Men's health Male reproductive anatomy Expand The male reproductive organs are the penis, testicles, epididymis, vas deferens and prostate gland. It is easier to see the male reproductive organs as they are mainly on the outside of the body. The penis is made up of two main areas; the shaft, which is made of spongy tissue that fills with blood when the penis is erect, and the glans, the sensitive tip which is covered by foreskin in uncircumcised men. The penis has three functions: passing urine sexual pleasure transporting semen (including sperm) into the female vagina during sexual intercourse The testicles are two oval shaped glands located in a sack of skin called the scrotum. The scrotum is situated behind the penis. One testicle hangs slightly lower than the other so they fit more comfortably. The testicles produces sperm and male sex hormones. They hang outside the body so they can be kept cooler than the rest of the body as this is important for the production of sperm. The epididymis is a series of small tubes attached to the back of each testicle. The epididymis collects and stores sperm until it is released through the penis. The epididymis eventually becomes the vas deferens, which is a larger tube that transports sperm into a storage area in the prostate gland. There are other glands as well as the prostate (seminal vesicles, bulbourethral glands and Cowper’s gland) that provide the sperm with nourishment and lubricating fluid. The mixture of sperm and other fluid is called semen.
What can I expect during my consultation with a pelvic floor physiotherapist? Expand Your pelvic floor physiotherapist will take a thorough history and discuss your symptoms. They will need to ask you questions such as how long you’ve been suffering from your symptoms, how often you suffer from symptoms, how you are managing your symptoms, and many other questions as part of the initial assessment. You will be explained how your pelvic floor anatomy works so that you understand why you are suffering from symptoms and how the therapy aims to treat your symptoms. Depending on your symptoms, your therapist may need to conduct a physical examination, which may include internal vaginal or rectal examinations. All physical examinations are fully explained, and consent is sought at every step. You have the right to decline a physical examination, or request a support person to be in the room with you. Physical examinations provide critical information to your physiotherapist on the cause of your symptoms and how to best treat them.
Will pelvic floor therapy work? Expand Pelvic floor physiotherapy is useful for people who are suffering from bowel or bladder issues, for people recovering from childbirth, for people suffering from vaginal or rectal prolapse, for people suffering from pelvic pain, for anyone who has undergone prostate surgery. There are a number of causes as to why people may suffer from pelvic floor dysfunction, however, our expert clinicians will assess your unique needs and refer you to our physiotherapists as needed.
What does a physiotherapist do for the pelvic floor? Expand Your physiotherapist will assess a group of muscles that are involved with urinary, bowel, and reproductive and sexual function. Through exercises, lifestyle modifications, education and hands-on treatment, the physiotherapist aims to reduce or eliminate your symptoms through the gradual improvement of your pelvic floor function. A pelvic floor physiotherapist is a physiotherapist that is specially trained to rehabilitate pelvic floor muscles.
Consumer Advisory Group Replace this with your content Expand True’s Consumer Advisory Group is a small team of volunteer clients and clinic staff working towards improved care and client satisfaction in our clinics throughout Queensland. An important way to make sure that we make everyone’s visit to our clinics a positive and professional experience, conducted in a friendly environment is to get your valuable feedback, listen to your ideas, and seek your advice in resolving issues. Our aim is to work together to identify and resolve consumer issues, and discuss ways to improve the client experience in a friendly and social manner. If you’d like to join the group, please complete our Expression of Interest form. You can resign from the group at any time, by emailing us to let us know, but we hope you will be a member for a long time to come!
Natalie Bain - Chair BA, Grad Dip Public Relations Expand Natalie is a stakeholder engagement and communication specialist with broad and significant experience at the state, national and global levels over almost two decades. While currently based in Brisbane, she spent several years living and working in remote and regional Queensland. Her career to date has predominately focused on building and maintaining respectful dialogue between organisations in the resources sector and host communities. Understanding community needs and priorities and guiding appropriate organisational responses, often working with charities and not-for-profits as delivery partners, is a skill set that Natalie draws on in her work with True. A Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, Natalie is also a director of Domino’s charitable foundation, Give for Good. Special responsibilities: Chair, Deputy Chair to 7 June 2018; Member, Governance Committee
Brisbane Expand Building 1230 Lutwyche RoadWindsor QLD 4030 PO Box 215Fortitude Valley QLD 4006 P 07 3250 0200 F 07 3250 0293E [email protected] Clinic Hours - Weekdays 9:00am-5:00pm(last booking at 3:30pm) View map
Can I have my procedure done under sedation or a general anaesthetic? Expand True Clinic only offers vasectomy under local anaesthetic. For sedation or general anaesthetic we recommend you obtain a referral to a urologist or contact Marie Stopes Australia.
How many days does it take to recover? Expand Some men recover quite quickly from vasectomy while others may take up to two weeks. The average time to feeling back to normal is about 7 days.
Do I need a referral from my GP? Expand No. You can book directly through our True clinic - phone 3250 0200.
When can I go back to work? Expand It’s really important not to lift anything too heavy for the first week. If your job doesn't involved much heavy lifting you can often go straight back to work, but if you are in a job with a lot of lifting you may wish to take some time off or request light duties. Our Doctor can provide a medical certificate if you want to stay home.
When will I know the procedure has worked? Expand The procedure does not work immediately and you must consider yourself fertile until we tell you the vasectomy was a success. We request you do a semen analysis at 3 months to confirm you are sterile. This will give you plenty of time to "clean out the pipes"!
What are the risks of having a vasectomy? Expand We do everything we can to reduce the rate of complications but all surgical procedures have risks you should be aware of. A full list of potential complications are outlined fully in your consent form when you book your appointment. After your vasectomy, most men will notice some level of: - Bruising - you may notice some bruising in the days after your vasectomy but this will usually disappear after about a week. - Mild pain and swelling - this commonly settles a few days after your procedure. Rare complications include: - A scrotal haematoma: This is a large bruise within the scrotum. You can reduce your chance of getting a haematoma greatly by following our instructions regarding lifting heavy objects in the days after the procedure. If you work in a job that requires heavy lifting make sure you get some time off work or ask for light duties. - Infection: We try to reduce the chance of you getting an infection by adhering to strict infection control protocol. Most infections are mild and can be treated with oral antibiotics. Very Rare complications include: - Post Vasectomy Pain Syndrome (PVPS): This is a rare but serious complication that can occur any time after a vasectomy. There is little agreement on what causes PVPS. In most cases pain will resolve eventually but in rare cases specialist review and even additional surgery or reversal may be required to resolve the problem.
Can I get my vasectomy reversed? Expand If you are asking yourself this question, you should really think twice about getting a vasectomy. Yes, vasectomies can be reversed. But you should consider this procedure as permanent contraception. Reversals are not 100%, they can be expensive (starting from $5000) and are not covered by Medicare.
Is there any special preparation I need to do for my vasectomy? Expand Yes. You will be given information on how to prepare when you book your appointment.
Can I drive home after my vasectomy? Expand Yes, but you may want to rest after the procedure at home.
What are the types of vasectomy? Expand There are a couple of ways to categorise the procedure methods: 1. Traditional Vs No-Scalpel - The traditional method involves using a scalpel to make an incision on each side of the scrotum to access the vas. The No-scalpel method uses blunt dissection and usually only involves one hole being made through which the vas from both sides is accessed. The no-scalpel technique results in lower complication rates such as bruising and bleeding. 2. Open-ended Vs Closed-ended - The open ended technique means that the end of the vas attached to the testicle is left open. Why does this matter? Well after a vasectomy the testicle is going to continue to make sperm and this sperm needs to go somewhere. By allowing it to be released into the scrotum we reduce the incidence of “congestion” or the feeling of pressure from sperm backing up (think of a kinked hose with the tap running). The closed-ended technique means the testicular end of the vas is clamped with a suture or a clip.
What is a Vasectomy? Expand A vasectomy is a simple procedure where the vas deferens (vas) the is cut to cause sterilisation in a male. The vas is a tube that carries sperm from the testicles to the penis. On the way, sperm is joined by semen so your ejaculate contains both sperm and semen. Sperm makes up a very small percentage (less than 5%). Because we are only stopping sperm being made, most men will not notice any change in the volume of their ejaculate after a vasectomy. For more information on Vasectomy, visit our Male Sterilisation page.
Pelvic floor exercises The pelvic floor muscles are located in the pelvis and stretch like a sling from the pubic bone to the tail bone and from side to side. Strong pelvic floor muscles help support the bladder and bowel in men, and the bladder, bowel and uterus in women. When the pelvic floor muscles are weakened the internal organs are not fully supported and there can be difficulty controlling the release of urine, faeces or flatus (wind). Expand The pelvic floor muscles are located in the pelvis and stretch like a sling from the pubic bone to the tail bone and from side to side. Strong pelvic floor muscles help support the bladder and bowel in men, and the bladder, bowel and uterus in women. When the pelvic floor muscles are weakened the internal organs are not fully supported and there can be difficulty controlling the release of urine, faeces or flatus (wind). There are a number of causes of a weakened pelvic floor, including: pregnancy childbirth genetic factors straining on the toilet or chronic constipation chronic coughing or sneezing including those linked with asthma, smoking or allergies heavy lifting previous injuring to the pelvic area age obesity. Although the pelvic floor muscles are hidden they can be consciously controlled so can be strengthened with training, like abdominal muscles and arms and legs. The benefits of pelvic floor muscle exercises: improved control over bladder and bowel function reduced risk of prolapse ('sagging' of internal organs) better recovery from childbirth and surgery (in women) better recovery after prostate surgery increased sexual sensation and stronger orgasm in women increased social confidence and quality of life some evidence to suggest that there may be improvement with erectile dysfunction in men. The first thing you need to do is identify the pelvic floor muscles before attempting an exercise program. Pelvic floor exercises can be done at any time and any place; sitting, standing, waiting in a queue, driving a car or at your desk, and like all exercise needs to be regular and ongoing. If you need advice on identifying the pelvic floor muscles or beginning an exercise program, you can visit a continence and pelvic floor physiotherapist, a continence nurse or visit the National Continence Helpline site or download the Pelvic Floor First Safe Exercise app. There are also some other lifestyle changes you can make to help strengthen the pelvic floor: losing excess body fat cure chronic constipation regular general exercise good toilet habits seek advice and treatment for chronic cough. For more information, please see: Continence Foundation of Australia Pelvic floor muscles page. Jean Hailes Pelvic floor strength page. Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care Consumer Factsheet
Incontinence Incontinence describes any accidental or involuntary loss of urine from the bladder (urinary incontinence) or faeces or wind from the bowel (faecal incontinence). Incontinence is a common condition that ranges in severity from 'just a small leak' to complete loss of bladder or bowel control. Incontinence can be treated and managed, and in many cases it can also be cured. Expand Incontinence describes any accidental or involuntary loss of urine from the bladder (urinary incontinence) or faeces or wind from the bowel (faecal incontinence). Incontinence is a common condition that ranges in severity from 'just a small leak' to complete loss of bladder or bowel control. Incontinence can be treated and managed, and in many cases it can also be cured. Urinary incontinence Urinary incontinence describes the involuntary loss of urine from the bladder and is a common condition experienced by women. There are many other causes or risk factors of urinary incontinence, including: pregnancy childbirth menopause conditions such as diabetes, stroke, heart conditions, asthma obesity urinary tract infections constipation surgery such and hysterectomy (removal of all or part of the uterus and/or ovaries) reduced mobility that restricts access to a toilet neurological and musculoskeletal conditions such as multiple sclerosis and arthritis some medications Urinary incontinence has a range of symptoms: an occasional leak when you laugh, cough or exercise need to go to the toilet urgently need to go to the toilet frequently complete inability to control your bladder If you are always feeling thirsty as well as having to urinate frequently, talk to your doctor to check that you do not have diabetes. Urinary incontinence can be managed, treated and often cured. However treatment and management will depend on the cause of urinary continence, so it is important to see your doctor if you have symptoms. For more information, go to the Continence Foundation of Australia web pages - What is incontinence? and Who's at risk? and see the Women's Health Queensland Wide Urinary incontinence fact sheet. Faecal incontinence Faecal incontinence is a term used to describe leakage from the bowel due to poor bowel control. You may also find you have excessive wind or experience staining of your underwear. Poor bowel control can be caused or made worse by a number of things including certain health conditions or medicines taken for other problems. Factors that can lead to loss of bowel control include: long term straining medications (e.g. antibiotics, medication for diabetes or arthritis) damage to the anal sphincter or pelvis floor muscles (may be caused by heavy lifting, child birth, surgery, chronic coughing or sneezing) diabetes inflammatory bowel disease e.g. ulcerative colitis, Crohn's disease a fistula or haemorrhoids nerve disorders resulting from multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy. Stroke, Parkinson's disease severe diarrhoea or constipation Faecal incontinence has a range of symptoms including: not able to control the passage of wind of faeces not able to make it to the toilet in time diarrhoea constipation having lots of wind and feeling bloated unexplained weight loss pain or bleeding from the anus Possible treatments include: pelvic floor exercises changes to diet medications (eg., laxatives for constipation) surgery to repairs damage to the rectum or anus For more information, please see: Australian government's Bladder & Bowel website. Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care Consumer Factsheet.
Bone density and osteoporosis Bone density testing is a medical test used to determine bone density or strength. These tests can identify if you have low bone density or osteoporosis, and the risk of future bone fractures. The test is simple, comfortable and easy to arrange at an imaging/X-ray site. No other test can provide the same information. Expand Bone density testing is a medical test used to determine bone density or strength. These tests can identify if you have low bone density or osteoporosis, and the risk of future bone fractures. The test is simple, comfortable and easy to arrange at an imaging/X-ray site. No other test can provide the same information. As we age we lose bone mass. Osteoporosis is a disease that causes the skeleton to weaken from loss of bone mass. Osteoporosis is called a “silent disease” because it progresses without symptoms until a fracture occurs. Fractures resulting from osteoporosis most commonly occur in the hip, spine, and wrist, and can be permanently disabling. Osteoporosis affects both women and men. According to Osteoporosis Australia, over 1 million people in Australia have osteoporosis. Both men and women may have certain ‘risk factors’ that can make them more likely to develop osteoporosis. People should discuss risk factors with their doctor, and anyone over 50 with risk factors may need a bone check up with a bone density scan. General risk factors can include: Family history: Bone health can be strongly inherited so it is important to note if anyone in your family (particularly parents or siblings) has ever been diagnosed with osteoporosis Low calcium and vitamin D intake Medical history: Certain conditions and medications can have an impact on bone health Corticosteroids - commonly used for asthma, rheumatoid arthritis and other inflammatory conditions o Glucocorticoids (steriods) Low hormone levels Thyroid conditions - over active thyroid or parathyroid Conditions leading to malabsorption eg: coeliac disease, inflammatory bowel disease Some chronic diseases eg: rheumatoid arthritis, chronic liver or kidney disease Some medicines for breast cancer, prostate cancer, epilepsy and some antidepressants Lifestyle factors, such as low levels of physical activity, smoking, excessive alcohol intake, weight (thin body build or excessive weight) To preserve bone health, both men and women are advised to: Avoid smoking Reduce alcohol intake Increase your level of physical activity Ensure a daily calcium intake that is adequate for your age Ensure an adequate intake of vitamin D Women Women are at a greater risk of developing osteoporosis because of the rapid decline in oestrogen levels during menopause. When oestrogen levels decrease, bones lose calcium and other minerals at a much faster rate. As a result a bone loss of approximately 2% per year occurs for several years after menopause. Treatments for breast cancer that decrease estrogen levels even further can add to the risk of osteoporosis and breaks. To find out more about breast cancer treatments and osteoporosis, read this factsheet from Osteoporosis Australia. Men Men also lose bone as they age, however testosterone levels in men decline more gradually so their bone mass remains adequate till later in life. By age 65 or 70 years men are losing bone mass at the same rate as women. The male hormone testosterone helps maintain strong bones, so low testosterone levels can increase your risk of developing osteoporosis and breaking a bone. Certain medications, like therapy for prostate cancer (eg: androgen deprivation therapy), can affect testosterone levels. Men with testosterone deficiency or low testosterone levels can improve their bone density with testosterone replacement. For more information, go to the Osteoporosis Australia site.
Breast Pain Many women experience breast pain or mastalgia at different times in their lives. Breast pain is any pain, tenderness or discomfort in the breast or underarm region. There are a number of causes of breast pain and women may experience it at different times in their life. Expand Many women experience breast pain or mastalgia at different times in their lives. Breast pain is any pain, tenderness or discomfort in the breast or underarm region. There are a number of causes of breast pain and women may experience it at different times in their life. Although many women with breast pain are concerned that they may have cancer, breast pain is not a common symptom of breast cancer. Download PDF