Paging Dr. Reddit: The Men Crowdsourcing Their Health

It’s Men’s Health Week at Playboy and we’re exploring the increasingly DIY state of men’s healthcare. From the peptides ruling Hollywood to the Reddit forums replacing doctors, men are taking their health into their own hands. Here’s what you need to know.

As of recently, Reddit can buy guns, beers and Blue Razz vapes in any state across the US—it was launched exactly 21 years ago, on June 23, 2006. But the site’s very own biggest cake day isn’t filled with celebratory birthday messages. Instead, on my feed at least, as a 29-year-old guy who often thinks he’s succumbed to a rare tropical disease, it’s all dodgy dicks, supplement discourse and SSRI woes. One of the latest posts that pops up reads: “Does anyone else have this weird feeling down there?”

Reddit may be, according to its tagline, “the heart of the internet”—but millions of men are now using it to check their own vital organs are still intact. Healthcare is one of Reddit’s fastest growing organic categories; it’s multiplying by 48% year on year and users average 23 minutes daily on these topics. And guys are gravitating towards these discussions in their droves, armed with lived experience. TL;DR: Doctor Reddit is the new Doctor Google.

Dr. Will Courtenay, PhD, an internationally-recognized expert in men’s health and psychology, has clocked this trend. “There’s definitely been an uptick in men using Reddit to discuss health concerns. And that’s confirmed by Reddit,” he says (Reddit did not respond to comment.)

Sharing earnest medical advice wasn’t exactly the intended use of Reddit. The social networking site was, like seemingly every social media site, created by college roommates  to churn out content. It originally seeded with fake accounts to amplify its buzz as a link aggregator. And its first subreddit, besides r/reddit, was “r/nsfw”—pointing to its rapid lurch towards pornographic content (there are now close to 90,000 NSFW subreddits.)

But “r/science” soon followed and Reddit pivoted to a more grown-up forum, alongside, obviously, a glut of smut, fantasy, lore and shitposting. Now, there’s a subreddit for pretty much every disease, ailment, disorder and malady imaginable — ranging from “r/cancer” and “r/MultipleSclerosis” to “r/migraine” and “r/anxiety” to “r/earwax” and “r/eystrain.” The entire gamut of healthcare, warts and all, is represented.

Of course, it’s not just for guys. A recent study found that discussions about women’s health on Reddit has increased by 37% and 80% of women surveyed consider the platform a judgement-free zone. But according to data from Pew Research Center, women, compared to men, are more confident talking about their physical health (41% versus 31%) and mental health (31% versus 15%) with close friends, leaving many men to head online instead. And, well, they’re more likely to have mates to talk to, period; the masculine friend crisis means that many guys have to resort to speaking with strangers, instead.

It’s why many subreddits specific to masc health has emerged: r/erectiledysfunction, r/testosterone, r/prostatecancer, r/circumcision and all that jizz. “Research shows a consistent pattern of heavy anonymous engagement with exactly the topics men are least willing to bring to a doctor,” says Dr. Courtenay. “Men turn to Reddit specifically for the topics where clinical care is awkward, expensive, slow, or where physicians themselves are hesitant to engage — topics like sexual function, fertility, hormones, and the more aesthetic or identity-linked concerns.”

CJ Peterson, the 30-year-old, Chicago-based founder of the r/menshealth community, started it 10 years ago out of a personal need. “The subreddit’s creation came very naturally as I was searching for an answer and the appropriate place to ask my question. It was a moment of, “Okay, well, if I have this question then I’m sure someone else may,” he says. “Today, the subreddit has transformed into a genuine community with the same sentiment as those first 30 days […] we see millions of yearly visits and tens of thousands of new posts.”

This personal need is rising; the barriers to healthcare are only getting more impenetrable. No less than 36 percent of US adults have skipped or delayed medical care due to affordability. “It includes not being able to get an appointment, high costs, and finding a doctor who accepts their insurance,” says Dr. Courtenay. And while men fare better than women—the androcentric health system is so not over—some report a lack of understanding for certain issues. “Research has also found that there can be resistance among clinicians to treat certain conditions, like low testosterone levels, that can drive men toward peer communities where they can get support that they’re not receiving from doctors,” Dr. Courtenay explains.

Plus, unlike visiting your actual, three-dimensional doc, Reddit can be as anonymous as you like. “There is some research indicating that men feel they can be more vulnerable online with less social risk than they can offline. This is especially true for sensitive topics,” says Dr. Courtenay, noting that one study of men discussing erectile dysfunction on Reddit and other social media found that fewer than a third had visited their health practice. Part of this is about convenience. “It takes three minutes to ask a question that’s on your mind. Visiting a doctor’s office could wipe out an entire afternoon,” says Peterson.

Of course, even more convenient, is turning to your tireless confidante—ChatGPT. Over 40 million people across the world use ChatGPT daily for health-related questions, with men slightly more likely to ask Chat about that mysterious ache. It’s why hitting up Reddit might seem weirdly anachronistic. But while ChatGPT is a font of knowledge and has a personable bedside manor, it lacks one of the most vital ingredients of effective healthcare—empathy. ChatGPT’s 1.7 trillion parameters cannot truly understand what it’s like to have a panic attack at work, or not be able to get it up at home. “If you’re overthinking a small issue, you’ll surely have multiple people explain why, with experience,” says Peterson.

And even if you are an AI bro, Reddit isn’t immune to its impact. While it can lead to, as Peterson says, “roleplaying internet experts” using it to “recklessly chime into serious discussions” it can also help to corroborate claims. “It’s common for someone to post test results attached with a question and a helpful user will reference that they fact checked the results using AI before stepping into the conversation.”

Nonetheless, there is a downside to using Reddit to get healthcare intel. “The risk of [the site] is men receiving misinformation – which represented nearly half of the content examined in one study of male infertility discussions on social media,” says Dr. Courtenay. Anyone who has gone down a Reddit Hole knows the risk of the negativity bias, which can get you spiralling within minutes about side effects. After all, who goes to Reddit to say, actually, this medication kind of turned out OK? Instead, you’re hit with horror stories about permanent neurological rewiring, medication dependencies and nightmare operations.

Dr. Courtenay thinks the pay-off is worth it. “I think the benefits of this outweigh the risks. It’s normalizing men’s concerns about health. And my hope is that it will ultimately foster men’s already increasing access to healthcare.” And some subreddits, like r/AskDocs, have a verification process to ensure that everyone responding is a medical professional. While some doctors may look down their glasses at using Reddit, it’s opening up crucial conversations. “One of men’s dirty little secrets is that they actually do care about their health. But they think most other men don’t. The problem with that misperception is that it discourages men from taking care of their health.”

Reddit is encouraging more men to not live by the misguided panacea of “it will go away” and actively tackle their concerns. Sure, this chaotic social media site is clearly not an infallible source of medical advice; everything you read is best to be taken with, not just a pinch of salt, but a super-strength saline solution. But Reddit, at the least, is helping to fill a gaping hole in healthcare for men—and that’s definitely worth celebrating.