In more than thirty years of practicing urology in New York City, I have had thousands of conversations with men who arrived in my office carrying beliefs about their health that were simply not true. Some of those beliefs were harmless misunderstandings. Many were not. Some had led men to avoid care they urgently needed. Some had caused them to pursue remedies that were ineffective or even harmful. And some had kept them in silent suffering for years, convinced that what they were experiencing was either normal, inevitable, or too embarrassing to discuss with a physician.
Correcting these myths and misconceptions is one of the most important things I do in my practice at Luzato Medical Group. It is also one of the most satisfying, because the moment a patient understands that what he has believed about his condition is not accurate, and that the accurate picture is far less hopeless than the myth suggested, is often the moment his entire relationship with his health begins to change.
This blog is my opportunity to address the myths I encounter most frequently in my practice, to replace them with accurate clinical information, and to explain why getting this right matters so deeply to the men I serve.
Why Myths About Men’s Health Are So Persistent and So Harmful
Where the Myths Come From
The myths and misconceptions I encounter in my practice do not arise from nowhere. They have sources, usually several of them operating simultaneously, and understanding those sources helps explain why the myths are so persistent even in the face of readily available accurate information.
Cultural narratives about masculinity are one of the most powerful myth generators in men’s health. When masculine identity is constructed around strength, invulnerability, and self-sufficiency, any health condition that suggests physical limitation or vulnerability becomes something to minimize, deny, or reframe in ways that protect that identity. Erectile dysfunction becomes something that happens to other men or to older men. Urinary difficulties become a normal part of aging that every man simply accepts. The reluctance to seek care becomes stoicism rather than avoidance.
Media and advertising contribute their own distortions. The internet is filled with unverified claims about men’s health conditions, miracle supplements, and treatments that promise results without clinical evidence. Social media amplifies personal anecdotes to the level of medical advice, creating the impression that what worked for one man in a particular context represents a general solution.
And the healthcare system itself sometimes contributes to the problem, through rushed appointments that do not allow time for thorough education, through clinical communication that assumes patients understand more than they do, and through the historical tendency to treat men’s sexual and urological health as topics too sensitive for open clinical discussion.
My job is to work against all of these forces, one patient at a time, by providing accurate, clear, compassionate information that replaces myths with knowledge and replaces avoidance with engagement.
The Myths I Address Most Often in My Practice
Myth One: Erectile Dysfunction Is Just a Normal Part of Getting Older
This is perhaps the single most damaging myth I encounter, and I address it explicitly with virtually every patient who presents with erectile dysfunction. The belief that erectile difficulties are simply an inevitable and unaddressable consequence of aging keeps enormous numbers of men from seeking care that would meaningfully improve their lives and, in many cases, their overall health.
The truth is more nuanced and far more hopeful. While the prevalence of erectile dysfunction does increase with age, this increase is not primarily driven by aging itself but by the accumulation of conditions and risk factors that become more common with age, including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, hypertension, obesity, and hormonal changes. These are conditions that can be identified, addressed, and in many cases meaningfully improved, and addressing them has direct positive effects on erectile function.
More importantly, the relationship between erectile dysfunction and cardiovascular disease means that dismissing erectile difficulties as normal aging may mean missing one of the earliest clinical signals of serious vascular disease. I tell my patients directly: erectile dysfunction in a man under 70 is not something to accept passively. It is something to evaluate carefully, because it may be telling us something important about his cardiovascular health that we need to act on.
As an erectile dysfunction doctor New York City who has spent decades treating this condition in its full medical complexity, I want every man reading this to know that effective treatments exist for erectile dysfunction at every age and across a wide range of underlying causes. The question is never whether help is available. It is whether a man is willing to seek it.
Myth Two: Premature Ejaculation Is a Psychological Weakness
The myth that premature ejaculation is primarily a sign of psychological inadequacy, of insufficient self-control, weak character, or emotional immaturity, is one of the most shame-inducing and clinically misleading beliefs I encounter in my practice. It keeps men from seeking help for a condition that has clear biological contributors and well-established treatment pathways, and it compounds the distress the condition already produces with an entirely unnecessary layer of self-blame.
The clinical reality is that premature ejaculation is a recognized medical condition with neurobiological, genetic, hormonal, and psychological contributors that interact in ways that are specific to the individual. Research has identified differences in serotonin receptor sensitivity and signaling as biological factors that affect ejaculatory control in ways that are entirely outside a man’s volitional control. Genetic studies suggest that premature ejaculation runs in families, further supporting a biological rather than purely psychological explanation.
This does not mean that psychological factors are irrelevant. Performance anxiety, relationship stress, and unresolved psychological history can all contribute to or exacerbate premature ejaculation, and addressing these dimensions is often an important part of comprehensive treatment. But they are contributing factors to a medical condition, not evidence of personal weakness, and treating them within a clinical framework is very different from accepting the myth that the condition reflects something fundamentally wrong with the man experiencing it.
I address this myth directly and early in every consultation about premature ejaculation, because I know that releasing patients from the grip of this misconception is often the first and most important step toward effective treatment.
Myth Three: Urinary Symptoms Are Just Something Men Have to Accept
I regularly see men in my practice who have been living with significant lower urinary tract symptoms, including urinary frequency, urgency, weak stream, nighttime urination, and difficulty emptying the bladder, for years or even decades, simply because they believed these symptoms were a normal and unaddressable aspect of male aging. This belief is both factually incorrect and clinically consequential, because untreated lower urinary tract symptoms can progress to more serious complications including acute urinary retention, bladder damage, and kidney function compromise.
The truth is that lower urinary tract symptoms in men have well-understood causes, including benign prostatic hyperplasia, overactive bladder, urethral stricture disease, and neurogenic bladder dysfunction, each of which has specific, effective treatment approaches that can substantially reduce symptom burden and improve quality of life. The idea that these symptoms simply must be endured is a myth that leads men to accept a diminished quality of life when they do not have to.
As a urology doctor Manhattan who evaluates and treats lower urinary tract symptoms as a core part of my practice, I want to be clear: if your urinary function is affecting your sleep, your daily activities, your confidence, or your quality of life, that is a medical concern worth addressing, not a normal condition to be accepted in silence.
Myth Four: Prostate Cancer Is Always Aggressive and Life-Threatening
Prostate cancer occupies a unique and often anxiety-producing place in men’s health awareness, and the myths surrounding it tend in two opposite and equally unhelpful directions. Some men are terrified of any prostate cancer diagnosis, convinced that it means imminent death or devastating treatment side effects. Others have dismissed prostate health concerns entirely, having heard that prostate cancer is slow-growing and not worth worrying about.
Neither extreme reflects the clinical reality, which is considerably more nuanced. Prostate cancer exists on a wide biological spectrum, from genuinely indolent, low-grade disease that may never require treatment to aggressive, high-grade disease that requires prompt and intensive intervention. The clinical skill lies in accurately characterizing where on that spectrum an individual patient’s cancer falls, which requires sophisticated diagnostic evaluation rather than a one-size-fits-all response.
I explain this spectrum carefully to every patient facing a prostate cancer evaluation or diagnosis, because I want them to approach the situation with accurate information rather than either paralyzing fear or dangerous dismissiveness. Modern urological care offers men with prostate cancer a range of options that are matched to the biological behavior of their specific disease, and men who understand this are far better equipped to navigate the decisions ahead of them.
I direct patients to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) for additional authoritative information on prostate health and the research that informs current evaluation and management approaches, because I want their understanding to be grounded in the best available evidence rather than in fear or misconception.
Myth Five: Testosterone Replacement Is Dangerous and Should Be Avoided
Testosterone replacement therapy has been the subject of considerable confusion and conflicting messaging over the past decade, and many men arrive in my office with the belief that testosterone therapy is inherently dangerous, particularly for the heart, and should be avoided regardless of the clinical picture. This belief, which developed in the wake of some early observational studies suggesting cardiovascular risk, has been substantially revised by more rigorous subsequent research, and it is causing some men to forgo treatment that would genuinely improve their quality of life.
The current evidence from well-designed clinical trials indicates that testosterone replacement therapy in men with documented hypogonadism, conducted under appropriate medical supervision with regular monitoring, does not increase cardiovascular risk in the majority of appropriately selected patients and may in fact have cardiovascular benefits in some populations. Like any medical intervention, testosterone replacement is not appropriate for every man, and its use requires careful patient selection, thorough baseline evaluation, and ongoing monitoring of relevant safety parameters.
I discuss the evidence clearly and honestly with every patient for whom testosterone replacement might be appropriate, including the genuine uncertainties that remain in the research literature and the monitoring requirements that make it safe when implemented correctly. My goal is to ensure that patients make decisions about testosterone replacement based on accurate information and individualized clinical assessment, not on myths that may be keeping them from a treatment that could meaningfully improve their well-being.
Myth Six: Seeking Help for Sexual Health Concerns Is Embarrassing and Unnecessary
I have saved this myth for its own section because it underlies so many of the others and because challenging it is, in some ways, the most important work I do. The belief that sexual health concerns, including erectile dysfunction, premature ejaculation, low libido, and changes in sexual function, are too embarrassing to discuss with a physician, or that they are too minor to deserve medical attention, is a barrier that delays care, perpetuates suffering, and in the case of erectile dysfunction, may allow serious underlying conditions to go undetected.
Sexual health is health. It affects quality of life, self-esteem, relationships, mental health, and, in the case of conditions with vascular or hormonal contributors, overall physical health in ways that extend well beyond the sexual domain. A man who dismisses his sexual health concerns as too embarrassing to mention to his physician is not protecting his dignity. He is limiting his access to care that could improve his life in multiple dimensions simultaneously.
I create an environment in every consultation where sexual health concerns can be raised without embarrassment, where questions are welcomed rather than rushed past, and where every patient knows that what he shares will be received with professional respect and genuine clinical attention. This is not an incidental feature of my practice. It is a deliberate design choice, because I know that the quality of care a man receives for his sexual health begins with his willingness to discuss it honestly.
As an erectile dysfunction doctor NYC and urologist who has devoted his career to the full range of men’s urological and sexual health concerns, I want every man to know that his concerns are legitimate, his questions are welcome, and the help he needs is available.
How I Approach the Myth-Correction Conversation
Listening Before Correcting
When a patient presents with a belief I know to be inaccurate, my first instinct is not to correct it immediately but to understand it. I want to know where the belief came from, how long the patient has held it, and what it has meant for his health decisions. This understanding shapes how I approach the correction in ways that make it more likely to be received and retained.
A myth that has been held for decades and that has protected a patient from having to confront something frightening requires a different approach than a recent misconception picked up from an internet search. The first requires more time, more empathy, and more attention to the emotional dimensions of what it means to let go of a belief that has served as a coping mechanism. The second may require primarily a clear presentation of accurate information from a trusted source.
I also direct patients to authoritative resources that reinforce the accurate information I provide in the clinical setting. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention men’s health resources provide straightforward, evidence-based information on many of the conditions I treat, and sharing these resources with patients gives them something to return to when doubt or old beliefs resurface after they leave my office.
Replacing Myths With Actionable Truth
My goal in addressing any myth is not simply to correct the factual error but to replace it with information that the patient can act on. Accurate information without a clear path forward is of limited clinical value. When I tell a patient that erectile dysfunction is not simply a normal part of aging, I follow that correction immediately with an explanation of what we can do together to evaluate and address it. When I tell a patient that his urinary symptoms are treatable, I move directly into a discussion of what that treatment might involve.
This connection between accurate information and actionable next steps is what transforms myth-correction from an intellectual exercise into a genuine clinical intervention. The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services similarly emphasizes the importance of connecting men with actionable health information and resources, recognizing that knowledge without a clear pathway to care has limited public health impact.
As a urology doctor NYC committed to providing the men of New York with care that is both medically excellent and genuinely accessible, I take seriously the responsibility to ensure that every patient leaves my office not just with corrected beliefs but with a clear understanding of what to do with those corrections and the confidence that I am here to help them do it.
The Truth Is More Hopeful Than the Myth
If there is one theme that unites everything I have written in this blog, it is this: the accurate clinical picture of men’s urological health is, in almost every case, more hopeful than the myths that have replaced it. The conditions that men believe they must accept are treatable. The concerns they feel are too embarrassing to raise are the ones most worth discussing. The help they assume is unavailable is waiting for them, if they are willing to ask for it.
I invite every man reading this to examine the beliefs he carries about his own urological health and to ask honestly whether those beliefs are based on accurate information or on myths that have kept him from the care he deserves. If you are not sure, I am here to help you find out.