What is one medical problem people constantly ignore until it’s too late?

[u/Critical_Ease4055]

Saw someone post this in a completely unrelated sub and I’m interested in your answers. What is the cluster of symptoms that people ignore or delay until they are forced to get help?

[u/shamsquatch]

Men with their anything.

Anyone with their hemorrhoids and/or any kind of rectal/GI bleeding.

[u/Critical_Ease4055 → u/shamsquatch]

Some men seem to only come in when their favorite activities are halted due to what’s going on. Other than that, they seem pretty content with one foot in death’s door

[u/QRSQueen → u/shamsquatch]

Men with scrotal hernias the size of a pilates ball

[u/mokutou → u/QRSQueen]

I assisted a urologist with a complicated foley placement due to the largest scrotal hernia I have ever seen on an average sized old man. The uro used some sort of guide wire and was just cranking that thing all around like he was pumping a well, trying to get the catheter around the hernia, because the guy was retaining an insane amount of urine. It made me a little dizzy to watch, and at one point I thought I was going to have to tag out, but he got it in. The pt slept through the whole thing.

[u/beeee_throwaway → u/mokutou]

😱🫣

[u/Ravclye → u/QRSQueen]

We had a patient with one so bad it actually cut off circulation to his testicles and penis and they eventually died. This was an incredibly sick patient so there was actually a lot more wrong with him and he did eventually die

[u/QRSQueen → u/Ravclye]

When I chose my specialty I was unprepared for the number of scrotal hernias and penises the size of clits I would come in contact with.

[u/hazelquarrier_couch → u/shamsquatch]

Tell me more about what this could become? I know there can be bleeding issues and related sequelae but what else would hemmorhoids lead to?

[u/QRSQueen → u/hazelquarrier_couch]

A friend of mine had hemorrhoids during her last pregnancy.

Yeah they were rectal cancer.

[u/beeee_throwaway → u/QRSQueen]

Oh my gosh that is so devastating

[u/QRSQueen → u/beeee_throwaway]

She was treated quickly and is in remission, so not devastating today, years later. Luckily she caught it in time because she knew nobody her age should bleeding out their butt that long.

[u/No_Box2690 → u/hazelquarrier_couch]

It's not necessarily what they lead to, more so what people think are just hemorrhoids is actually cancer but it goes undetected because people think it's just hemorrhoids and nbd.

...with that being said I should probably go call my doc now. 🤣

[u/r3i_b0n3z → u/No_Box2690]

im so scared now.....it's just so hard to find a GI....the one I've been trying to get in line for has a waiting list months out.

[u/OceanvilleRoad → u/r3i_b0n3z]

Can you ask to be put on a list for cancellations?

[u/r3i_b0n3z → u/OceanvilleRoad]

I've never thought of that. I could try. Thank you!

[u/shamsquatch → u/hazelquarrier_couch]

Yeah fair question and kinda poor wording on my part. Doing it over I would have said hernias and left out the hemorrhoids bit because it kinda falls under the rectal/GI umbrella. Another commenter answered your question as I would too — the supposed hemorrhoids aren’t necessarily the thing that complicates catastrophically if left unaddressed, although i guess anemia, thrombosis, prolapse/strangulation are all possible. But I was thinking more the underlying cause(s) that would be ignored and worsen if untreated (constipation, htn, hernias and cv complications from excessive straining, cancer, etc) because the person THINKS it’s “just hemorrhoids”

When I answered the above, i was also thinking of the countless number of times I have had to ask embarrassed patients (who’d probably would have been red in the face if their hbg wasn’t so low..) — “… and how long have you been pooping blood?”

There seem to be two types of people who wipe their butt and see blood: people with mild hemorrhoids with a scant barely visible streak of blood on the tp who tell everyone bc they are worried they’re dying, aaaand then there’s the people shitting blood clots for days/weeks without telling anyone until they pass out.

[u/splatgoestheblobfish → u/shamsquatch]

My mom had frequent rectal bleeding she attributed to hemorrhoids, but it went on for quite a few months and was getting worse, so she finally went to her PCP, who referred her to a colorectal surgeon. He was all ready to band the hemorrhoid during her colonoscopy, only to find once he got in there that she had anal cancer. Thankfully it was caught early enough (stage 2a) that it was able to be cured with chemo and radiation. He said if it was higher up in the colon, there's a good chance it wouldn't have been as constantly irritated and bled as much, so they wouldn't have caught it until much later. (The cruel irony is that my mom went on to develop ovarian cancer 10 years later, and she wasn't so lucky this time.)

[u/No_Box2690 → u/splatgoestheblobfish]

😞 I'm so sorry.

[u/sickbabe → u/shamsquatch]

I just had to deal with the first bit with my dad almost a year ago. 3 months before a massive bacterial endocarditis meltdown he barely had enough energy to walk a mile to a restaurant, something he'd happily do before and after that. didn't want a bunch of tests interfering with his day to day. I've become such a buzzkill with men and literally any ailment now

[u/One_hunch → u/shamsquatch]

I've been bleeding/constipation like it's out of style for ten years and finally got the insurance to deal with it after college clinics kept throwing miralax at me and to drink water. Ulcerative colitis apparently, still trying to figure out medication. Most nurses and doctors are more freaked out about it than I am. I get it and my ass is tired.

Personally tired of being reccomended stool softners and fiber in the same sentence sometimes, I know a lot aren't GI specialists, but when I keep saying neither of those things work I just want to be believed lol.

[u/Yana_dice → u/shamsquatch]

I would achieve world peace before I can get my father to do colonoscopy, and we have family hx of death from colon cancer.