Can you just prescribe testosterone? I already know my level is low.
Not on one result, and not at a first appointment. Diagnosis requires two separate fasting morning samples before 11am, plus LH, FSH, SHBG and prolactin to work out why the level is low.
That is not obstruction. In a large proportion of men with a low reading the testicles are working perfectly well and something else is suppressing them — weight around the middle, untreated sleep apnoea, opioid painkillers, alcohol, chronic short sleep. Several of those are reversible, and treating them raises testosterone without committing you to lifelong therapy.
If after all that your level is genuinely low and the symptoms fit, treatment is often excellent and we will say so.
Will you examine my prostate?
No — a rectal examination cannot be done by video. Where one is needed we arrange it.
What we can do is discuss whether a PSA test is right for you, which is a genuine decision rather than a routine check. We will not sell it to you as reassurance it cannot provide — a normal PSA does not exclude prostate cancer, and a raised one usually turns out to be benign enlargement.
Is erectile dysfunction really a heart problem?
Often, yes — and this is the single most useful thing on this page. The arteries supplying the penis are narrower than the coronary arteries, so they show atherosclerosis earlier. ED frequently precedes a cardiac event by a few years.
That makes it an opportunity rather than only an embarrassment. Assessing blood pressure, cholesterol and glucose at the same time is the point, and men who come in about erections sometimes leave having had something more important found.
I find this embarrassing. What will I actually be asked?
Direct questions, asked matter-of-factly: how long, whether it happens every time, whether you wake with erections, whether desire has changed, what medication you take, how much you drink.
Whatever it is, it has been asked before, and there is no version of this where you are wasting anyone's time. Many men find a video call from their own home considerably easier than a surgery, which is a large part of why this service exists.
Can I get sildenafil or tadalafil?
Usually, where it is safe. The assessment covers blood pressure, cardiovascular history and what else you take.
The absolute bar is nitrates — GTN spray, isosorbide, and the poppers sold as room odourisers. That combination can be fatal and there is no dose adjustment that makes it safe. Recent heart attack, stroke or unstable angina also need assessment first.
I am tired all the time. What will you actually test?
Typically thyroid function, ferritin, full blood count, HbA1c, liver and kidney function, vitamin D, B12 and a morning testosterone.
But the highest-yield question is not a blood test — it is whether you snore. Sleep apnoea produces exactly this picture, is badly underdiagnosed, and transforms how people feel once treated.
I have found a lump in my testicle.
Get it assessed in person this week. Do not wait.
Most testicular lumps are benign cysts. But testicular cancer is the commonest cancer in men aged 15 to 45, it is typically painless — which is exactly why it gets left — and it is highly curable when caught early. An ultrasound settles it quickly, and we will arrange urgent referral rather than reassure you from a description.
Do I have to talk about how much I drink?
You will be asked, and an honest number is genuinely more useful than a diplomatic one. Alcohol suppresses testosterone, fragments sleep, raises blood pressure and lowers mood — which means it sits underneath most of what men book these appointments about.
Nobody is keeping score. But a doctor working from an understated figure is working from the wrong picture.