​​Why Men Shouldn’t Ignore Recommended Health Screenings

You wouldn’t just keep driving your car without changing the oil, rotating the tires, or swapping out burned-out bulbs, would you? Just as you need to tend to your car to keep it in working order, your own body needs care and attention, too.

Men tend to avoid annual exams and other types of trips to the doctor for a complex variety of reasons. Maybe you feel like you don’t have time. Or getting tested suggests that you’re weak. Or you just don’t trust doctors.

Whatever your reasons for avoiding the doctor, the best reason for seeing one is that regular exams are the only way to find out what’s going on “under your hood.” And, if something’s gone awry, you can then take steps to fix it.

Our medical experts, Charles Ripp, MD, and Fran Gorman, DNP, take men’s health seriously. That’s why we at Gorman Medical, PC, offer services in our Colorado Springs and Cripple Creek, Colorado, offices that not only check your overall health, but focus on issues that men tend to have.

As part of Men’s Health Month this June, find out why you shouldn’t ignore recommended health screenings. Here’s a brief rundown:

Annual exams are a good check-in point

What’s your cholesterol level? Your blood pressure? Your pulse rate? How are your kidneys and liver working? What about your blood glucose levels?

Unless you’re a biohacker with access to a full range of at-home tests, you probably don’t know. An annual exam lets your doctor test a wide range of factors that influence your health. 

If there’s anything off — such as blood glucose that’s climbing — you and your doctor come up with a plan to get it back under control, preferably before it becomes a full-blown problem, such as diabetes. Annual screenings also establish a baseline for your health, so if something changes your doctor notices right away.

Some screenings save your life

Many types of serious conditions and diseases don’t have noticeable symptoms, or their symptoms can be mistaken for other, more benign conditions. For instance, high blood pressure (hypertension) is often called the “silent killer” because it doesn’t have any symptoms at all. 

The symptoms of prostate cancer are often mistaken for a common condition called benign prostatic hyperplasia (i.e., BPH, or enlarged prostate). If you ignore symptoms, you could be risking your life.

But finding out if you have prostate cancer or BPH doesn’t take much time at all. It’s just a simple blood test and digital rectal exam (DRE). If you do have cancer and it’s caught early, it’s highly curable. Ignore it, though, and the cancer could spread.

Some screenings improve your life

Have you been feeling grumpy lately? Or have you lost interest in sex? Maybe you’ve had a few episodes of erectile dysfunction (ED) that make you reluctant to engage in intimacy.

You may just have low testosterone (T) and, yes, there’s a test for that. We use a combination of blood tests that determine your current testosterone levels combined with your reported symptoms to decide if you’d benefit from testosterone replacement therapy (TRT).

Unlike internet forms of TRT, our TRT is calibrated based on your needs. That doesn’t just mean we get your T levels back to “normal”; we get you back to feeling normal.

Screenings let you take charge  

Screenings give you solid data about your health. You don’t have to guess about what’s going on or why it’s going on. If you need TRT, you know that’s the step to take. If you need to exercise more, you find that out, too.

Instead of searching the internet to find out why you’re having one symptom or another, you can get an answer that lets you and your doctor come up with a plan. And — just like an annual maintenance check for your car — screenings help you drive better, smoother, and longer.

Are you due for a screening or men’s health exam? Call our nearest office or use the online form to schedule an appointment today.