Male health concerns are changing

Feedback to the Forum's website for the man in the street demonstrates the changing health concerns of today's man.

Comments from the readers of malehealth.co.uk. are posted to the Have Your Say section of the site on a regular basis.

Editor Jim Pollard said: 'this year's feedback has shown some interesting trends. Most notably, we've never had a lot of comment from men about their weight concerns before but now we're getting regular emails about it.'

However, vasectomy and circumcision continue to be subjects attracting the most feedback. 'These are controversial topics on which many men have a view,' said Jim. 'The pros and cons of non-essential surgery are always going to be hotly debated. One of the most frequently asked questions is: are vasectomies reversible? There's also a lot of comment from men in pain following vasectomies, something that many of them weren't warned about. It shows the importance of thoroughly researching any health procedure that you might be considering.'

Among younger readers, the main concern appears to be six-pack stomachs. 'Regardless of what we say on the site, teenagers are constantly writing in asking us how to get a six-pack — or even a four pack. Improving their sexual attractiveness seems to be the main motivation.'

Many of the comments are not posted on Have Your Say as they are specific medical questions. Unfortunately malehealth does not have the resources at present to answer these and readers are referred to NHS Direct or other sources of help.

'Questions about masturbation, ejaculation and worries about the penis continue to dominate,' said Jim. 'That's why we set up the Tool-Kit section last year to deal with the frequently-asked questions about the male tackle. It's not just younger males who are concerned. Many questions are from older men, especially those mailing from outside Europe or the USA.'

Have Your Say does not feature all the feedback to malehealth — this would be impossible — but it does try to represent a cross-section of it. As such it offers an invaluable insight into the health concerns of men today.

• Link to Have Your Say on malehealth
• Link to Tool-kit on malehealth
• The Circumcision debate also featured in MHF Magazine