Should a man check with his GP before taking viagra? 

Lunchtime Live’s new health advice series ‘The Clinic’ features GP and lecturer Dr Sumi Dunne answering all your health-related questions.

In this week’s episode, a 45-year-old man in a long-term relationship emailed in to ask what he needs to do before taking viagra. 

“In the absence of what we call ischemic heart disease, if you have no cardiac issues or active chest pain, there is no reason [to contact your GP],” Dr Dunne said. 

“There are one or two medications that might be contraindicated, as you buy it you will see on the packet which medications are contraindicated against it. 

“Otherwise, nowadays, a lot of the viagra products are widely available.” 

Man with viagra pills.

Another listener has been booked in for a scan after suffering from bloating. 

She suspects it is Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) and wonders what can be done about it. 

“Bloating can be caused by so many issues,” Dr Dunne said. 

“If it is Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)... [which is a] diagnosis of exclusion, so we’ve made sure that nothing nasty is going on, so there isn’t an inflammatory process or a sinister process. 

“What we then know is that one of the causal links could be diet and what you eat in the diet - particularly foods that might produce a lot of gas, such as leafy vegetables etc. 

“There is a diet that a lot of our IBS patients find useful called a FODMAP, widely available and you can download it. 

“[It’s] a diet which in essence has load residue in it, so it doesn’t have the fibre, therefore reduces the gas, so it should reduce the bloating.” 

Numbness

A third listener emailed in to say the top half of their ears has been going numb but there has been no discoloration to indicate circulation problems. 

Recently the numbness has spread to just above the ear on the side of their head - what could be the reason behind the numbness? 

“[It is] worth being checked, we’ve got what we call cranial nerves - that’s a nerve network in the face,” Dr Dunne said. 

“Different areas of the face are innovated by different nerves; it’s worth getting a check up to see is that numbness now following a particular nerve pattern like a pathway. 

“If it is, your GP will be able to tell you and if anything further needs to be done they’ll let you know.”