I tried googling this and the first things that pop up are about women being dismissed by doctors. And as I kept scrolling there were a few articles of why men are afraid to go to the doctor. And then I kept scrolling and saw a publication of what men have statistically died of. But none of that is what I’m looking for. Help!
I’m looking for a statistic of like how often are men misdiagnosed or how often are they ignored by physicians? How often are men’s health concerns dismissed by doctors? Might any of you know? Please and Thank you!
You can also share any personal stories if you have any?
50 comments
I wouldn’t say anything was dismissed, but I found that with the exception of a dentist, doctors only facilitate solutions that I seek. Asking for help when I don’t know what I need doesn’t get anything useful
No regular doctors.
But growing up psychiatrists wanted to put every single new mental disorder label on me. I went through ADD, ADHD, autism, and aspergers.
The real answer? Little bit of adhd and being a late bloomer with poor socialization. My parents may have caused the poor socialization but I’m sure glad they didn’t throw drugs at me till I was “fixed”.
The over diagnoses of ADHD+ immediately treating it with medication and not therapy is a major gripe of mine.
Not sure it’s a gendered issue. Doctors suck at listening to patients. Full stop. They were indoctrinated into a cult of superiority, and now they suck at their original purpose.
My opinion… you’re going to have a hard time finding that, mostly because of how men and women handle being “dismissed.”
Anecdotal. I had pain and swelling on my leg and my doc gave me a cream. Two days later it was worse so I went back. He tried to give me a different cream and I said no and we talked and he ran a different test. It was cellulitis caused by a cut, not something either cream would have cured. I ended up needing an IV and some pretty strong meds to clear it. If I was asked about it I’d say “I advocated for myself and got the treatment I needed.”
My wife had unusual abdominal pains. She went to the doc and was prescribed regular over the counter pain reliever. Two days later she was still in pain so I made her go back. She wasn’t going to go because the doc said it wasn’t serious. They did some testing and she had an issue that needed medicine. If she was asked about it she’d say “my concerns were dismissed.”
Very similar stories, very different perceptions of outcomes.
Sexist stereotype ahead …
You’re going to have a hard time finding men who report they were “dismissed” because more often, men are willing to challenge the doctor and don’t see it as having been dismissed.
Good luck. I’m interested to see what you find.
This question piqued my interest, and because I prefer empirical evidence over anecdotal, I went and did some searching through the research databases I have access to. u/BackItUpWithLinks might be interested in what I found, as well.
I found….. not a damn thing.
I could spend the next hour refining my search criteria and I might come up with a handful of papers, but after a few minutes and some broad queries that should have yielded *something* I still came up empty. There is some noteworthy research on men’s overall attitudes toward going to the doctor and how this contributes to men’s shorter average lifespans, but nothing about their concerns being dismissed by doctors.
There are a very large number of papers about misdiagnoses, but these typically pertain to specific medical conditions rather than being broad surveys.
For me ALOT especially if it involves pain. And almost every single one hits me with “Well you’re young and appear athletic” which I’ve translated to I think you’re in here looking for pain pills here’s a super low grade weak muscle relaxer so it appears I’m helping.
Meanwhile, my “sister” who is a few years older, lies about shit to get pain pills, has stolen RX pads from doctors and been arrested for it, etc can walk in and walk about with 120 oxys and all kinds of shit. All I want is at least a fuckin X-ray/mri/something, don’t even give a fuck about the pills, yet I get hey here’s these shitty Muscle relaxers and have you tried stretching?
All the time.
I went to the dr with a toothache like pain in my shoulder.
Dr did some poking and said I’m simply weak on that side and need to man up get over it…
Next morning woke up partially paralyzed.
Turns out I had a broken neck.
Took them 12 years to finally realize he maybe has ADHD. Yeah for a kid that never paid attention in school, easily distracted, couldn’t stop talking, hard time learning. Apparently wasn’t enough and thought I was just a stupid kid. Jokes on them I have a bachelor in Mechanical engineering
Are we including mental health?
I have literally never been to the doctor and been taken seriously in my entire life, which is why I barely ever go to the doctor anymore. One time I had food poisoning so bad I was sitting blood and running a 102 fever. I wanted antibiotics or tests or something. They told me to come back when it hits 105.
That said, I doubt you’ll find any research. It doesn’t fit the narrative.
I’m a man and I’ve never had the feeling a doctor was dismissing me when I described my symptoms, so I suspect lots of guys have also never had that experience or haven’t recognized it.
That said, I also have a preference for working with women doctors because I think they ask better questions so perhaps I’m just not recognizing what’s right in front of my face.
I had a female provider who told me I didn’t have low-T despite being treated prior. She said it was normal despite the depression I was experiencing. After a very loud discussion in her office, she agreed to send me to a urologist. He looked at the SAME test results and was very concerned about how I felt as my T was extremely low. I spent 2 years of my life wanting to blow my brains out because of her.
Personally, 99% of the time.
Look at men’s suicide rates.
Look at the incidence of attempting to get mental health services first.
I believe the UK has some stats there which are pretty grim.
Medical doctors haven’t always gotten it right, but I definitely feel like they’ve taken me pretty seriously.
Dentists and psychiatrists… fuck, that’s a whole other story.
I have a chronic health condition that is frustrating and irritating, but not outright disabling. I also live in an area where finding a personal family doctor is nearly impossible, but I had fairly good access to walk in health services through an institution I worked with (this becomes relevant later).
Over the last few years I have attempted to see a doctor over my health about 5-6 times. Each time was a different doctor due to the nature of the walk in clinic, and each time happened to be a woman. Asides from the first doctor, every single one of them attempted to prescribe me the same OTC-type treatments, dismissing my increasingly emphatic attempts to point out that I had previously been prescribed the same stuff and found to be ineffective. In some cases I brought the old medication in for them to see and they still somehow managed to gloss over that. 3 of the doctors dismissed the rather obvious facial swelling, and the rest acknowledged it but honest to god suggested that it was just “natural facial asymmetry”, as though I don’t look in a mirror every morning. Eventually I got tired of the nonsense and gave up. Now I just try my best to cope with the symptoms on my own.
My hot take is that men get dismissed by doctors just like women do. The difference is that every time it happens to a woman it gets generalized as another instance of a systemic social justice issue, and even if it’s a female doctor they’ll still try to blame men by invoking “internalized misogyny”. With men on the other hand, every case is dismissed as some separate, happenstance, “unfortunate” encounter with a random asshole of either gender, and thus becomes invisible. I would also bet that the same underlying cherrypicking is at play in many other gendered social justice issues. This is compounded by the fact that men also talk about their issues much less openly, and in fact this type of dismissal may further discourage men from discussing the issues facing them.
I’ve never been correctly diagnosed first time, basically always have to fight drs or just hope I get better on my own.
Also depends on your carrier and facility you attend to seek treatment. Insurance and healthcare industry is not going to provide statistics on potential traceable mistakes they make.
Listen to your body.
almost always
went to the doc to get approved days off for my mental health. parents are a narc enabler situation and when the doc asked me to explain my situation they questioned very single aspect of it including saying “are you sure its not all in your head”. I won’t speak of any other mans experience but that is mine and I won’t be going back to any docs about it any time soon.
Misdiagnosis happen. Doctors are human. People make mistakes. Biases exist. For the most part, people do the best with what they have available. And, with all the love in the world, a lot of patients can be their own worst enemy, regardless of what doctor they have. At the end of the day, patients have to feel empowered to be their own best advocate. And that’s hard for a lot of people.
It’s a fairly cruel reality they many people in healthcare have come to accept. You really can’t save everyone. And you can’t protect people from themselves. So you do the best you can, and take whatever small wins you get. Most of the industry is overworked and burnt out. Keep that in mind.
All the time. Went to the doctor because I had been hit with a knee on knee hit in a hockey game many weeks prior. My main concern was ligament tears or strains but the hospital did an x-ray and found no damage to the bones which doesn’t even help me. At the time, I was told by the hospital it would heal nicely and I’d be ready to play in 2 weeks. This was perfect as it was before Christmas break and the hockey season takes a 2 week break at that time. It’s now mid March and I still feel the pain and tweaks with it like something isn’t right.
Back in early February, I went to another doctor asked about me knee. Told her what happened and how they told me two weeks it would heal but I was starting week 10 with a lot of pain still. It hurt if I had to pivot or run but I could gingerly walk and be okay. Lifting the knee up to go over something was also a killer for me. The doctor decided to completely ignore my knee and tell me that “there’s no indication that it’s injured so they won’t give you an MRI.” Like dude, if it wasn’t injured I wouldn’t fucking be here. I was told 2 weeks for it to heal and it’s week 14 now, I just want to know what’s going on in there. Do I need to be concerned or is it just me getting older and injuries take longer to heal?
She sent me home with nothing and no update and I was so frustrated I ended up going somewhere else entirely. That was probably the first time I’ve ever been completely ignored by a medical professional and felt like I wasn’t seen, heard or helped.
Every time I’ve gone to the Doctor for anything in my adult life they’ve blamed it on my weight.
Neck hurting? Lose weight (was degenerative disc disease)
I went to so many different doctors and specialists for my neck for years before one was willing to get tests run.
All the time. They never take what I say seriously
Had a doctor who would do regular checks, nothing more. He’d never adress a concern I’d have, so I stopped seeing him. My guess is that’s what he does to everyone.
I can’t answer the question, but speaking for myself, I have personal stories.
I had a talented young GP. I told him about a skin issue I had been having. He dismissed it as if I wasn’t showering properly, and gave me some anti-itch ointment for athletes.
Years later, found out I had an actual skin condition. If this guy would have listened to me and actually checked into it, I have found out years earlier.
Told him about another, more embarrassing issue. He waved it off, too. No big deal. Happens a lot. Then I found out that it is a potentially cancerous big deal that needs to be monitored regularly (family history sort of thing he should have realized).
Same dude also used to sort of poke fun at me for health issues. I passed out one day, and he went on and on about how it is the big tough tattooed guys who are always secretly the weakest. Brought it up for years after the event.
I don’t need to say this, but for the internet’s sake, I will: I am not seeing that doctor anymore.
I had an issue with my testes last year, which had mostly cleared up (not an std, tested negative beforehand) by the time I got an appointment. They didn’t dismiss me despite being mostly recovered, and with no abnormalities during the physical examination.
They referred me for an ultrasound to be sure, and gave me a clean bill of health. I was told if the symptoms come back, to just get back in touch, and they’d have another look. All in all, very reassuring and professional.
I been dismissed by doctor. And herded toward that it was something else very annoying. I started doing all natural remedies for symptoms researching for interactions and systematically trying to eliminate symptoms..it’s been four years.Not fun endeavor.
I am so lucky after reading these replies, but that was not always the case. Previous doctors were dismissive and sometimes rude. I switched to a different primary care doctor 14 years ago. I was a little hesitant (because I am a jerk) because she is a she. I am certain that not all female doctors listen better than all male doctors, but anecdotally I can affirm that she does. So, when I needed a colonoscopy I asked her to recommend a few and I picked the female one. As luck would have it she is another caring, patient, and inquisitive doctor. The same for my neurologist at NYU. I am noticing a trend here, guys.
I’d say doctors dismiss everyone’s health concerns unless it’s the most obvious and blatant signs of serious illness
60% of the time, every time.
I asked about a few things in my last check up and i basically got a, it will go away when you lose fat.
There’s also the time in my early thirties where the doctors laughed at me when I told them I thought that I had a low testosterone
This would have been post Iraq and after my neck injury I had been hearing these stupid commercials on the radio for low testosterone and normally ignore that sort of advertised nonsense however the symptoms lined up to perfectly so after about 6 months of listening to those stupid advertisements I finally made an appointment for the doctor I also researched it heavily on the internet yay WebMD PS doctors hate WebMD
So I go in and talk to the physician’s assistant and Doctor both whom I like and still get along with to this day but they laughed they thought it was just the radio thing getting into my head and so they said tell you what we’ll take a Baseline today so go down and get your blood drawn and then when you’re in your fifties come back and we’ll hook you up. They said this literally while laughing.
So I go downstairs I get my blood drawn I go home the next day a Saturday I get a phone call telling me I need to come in ASAP. My testosterone is literally in the double digits it’s supposed to be 1,500 to 1,300 I was an 11.
So they get me in for an MRI and lo and behold at some point I had a brain tumor around my pituitary that caused damage to my pituitary that self resolved thank goodness because generally speaking I am way too stubborn due to the doctor unless there’s something seriously wrong
Once I had an alergic reaction in my face and I went to the doctor and he didn’t really buy it. He thought I had a fist fight.
From my understanding you won’t get a man into the Doctor at all if he doesn’t think it’s something important. Less likely to be dismissed.
Since you asked…
Guys tend to downplay injuries and illnesses, it’s a fact. A Dr can only treat what their patient is willing to share with them. It got so bad, my PCP finally started talking to my wife about anything I might be ailing from or might have injured before I went to see him!
I speak as a retired nurse. I’ve seen more dismissal of women’s health concerns than I have of men. I had an 80-y-o something woman who was t -boned in an mva along with her husband who was driving. They airlifted him to shock trauma, sent her to the local general hospital. She had a liter of blood removed from her lung, fractured by a broken rib. They dismissed her c/o pain in her neck but I could see she was in trouble. I couldn’t get the MD or the nurse manager to listen to my concerns (only a student nurse at the time). I told the patient to not let anyone know I told her this or I could be kicked out of school (I don’t know what would happen for sure but I knew I would get in real trouble if this came out.) I told her to tell the staff nurse when I left that if they didn’t tell the doctor that she needed her neck examined and her pain taken seriously, that she would call her lawyer. When I returned the next day she was in a Philadelphia collar and gave me a big smile. She thanked and told me that I might have saved if not her life, then her legs, at least. She had 3 fractured vertebrae in her neck. These were very high in her neck and could have left her a possible quadriplegic if she’d fallen.
In my experience, most doctors do underestimate women’s complaints. Being a nurse taught me how to advocate for myself and my patients. I tell everyone that it’s smart to take an advocate with you to appointments when you are having trouble getting your answers in a timely and helpful manner from your provider. It’s stupid but numbers can count even in what should be straight forward discussions. Health exams become negotiations- you have a right and a need to appropriate treatment. The doctor is incentivized to get you in and out with minimal use of labs and other diagnostic equipment. It’s a dirty secret they can (not always depends on insurance ) get bonuses for not running tests that can be deferred while conservative treatments are tried. You the patient have to decide how concerned you are, whether you’re willing to try something you don’t think will work or whether you’re going to push. Medicine and doctors would improve greatly if more patients fired them to their faces. Men I consider very good doctors laughed when I said this at a party but all of them agreed
Over here my doc actually encouraged me to haul ass to the doctor’s office whenever I feel like something is up. They do their thing and then explain to me whether the thing I’ve been experiencing is dangerous or not or how to treat a pain i’ve been having. What kind of worthless doctors do you people have?..
Months of repeat appointments with male doctors, fuck all progress.
Female doctor, referrals, surgery for inguinal hernia, too late to save my left testicle. Necrotised. Dead. Because the male doctors failed to take it seriously.
I mean, guys, seriously?
You can just cross off the “men’s” part of the title.
The difference is men will be all stoic about being ignored but women will squack until treated.
Most of it is not active disregarding of men, its just ignoring issues. “Meh everyone has T2 diabetes” “Meh every male has super low T” “Meh everyone has an A1C over 10”
often.
My uncle died after his prostate cancer got shrugged off as “getting old”.
he was 65 and complained about issues with it for over a year whilst the doctors fobbed him off, saying it was common for his age. Only after he fainted, they found a brain tumor that was secondary cancer after his prostate cancer spread to his brain and he died a few weeks later, it was horrible.
Female N.P. telling me I am too young for an enlarged prosatate and refusing to do exam and accusing me of drug seeking behavior. I complain to doc…get appt, he does the exam and lo and behold I have an enlarged prostate…prescribed the meds the N.P. refused..
In America, this is 100% dependent on what insurance you have.
It took a long time to diagnose my gout due to it being peecicieved as sports injuries even though I gave up the sports due to injuries.
My joint pain on multiple times was not properly treated because doctors thought I was after pain meds. Even though I asked for my joint to be drained and to be given an anti-inflammatory injection not pain meds.
Also took me awhile before I found a 1/2 decent therapist when I started having issues years after my father died instead of right after. Also turns out I have seasonal depression and I am not just bored during winter.
I’ve worked assisting doctors in clinics and labs. Usually it’s been me taking the brunt of the verbal abuse from women claiming to be dismissed so I feel I can talk about this.
But issue number #1 to understand is when you have such a subjective matter it’s very tough to find concrete statistics (especially ones that a trained eye can’t break down).
I’ll describe a common story below that illustrates a point. Very often I’ll get men and women who are clearly obese coming in. As basic procedure for first timers in the clinic the nurses record height, weight, past medical records etc to create a file for them that’s given to the doctor before the appointment. Said doctor will then point out the obvious that a number of health issues reported by the patient is linked to the obesity. The men will look quite glum and realize they need to sort their shit out.
The women on the other hand will come out of the office and take their frustration out on me. Telling me that the doctor is fatphobic or misogynistic and didn’t actually pay attention to her condition yada yada yada. And I just have to sit there getting spat on because I’m not in enough of a position of authority to say anything (especially in this “woke” sensitive snowflake world). I’ve even had specific (obviously obese) women tell me they want a ,”fat supportive doctor”. This comes up sometimes in the subreddit for my home city and you’d be shocked at the number of people that will actually be in support of this claim and gang up against the doctor.
So perception is a huge matter here.
I’ve got precisely squat to contribute in the science department, but I’ve generally been taken seriously. Though, my ailments have been pretty straight forward most of the time, so my appointments are usually just 10 minutes of “I have this thing – yes it is that thing here’s a referral to a specialist”. Low severity too, mostly just strain injuries from biking.
I have had one “misdiagnosis”, but it was a case of looks like a duck, quacks like a duck but is in fact just a small goose, so no harm no foul.
I’ve been dealing with pain on my coccyx for a year and a half, couldn’t sit for more than five minutes without having intense pain. My doctor said we could only wait and let it heal, so I waited… And the pain never left.
Then I found a new doctor and he sent me to a specialist that gave me some injections, didn’t fix the issue but it almost did and it was *something* at least.
Now it’s almost gone (I think?) I’ve been sick for a week laying down all day so my coccyx isn’t getting any pressure, but still…
I have a serious issue with throbbing, obstructive congestion. It affects my ability to fall asleep and sleep through the night. I have on multiple occasions seen doctors about this only to be dismissed outright or written a prescription for fucking Flonase. Guess I’ll just rail nose spray the rest of my life.
Women undoubtably have it worse but doctors and the medical system as a whole leans dismissive toward real issues people are experiencing. I’m guessing more out of laziness than anything.
I can’t think of any times that I’ve been dismissed by a doctor, but I have felt that doctors don’t really care about me, that they just need to get me out the door so that an important patient can come in. I’m sure I’m not alone in this.
Also doctors don’t really suggest anything to me unless i explicitly ask for a solution, so if I just don’t know how to word the question (as I don’t have a medical degree), then no solution will be offered. Again, I’m sure this is true for most people.
Not my story, but my partner had back surgery and felt something was wrong. It was swelling, inflamed at the surgical site.
He had a checkup and they assured him it was fine, normal swelling.
He thought otherwise and told them he believed it was infected, but they told him it was not, again.
After several days, the site burst and began to drain. He collected some on cotton balls, put them in a bag, then took them to the doctor’s office so they would believe him.
They finally treated the *infection.