UNITED STATES—Someone recently brought to my attention the factoid that women go to the doctor much more than men. And unfortunately I had to agree with that notion. Females tend to go to the doctor for regular check-ups and if anything out of the unusual pops up on their body or they feel slightly off. So what gives?
What is it about being a man that prevents us from going to the doctor? Well I think I have the answer, and it might offend some guys, but oh well: we hate the idea of knowing something bad might be wrong. Guys are egotistical by nature. We’re taught to be tough, not to whine and to be the protector
That same mentality that we are taught at a young age carries over to our adult livelihood. As a kid, I can recall going to the doctor all the time. As I moved into my teenage years, not as much, only when something of serious nature arose. As an adult, I have to be honest, not as much as I should. In the back of the mind, I’d like to think I’m healthy. One checks his body daily, ensures nothing of the unknown has appeared and I will admit if I notice something of a strange nature, I have no worries about visiting a physician for treatment.
Now some might propose the argument that they have no medical insurance, and while that might be understandable, you should not cheat yourself from catching a possible illness before it’s too late. This happens all the time when it comes to catching cancer or tumors at early onset. The longer something has the opportunity to grow and spread, it will continue to do damage without treatment. It seems as men, the only time most of us will visit the doctor is if we literally feel as if death is knocking at our door or we’re bleeding profusely.
I mean it’s obvious why women outlive us; they’re smarter and wiser than we are. They don’t take their health for granted. Sometimes when I think about going to the doctor, I get the feeling that I’m losing control. I’m not in charge of what happens next, the doctor is, and that is a damn scary feeling. What’s worse? Guys psyche themselves out. We worry so much about being delivered bad news; we just sit back and watch a possible illness or disease get progressively worse than taking action. You can’t always know what’s up with your body if you don’t know your numbers as so many doctors reiterate time and time again. Some of you might be asking: what numbers are you referring to?
That is your blood pressure, your cholesterol levels and your waist size. Those three keys are important to preventing heart diseases and other illnesses like Type 2 diabetes. If one has a history of certain diseases in the family tree that is even more reason to get check-ups on a regular basis and be aware of any imbalances with your body. Just imagine if guys let their egos go to slightly focus on their health and NOT worry about possibly what could go wrong? We’d likely increase our life expectancy by a few years.
Yep, those statistics about women outliving their male counterparts would slowly shift. Anytime one hears that a female has a chance of living 7-8 years longer than a male, should scare us to get to the doctor ASAP! Your health should not be something to take lightly, even if it’s only going to the doctor once a year to get that annual check-up, it’s better to know what is going on than to not know at all.
