Using It or Losing It, an older guy's view

This seems a good time, at least for me, to offer you guys some advice to think about as you (all of you) age.

I am now 65.

Each year I haul myself into the urologist’s office for The Exam. I chose my uro for his medical training, his age (early 40s; I figured he had to be currently informed) and his humor, which is considerable. I don’t deal well with humorless doctors.

He has monitored my ED, seen me through nagging and puzzling events of prostatitis (gone), a high PSA scare, some other stuff.

Recently we had our annual. It began with the prostate. He needed to do a digital. He pronounced my prostate “boringly normal.” Good news. Then we reviewed the results of the PSA blood test I had had a few days before. Down a little from last year. 1.30 now. As some of you know, that is a very nice read to hear at my age.

Then he drilled me on the erectile drugs I use: How long do X, Y, and Z require to take effect? What are the results in my estimation? How often was I having sex or masturbating and did any of these drugs seem to interfere with ejaculation or orgasm? There were some other questions.

When that drill was done, he said, “Avocet, you are in a very fine place. You are doing all the right things. You researched your options, you learned about these drugs; you are making sure your prostate, testes, and seminal vessicles get exercise and that you have frequent erections. You’re getting real good use out of what you’ve got. Frankly, you are doing great.” He grinned. I grinned.

My point in telling you guys this personal stuff is to try to make all of you aware, given the great variety of interests and fears expressed on these pages, is that a lot of good penis and reproductive organ health has to do with using these organs frequently and sensibly. You treat ‘em good, and they will continue to treat you good. They are designed to renew their processes; it is up to you to use them. They function better when you do use them. And if you do use them in sensible ways along the way, they will likely be there for you when you are 65 yourselves. Or 70, or 80, or more.

So heads-up, edgers who seldom allow a load to be blown, guys who are afraid to ejaculate and do PE, too, and those of you who have no sexual partner and hold it all in because you don’t masturbate instead, for whatever reasons.

Use It, or Lose It is the way it seems to work.

And that goes for your real muscles, too. Get off the fucking couch.

End of rant.

Avocet,

I can only hope to be doing as well as you are in 33 years.

Great news, Avocet. Thanks for the encouraging report. I definitely enjoy regular use of my equipment!

BFLR

I don’t call that a rant. I call that good sound advice from a very knowledgable man. :thumbs: Great post, a8. We would all do well to learn that. And I will be VERY happy to be as healthy as you in 30-something years. Hell, I’d be happy to be that healthy now. :D

Avo

I’m happy to hear all is well, over the years you have become a good friend and I always highly respect your opinions and rants:)

:eek: Your doctor called you Avocet!

Anyway, it’s great to hear such positive news and it’s good to know that there is actually a doctor, even if he is on the other side of the world, who has a sense of humour. Mind you Avocet, you probably bring out the best in him and it’s you cheering him up which does the trick :mwink:

Must dash, I’m off now to start using it :spin2:

Cut the start! :gulp:

He probably told you what you wanted to hear because he’s afraid you might slap him with that 7.5” flaccid salami if he infuriates you. :D j/k

That’s good news, a8! Glad to hear everything is working properly, and out of that you lend advice to all of the other guys here at T’s Place. :thumbs:

My Hero! :homer3d:

a8,

Just because of your use it or lose it speech , I decided to jerk off in your honor. Thanks for making me feel way better today.

789

That was really inspiring, great to see a guy “your age” doing so well. Does he no about your PE by any chance?

“Use it or lose it”. Amen to that. We all need to have a uro like yours.

Peforeal

He knows that I pump. Told him that at the first appointment. He has since told me he recommends vacuum pumps quite often to guys with ED. I’ve never mentioned any manual exercises I do; that didn’t seem necessary. I’ve not had to see him ever for any sort of PE injury.

Since I became a grown-up, I’ve always “interviewed” doctors; if they don’t meet my criteria, I don’t go back. The best ones listen well, no question is “dumb” to them, nor is any subject, like sex, a taboo one. And they give you the time you need to get explanations without cutting you off and edging you out the door because another patient may be waiting.

Ideally they have a sense of humor. Some exams can get a little dicey like the prostate digital one. In order to get a sense of relative size, tissue consistency, and shape, they have to do a good deal of prodding. Mine said, to lighten an otherwise uncomfortable moment, “You know? It just doesn’t make sense that they put prostates where they did. There are a lot of other easier places to get to.” [I was thinking, Yes. Like in your forearm.]

Fortunately for all of us, more doctors are now being trained to field and to encourage sexual-genital information sharing. Having moved around a bit in my life, I’ve had to change docs many times. It is always a very good sign to me when they ask me whether my cock is working. Saves me having to bring that up if it were not and indicates to me that they view the body as a functional whole rather than in terms of the particular parts I may have gone in to get checked.

To magnumXL:
My uro doesn’t seem to be afraid. :)
He did see me erect during a test I had done which required that happening. Before the erection occured, he looked at my flaccid [I had already made some nice gains there] and said, “This is good. You have the perfect anatomy for this.” I took that to mean there was a lot of surface area for the essential needle poke. Later he said only - little grin: “Obviously the shot is working.”

In the context of this thread, btw, important to say regarding the above test that I felt quite comfortable during it. I don’t think he felt embarrassed in any way to be doing what he had to do and I remember looking at the whole thing as some sort of science project, mostly because he said/did nothing that made me uncomfortable. That’s maybe the ideal feeling when we have to have these sorts of intimate medical experiences that could tug negatively otherwise at the ways we’ve been socialized as men.

Bump, worth the read

Nice one!