Strong and silent can be hazardous to a man’s health. Try these three easy-to-follow scripts to get the conversation started with your doctor.
Baseball smashes a window? You’re on it. Headlight out? Problem solved with a trip to the auto parts store. Deal to save? Your nickname is “the closer.”
When it comes to life, you take the bull by the horns. Fixing things is just part of who you are. So what’s keeping you from taking care of “the business” of your health?
Here’s a scenario: You’re in the bedroom, and you and your partner are getting romantic, but you can’t always get an erection. Or you aren’t able to keep an erection long enough to satisfy either one of you. Are you going to ignore this problem? That’s not such a good idea—and for more reasons than keeping your love life on track. Did you know, for example, that erectile dysfunction (ED) can be an early warning sign that you may be at risk for coronary heart disease? Plus, ED is linked to high blood pressure. In fact, two out of three men with high blood pressure have some level of ED.
The good news is that talking to your doctor about your ED (or any health issue for that matter) is actually easier than changing the oil or negotiating a contract. You just have to get through the first steps—starting the conversation. Then it gets pretty painless, because your doctor wants to hear what you have to say. To help you get the discussion going on three of the hardest-to-talk about medical problems men face—ED, benign prostatic hyperplasia (or BPH, a.k.a. enlarged prostate), and prostate cancer, we’ve put together the following, Smart Men Tell All scripts.
Script 1 -- The BPH Talk:
"You know doc, I’ve started to notice that when I go to the bathroom, sometimes I feel like I can’t get all the urine out. Plus, I wake up at night several times to go. And other times the feeling I have to go is so overwhelming, I have to drop everything and find a bathroom."
"What does this mean? I’d like to leave with an idea of what’s going on and what I can do."
Have more questions about BPH? Get answers at BPH, Prostatitis & Prostate Problems.