PICTURE:Dane Wirtzfeld (iStockphoto.com)

4th November, 2004

DR NICK HODGSON

After 15 years of working with the health care of both sexes and all age groups, I have to say that certain adult male behaviours perplex me to this day! Particularly when it comes to looking after their health. This has lead me to share with you what I call the "Complete Idiot's Guide to Men's Health".

Let's take a look at some of the predominant male health behaviours:

1) "I'm as fit as a mallee bull." This is one of the most common descriptions males use to describe their current health picture. This same 'stud', is almost always overweight, can't reach their toes, is often on medication for high blood pressure and/or high cholesterol, swallows some form of antacid daily and still lives with the painful injuries that have been with him since the under-18 grand final! Complete idiot's rule #1: Face reality. If your car was blowing smoke and the oil light was continuously lit, you would get it fixed. Be willing to listen to the warning signs that your body has. There are a lot more signals than just crippling pain that should be telling you to be more active in improving your health, attitude and fitness.

2) "Work keeps me fit." The only two occupations who may be able to claim this are garbos and posties (those who still ride a push-bike that is!). For the rest of us there is no way that our work activities fulfil the criteria for keeping a man fit. If you think that you walk miles in the course of a day from one office to another, it's never the same as continuous aerobic activity. If you lift lots of heavy things all day, you aren't doing any aerobic work and probably a tiny amount of stretching. Or, if you're just working incredibly long hours and don't have the energy to exercise when you get home, take note! Complete idiot's rule #2: Don't fool yourself. Ninety-nine per cent of men need to exercise over and above what they do at work.

3) "I'm too busy now, I'll have time to do all that healthy stuff later." Complete idiot's rule #3: Spend now, save later. The bottom line is that you will either invest time on your health now or pay later with sickness interest. If you spend time on preventative health strategies today, you'll still be fit and healthy in years to come. The return on your investment will be quality of life, longevity, and even an ability to keep earning more money. If you don't invest your time on healthy activities now, you will literally be forced to make time in the future, plus some.

4) "I can't spend my family's hard earned money on things like chiropractic and vitamins." Time and money are interchangeable commodities so the principles are almost identical. Complete idiot's rule #4: The law of investment. Invest money on your health now and you will receive a healthy return on that investment later. Look at it another way - wouldn't it be better to be sacrificing time now on healthy pursuits while still on junior pay rates, so that when you are in your forties, you can still be working hard and receiving consultant or managerial pay rates? If you’re working excessively on a poor pay rate now, and end up crook as a result, you will miss out on your best earning years! Do you really think your family will begrudge you spending money on some preventative health care, when they will have a healthy partner/dad/grandad to enjoy in years to come?

5) "I seem to be getting better now." You'd be surprised what some men have promised to me when they are in crippling pain - "I'm going to keep up regular check-ups once I've got through this","I've learnt my lesson, I'm going to take better care of myself from now on!", "If you fix me I'll refer all my friends and family to you", "The whole town will know how good you are if you can get rid of this pain, I'll make sure of it." Then a week or two later, I get a phone message that "he doesn't think he needs to come back again because he's feeling a bit better". (The call is usually made by the wife.) Complete idiot's rule #5: Finish the job. After the flames of a scrub fire have been put out by the firemen, do they leave and say, "seems to be going out now, she'll be right?" No way! The firemen stay for hours continuing to pour water onto the affected areas, and surveying for potential sources of further outbreak. No matter what type of health crisis has hit you recently, the same principle needs to be applied. If you take medication, the doctor tells you to "finish the course", chiropractors will tell you that you need more treatment beyond the disappearance of the crippling pain. This is not "stringing you on". This is doing the job right. The first time preferably!

6) "I know what's good for me." This is a partial truth. I am always trying to empower my patients to make better health care choices for themselves. But everyone needs expert guidance and coaching too - how come the best professional sportsmen still have a coach, and a fitness adviser, let alone the personal chiropractor and so on? And yet the average bloke tries to perfect his own golf game, won't listen to his wife's street directory instructions, refuses to go to the doctor unless he's on his death bed, even tries to "crack" his own back! Complete idiot's rule #6: Listen to the coach. Surround yourself with some health "mentors" that you respect and do what they tell you to do.

7) "Superman syndrome." All men fantasised about being a superhero as a boy. This led some of us to jump from the tops of furniture and even small buildings. Some men, particularly young bucks, seem to have started to believe this dream. Their health behaviours suggest that nothing can perforate their impenetrable health defences. Complete idiot's rule # 7: Don't eat Kryptonite. Superman could tell immediately when the life energy-zapping Kryptonite was close to him and would go to great lengths to expel the source of his weakness. As men we need to develop the same perception of what it is that zaps our superpowers. Expel the junk food, social and pharmaceutical drugs, food additives and preservatives, sugar, caffeine, and nicotine, and rise above your enemies!

8) "My family knows that I am working for them." Many of us fall into the workaholic trap in the quest to be good providers. Stephen Covey talks about climbing the ladder of success only to find at the top that your ladder is leaning against the wrong building. How many men lay on their death bed wishing that they had spent more time at work? Complete idiot's rule #8: Know your priorities, stick to your priorities. Make time for your family, relationships, spirituality, personal development and enjoyment.

9 ) “That spiritual stuff is for the girls.” Abraham was a bloke. So were Moses, Noah, Daniel, Joseph, David, Isaiah, Ezekiel, John The Baptist, Jesus, Paul and James. Complete idiot's rule #9: Become the spiritual giant you are supposed to be. Spend less time at the altars of the TV, golf course, workplace, pub, TAB, and start spending some time getting to know the big boss in the sky. This won’t make you weaker; it will make you stronger – employees with a great boss always perform better than employees with a dud-boss.

The bottom-line guys, is that the statistics are scary for your future health unless you step in and take some affirmative action towards managing your short and long-term well-being. Depressed and substance-dependent in our teens; angry and drunk in our twenties; dying of heart attacks and popping pills in our thirties; diabetics and visiting surgeons in our forties; fighting cancer and taking pharmaceutical cocktails in our fifties; dropping dead by the masses in our sixties (only months after retiring from work).

Are you man enough to take the health bull by the horns and start to do what it takes to ensure you will be the best grandad in the world?

Dr Nick Hodgson is a chiropractor.
You can read more articles like this one at www.healthetalk.com.au

 

 

 

The information contained is this article is of a general nature only. For advice on your specific situation, please consult your medical professional.