convenient appointment or pressure not to miss work. “I have experienced this myself recently, waiting for more than half an hour to get through on the phone. It is a big time commitment and it can be disruptive,” he says.

This unwillingness to pick up the phone or go online to book an appointment often leads to the inevitable Google search and attempts at self-diagnosis, which carries its own set of dangers.

When men finally do make it through the door, their opening lines usually gave a good indication of why they were so reluctant to seek advice in the first place, says Dr Yang Ooi, a GP and lecturer in clinical skills.

“Consultations with male patients often begin with comments such as ‘My wife nagged me to see you but I think it’s a waste of your time really’; ‘This is a bit embarrassing but...’ or ‘My wife made me come because I am snoring so loudly she can’t sleep. She is threatened to divorce me if I didn’t!’”