There’s a reason that women make 75% of the health care decisions for their families. Reaching and maintaining optimal health involves prior planning and a proactive stance. Women are accustomed to recommended exams for themselves and necessary checkups for their children. Men, however, tend to see health as a given – requiring no effort or attention unless something feels wrong. Men are reactive to health issues and subscribe to the pain theory of illness: if it doesn’t hurt, nothing is wrong.

There are generally only three things that cause men to seek medical care:

• Severe pain that can’t be cured with over-the-counter meds or by “walking it off”
• Bleeding – bright red and lots of it
• Problems with their sex life – and then only after trying everything at the health food store and online. It’s also important to them to keep this a secret from their significant other and their friends.

If men were cars, they would ignore the oil changes, bald tires, cracked windshield, and smoking exhaust. But if the radio won’t play loudly and the transmission starts slipping, something’s got to be done!

Women know when their hormones have changed. Perimenopause and menopause lead to big changes in mood, energy, and outlook – there’s no denying hot flashes, night sweats, and dryness. Women, in effect, “fall off a cliff” at menopause and it hurts when they land!

Men, on the other hand, just slide down the hill very slowly. Starting at age thirty, testosterone drops by 1% every year, and by age 45, nearly 40% percent of men have low hormone levels. So, while the women in their lives are struggling with unwanted weight gain, loss of energy, irritability and poor self image, men are blissfully ignoring their own physical changes caused by low testosterone:

• fatigue and loss of energy
• weight gain
• flab and weakness from loss of skeletal muscle
• loss of motivation and drive

What finally gets their attention is when they “can’t get it up!” This is hitting rock bottom for men. Most men have been in trouble with low testosterone for years before it gets to this point.

Here’s the question for women: that man in your life – who falls asleep in the chair, doesn’t want to go anywhere, has lost interest and drive at work and at home – could the problem be not enough testosterone?

Here’s the solution: do it for him because he likely won’t do it for himself.  Encourage him, support him and have him come see us at Exceed Hormone Specialists. His problem will not get better by itself, and we offer a free 15-minute consultation. He can discuss his issues in complete privacy and learn about solutions.

He will be glad, and so will you!

Richard Pearson MD, FACS