Breaking the Stigma: Men Seeking Healthcare

0:00 543-2153 Hello and welcome to Real Men Feel. I'm your host, author, coach and healer, Andy Grant. We have conversations that most men are not having, but that all men and the women who love them can benefit from. My guest today is me. I recently had abdominal surgery recently. Yesterday I had abdominal surgery to repair a hernia on umbilical hernia in my stomach and I believe it was caused or at least made worse by the bungee jump that I did earlier this year in Africa. A few months ago I noticed my belly button turning from an innie into an Audi and it was much firmer than usual. You know, I'm a man.

1:20 I ignored it. Then about six weeks ago I woke up with serious abdominal pain. It felt like I overnight had done 100,000 sit ups, which I do not do, and when I touched my own stomach it was like a solid mass from my belly button all the way up to almost my rib cage. It was like something out of alien and I googled hernia symptoms and I nearly had all of them except the typical cause, prior abdominal surgery or a prior injury. And that's why I decided to blame the bungee jump. I'm very lucky the pain was bad that day because otherwise, like many men, I would have ignored it.

2:02 But that morning was enough to push me to call my doctor and my primary care doc confirmed myself diagnosis. And then a week later I met a surgeon he agreed to and he said I was his first bungee jump related case. But it did sound plausible. So the pain went away after a few hours on that first day and never came back. So I was very fortunate. But my stomach did continue to change shape and they said the the only solution to this was surgery. But I made sure to schedule this after my three Metallica days in April. Priorities. Yeah. So in the morning of the third show, Saturday April 26th, I think I'm in Toronto, 5 AMI wake up, stomach pain.

2:46 And I'm like Oh no, please. And I'm literally praying for my guts to hold together just one more day. And I went and walked around the city before breakfast and the pain, you know, disappeared. So I literally walked it off. That's not just saying sometimes it works. So I made it through all my shows. I flew home, had the surgery yesterday and I'm in a a video a day challenge for the month of May and I must have been thinking about it post op because I filmed a short video I do not even remember making. Hi, I'm whacked out. My surgery was at 7:30 and I woke up at 8:40 and already the thing I'm at home. Yeah.

3:36 I'll share more later. Bye. Now this whole experience got me thinking, why are men so reluctant to get medical help? Is it fear of appearing weak? Losing our role as provider or protector? Or maybe it's even deeper, you know, a deep fear of aging or even dying. So I looked at some stats and of course common sense men are less likely to visit doctor than women. ACDC report found that men are 24% less likely to have visited a doctor within the past year than women. Most men won't seek care until symptoms become severe, which is foolish. 60% of men only go to the doctor when symptoms are serious.

4:16 I'm one of them. 72% would rather do household chores like cleaning the bathroom then go to the doctor. 20% of men admit they aren't honest with their doctors, mostly out of embarrassment. And sorry guys, that's just stupid and dangerous. So some more reasons why men avoid doctors. The masculine norms. Social conditioning? Man up, tough it out. Real men don't complain. Fear of diagnosis or bad news? Loss of control and identity? Seeking help? Can it feel like you're admitting defeat? There's a poor doctor patient relationship. Some men feel doctors don't listen to them, take them seriously, especially if they've been dismissed in the past. And finally, time and prioritization. Many men put work, family, responsibilities first, delaying care for themselves. You are worthy of being put first. You can't take care of anyone if you aren't taking care of yourself, right?

5:09 And I know this. Ignoring symptoms does not make you strong. It makes you vulnerable in the worst way. It puts you at unnecessary risk. So if you are dealing with anything physical, mental, emotional, please don't wait for it to get worse. Get it checked out. Catching things early can truly save your life. And if it turns out to be nothing and you go to the doctor, great. Laugh it off and be grateful for your ideal health. Until next time, be good to yourself. And I'm being good to myself now. I've been holding ice against my cesarean scar this whole time. All right, we'll see you soon.