Men's Health

UHCS Services 

• Free condoms
• Free STI tests and treatment

Overview

Sexual Health

Many students decide to wait for their first sexual experience. The decision to not have sex (abstinence) is the only sure guarantee to avoid sexually transmitted diseases/infections (STD/Is) and unwanted pregnancies.

If you do decide to have sex ask yourself a few basic questions.

• Are you sure both you and your partner want to have sex?
• Are you and your partner equipped to have safe and protected sex?
• Are you and your partner aware of your options to have safer sex?
• Are you ready to face the consequences of unprotected sex?
• Men Can Stop Rapte (MCSR.org)

Sex between two mature consenting individuals can be enjoyable and satisfying. Learn to talk openly and honestly with your partner.

30 Seconds to Save your Life

Although testicular cancer is the most common cancer in men ages 20-35, it is one of the most easily cured cancers. Early detection is essential for successful treatment. A testicular self-exam (TSE) is the best method for early detection. It is easily learned and simple to perform. A TSE should be performed every month so you become familiar with what is normal for you and can recognize any changes that may occur. See link below to learn how to perform a TSE. 

Steroid Use

Steroids may seem like an easy way to get quick and impressive muscular results, but there are changes your body will go through that you may not have anticipated or considered. Side effects from steroid use can include a variety of physical and psychological problems. These include damage to your kidneys, heart, penis and testicles, ligaments and tendons, and even liver cancer. Psychological effects can include depression, paranoia, mood swings, and aggressive behavior. Before you take steroids, educate yourself on what all the effects are, and remember, some of them are irreversible.

Masculinity: Ways to Measure your Worth

Strong. That's the word most people think of first when asked what it means to be a man. If you think strong means tough, muscular, aggressive and stoic, you might think you have to take unnecessary risks, engage in violent behavior and avoid asking for help to be a "real man". strong can mean doing one's best, being responsible, making difficult choices and sticking it out. Strength of character is being ethical, fair and committed to doing "the right thing", standing up for your beliefs, your family and your community. Be strong enough to walk away from fights, to risk being honest about how you feel, to give up the need to control others and to take responsibility for protecting your own health and well being. Professional counselors and health care providers can help you find positive, healthy models of masculinity.

Intimacy

Intimacy is more than the physical part of a relationship. Intimacy reflects honest communication, equality in a relationship, mutual respect, and taking responsibility for behavior. Intimacy can occur between friends of either gender without sexual activity. However, intimacy is an important and integral part of any healthy sexual relationship. Learn to talk openly with friends and your partner about issues that make you happy, sad, angry, or uncertain. You will discover your friends or partner share similar feelings. You are not alone.

Issues for Thought

Men's health risks are largely preventable.

Compared to women, generally men:

• Die 6 years earlier
• Represent 50% of work force but represent 94% of the on-the-job fatalities
• Know less about health and take less responsibility
• Are less likely to see themselves as ill or susceptible to disease or injury when they are more susceptible
• Have less healthy diets
• Have higher blood pressures
• Have smaller social networks and less intimate and active social relationships
• Commit suicide at higher rates

By changing attitudes and behaviors about health and health care, these health risks can be greatly reduced. By paying attention to your mind and body and learning how to make healthy choices, you can change this outcome for yourself. Making your own decisions is part of maturing and becoming an adult. Choices determining health and quality of life should not be taken lightly. Practicing safe sex, performing self-exams, and avoiding drugs can help keep your body healthy and enable you to live a long life. You also need to maintain psychological health and be comfortable with who you are. Developing and sustaining healthy relationships will enrich your life and the lives of the people you care about.

Men, Speak Out!
Are you concerned about the way some other men talk about and treat women on this campus? Are you worried about the safety of your female friends? Have you ever gotten tired of most women looking at you as a potential rapist? What is a nice guy to do? Fight back. Reclaim your male pride and honor by actively condemning sexual violence. Make it your mission to join together with other men to stop the rapists and make this campus safe for everyone. The following ideas are from Men Stopping Rape in Madison.

Men's Pledge to End Rape

Because:

• I believe that rape will not end until men become part of the solution;
• I take pride in myself as a man;
• I care about the women in my life;
• I am angry that people I know have been hurt;
• I recognize that men are women will not be equal until rape ends;
• I know that happiness between men and women is difficult in a world where rape exists;
• I accept my responsibility to assist in making this a safer world.

I Pledge to:

• Speak out my anger about rape;
• Talk with other men about ending rape;
• Look at how men are raised that helps create a culture where rape is possible;
• Support laws that encourage men to take responsibility for ending rape;
• Listen to women friends' fears and concerns for their safety;
• Pay attention to cries for help from women around me;
• Challenge images of violence against women in advertising and pornography;
• Encourage women to be strong and powerful;
• Recognize that cooperation is power;
• Change whatever I am doing that helps create a culture where rape is possible;
• Support men and women working together to end rape.

Resources

• Mayo Clinic
• HPV and Men
• Testicular Self-Exam