Men’s Health Services
At Bluff Road Medical, we offer a range of men’s health services. From skin checks to bowel and prostate screening, the doctors are here to support men on their journey to living a healthier, happier life.
Teens and Early Adults
During the school years, stress is a common concern for young people. If stress if becoming a problem, speak to your GP, who will discuss the options available, which includes counselling through a psychologist if necessary.
At Bluff Road Medical, we have a team of psychologists ready to offer counselling to young men experiencing risk behaviour and mental health concerns.
You may be eligible for a Mental Health Care Plan, which entitles you to Medicare rebates for up to 10 individual and 10 group appointments with some allied mental health services in a calendar year. Speak to your doctor for more information.
Excessive alcohol consumption amongst young adults is a growing concern and sadly we are seeing more and more young people binge drinking.
Warning signs in teens:
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- Becoming withdrawn
- Socially isolated and cutting themselves off from friends
- Difficulty getting out of bed
- Difficulty getting to school.
If you are concerned about your drinking habits or those of your child, we can assist. Our GPs can provide guidance about how to tackle excessive drinking, as well as offering support to young people experiencing addiction to illicit drugs.
Quitting smoking can be difficult, but we are here to help you achieve your goal. We can line you up with all the support tools you’ll need to break the habit. Quitline is a great place to start, for example.
Your doctor can also provide advice about nicotine substitutes (gum and patches), as well as tablets to inhibit nicotine receptors in the brain and other options to suppress cravings.
20S TO 50S
At Bluff Road Medical, we have dieticians and a diabetes educator on-site. If patients are on the borderline of diabetes, we send them to these experts for further advice about sensible eating and weight advice.
There’s also an in-house cardiologist at Bluff Road Medical Centre. If we have concerns about early heart disease or family history of early heart disease, we can refer you on to Dr Ian Matthews.
Sexual health screening is part of our men’s health services. If it’s been a while between check-ups or you have any concerns, please book in for a sexual health screening.
It’s important to remember that some sexually transmitted diseases (STIs) may show no symptoms (Chlamydia, for example). There are simple tests available to check your sexual health, including blood and urine tests, so please book in.
If you have no plans for having more children, your GP can provide advice around having a vasectomy. This is a simple day procedure under general anaesthetic which cuts the tubes that carry sperm from the testicles. Vasectomy is safe and effective.
While we do not perform vasectomies, we can provide a referral to a specialist who can. If you’re a public patient, the operation can be performed through Sandringham Hospital or privately if you have health insurance.
At Bluff Road Medical, preventative health is one of our key drivers. That’s why we’ll make it a priority to run through your family history and identify any medical concerns that may come up in the future.
If you have a history of a particular medical condition like heart disease, your doctor can provide advice and tips about how to avoid it.
It’s a good idea to have your skin checked annually for changes.
We offer mole scanning and skin checks. For more info, check out our Skin Cancer page.
Age 50+
We encourage over the 50s to have yearly health checks. Once you come in for your first check-up, we’ll put you on the recall system to be contacted annually.
We usually suggest you have a blood test prior to a face-to-face consultation. As part of this, we will run through any risk factors.
Around 17,000 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer annually in Australia. If you have a close relative with prostate cancer your chances of being diagnosed with it are higher, particularly if the relative was diagnosed before the age of 60.
Symptoms include:
• Trouble passing urine
• A slow, interrupted flow of urine
• Frequent urination, including at night
• incontinence.
At Bluff Road Medical, we recommend yearly testing after the age of 50. We can check your prostate health with either a PSA blood test (which measures the level of PSA in your blood) or a physical examination.
If either test returns an abnormal result, your GP will inform you about the next possible steps, including biopsy.
The National Bowel Cancer Screening Program is available to eligible men aged 50 to 74. As part of the program, men receive a fecal immunochemical test in the mail and be asked to take two separate fecal samples before sending the test back to the lab for analysis.
If you have a family history of bowel cancer or polyps, speak to your doctor about other screening options, such as a colonoscopy, and we can refer you to a specialist.
We support men with their health right throughout the lifespan. For seniors, this can include anything from managing arthritis to cognitive issues with early-onset dementia.
The doctors can also assist with suggestions for improving mental health in older men by encouraging them to socialize regularly (for example by with U3A or Men’s Sheds). Whatever your medical needs, we are here to help.
