Re: Men's issues and why some are taken more seriously than others

[Guest guest]

The problem with these kinds of disorders, Kristy, is more that the sufferers wait waaaaay too long to get help because of the sensitive nature of the problem. The disorder is usually firmly ensconced by then and when docs hear the things we've done to ourselves to try and fix it, they are usually looking at us like we are nuts. Men don't talk about ANY illnesses, much less an affront to their manhood.... so its really more a lack of coming forward for help than it is the docs making fun of them or implying the patients are joking.As for male breast cancers, I don't know of single man who went to the doc for a breast lump who was treated with anything but deadly seriousness (I personally know 3 men who had breast cancer). Other males in their peer groups may have jeered at them for female diseases, but certainly not their docs. Breast cancer is breast cancer... DustyKristy Sokoloski

wrote: As for the commercials about ED that didn't always used to bethe case. That was a door that was as tightly shut as thepublic discussion about prostate cancer sometimes still is evennow. The reason it was such a situation where the door was shutwas because of it being taboo.But they will never be open to talking about prostatodynia orscrotodynia (the male versions of vulvodynia) on televisionbecause of it being taboo and also most men don't like to talkabout this subject. This is why when we had a gentleman come tothis list a couple years ago he told us that he had to come tous for help because he couldn't find support groups online forhis problem because it's not something that is talked about bymen.Men who have scrotodynia and prostatodynia are made to feel

likethey are joking as well. Same with some of the men who haveInterstitial Cystitis because there are still doctors thatbelieve that IC is mostly a "woman's" disease which is not thecase.Male breast cancer isn't taken as seriously as it should beeither because again a lot of people think that breast cancer ismainly a "woman's disease". And the men who have this arethought of as jokesters as well and this is a real seriousproblem.Some people think that if men had the problems we do that theworld would be a different place in getting answers to theseproblems and that is such wrong thinking. There are many menthat have problems that are treated just as badly as we are whenwe try to get help, yes, some of them being told that it's intheir head when the problem is real.Kristy __________________________________________________