Preventative Care Is Crucial for Men. Getting Them In the Door is the
Hard Part
By StoryStudio on June 17, 2025
For most Harris County men, a trip to the local hardware store isn’t something you avoid. If you have a leak, your AC is on the fritz or you’re starting a home improvement project, your buddies at the hardware store are there to provide you with the tools and know-how to get the job done.
Donald R. Niño, MD, a primary care physician affiliated with HCA Houston Healthcare Southeast, thinks going to the doctor should be more like a trip to the hardware store. He’s spent 38 years figuring out how to address the growing gap between men and preventative healthcare. “Men don't usually want to go to the doctor," Dr. Niño laughs. “But when they do come and see me, I try to talk to them like a buddy.”
Dr. Niño has found the secret to treating men is conversation. His approach is practical and non-judgmental, a “problem-solving between two people who want to fix something.” At Dr. Niño’s practice, Channelview Family Medicine, partnering with patients is closing the gap between men and proper healthcare.
"They're going bald faster. They're breaking out with acne. Their breasts are growing. All because they took testosterone unnecessarily."
Donald R. Niño, MD
Breaking Down the Barriers
During his time practicing family medicine, Dr. Niño has worked hard at getting men to walk through his door. While excuses may vary by generation, he's found one universal truth: when a man's partner encourages him to go to the doctor, he goes. Once men overcome the simple barrier of going to the doctor, the benefits are astounding.
Seeing your family doctor falls under what’s called preventative healthcare. Men who see their doctor regularly are more likely to address potential health issues before they become serious, thereby living longer, healthier lives. And ultimately, this means being there for your family when you’re younger and enjoying your grandkids as you age without ever being a burden on your loved ones.
The key to preventative healthcare for men is establishing partnership rather than hierarchy. "The model that I use is education,” Dr. Niño explains. “If you can come in and I can see what's going on, I can explain to you what it is you have, why you have it, and what can we do about it. And then we become partners in the treatment. And once the guys are in on it, they're going to do it."
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Simple Steps That Make a Big Difference
When it comes to practical health advice for men, Dr. Niño focuses on fundamentals. "Most of the time, people will come and they'll say, 'Well, you know, I've been getting sick more often. I'm tired. I have this.' And I'll take their history, and a lot of times, we don't really find anything wrong with them. More often than not, the problem is their lifestyle."
His prescription is straightforward:
These simple lifestyle changes, along with preventative checkups with your doctor, can go a long way to improving health.
The Relationship That Changes Everything
The key to better healthcare is long-term commitment to patients and families. Growing up in Magnolia Park near the ship channel, Dr. Niño’s family doctor was an old-fashioned general practitioner who delivered both his parents and then delivered him.
"He was one of the doctors who made house calls,” Dr. Niño recalls. “I remember him driving up and giving us a house call when we had either the measles or chicken pox,” adding, "he was just the neighborhood's doctor. Everybody used him."
That model of comprehensive, personal care shaped Dr. Niño’s career path. Despite pressure in medical school to specialize—"a lot of influence from the specialist trying to tell you, like, ‘well, you know, you're too good to be a family doctor’ —Dr. Niño stuck with family medicine. His reasoning was simple: "You have to be the smart one to know something about everything.”
Today his practice is thriving.
"I've had up to five generations in the office at one time," he says, describing how he becomes part of patients' extended families, attending graduations and weddings. "I treat them like my family, and I become part of their family, and they accept me that way.”
This relationship-based approach to medicine offers a model that could help bridge the gap between men and preventative healthcare. Dr. Niño meets men where they are, talking their language, and treating healthcare like what it should be: a practical partnership focused on solving problems and maintaining what's working well.
As Dr. Niño puts it: "That's what we hope. We want to be involved with that decision. We want to be at the table. That's what family doctors want, to take care of our patients. That's our whole goal."
sponsored by: HCA Houston Healthcare
Fighting Misinformation about Testosterone Therapy
Dr. Niño takes a conversational approach to men’s healthcare. Through talking to men, he’s found one of the biggest challenges is combating healthcare misinformation, particularly around testosterone therapy. “A lot of them are listening to advertisements that make it sound like everybody has low testosterone, and it’s not that common.”
Out of his thousands of patients, Dr. Niño estimates only 35 to 40 actually needed testosterone treatment. Meanwhile, the consequences of unnecessary hormone therapy can be serious.
"I have several patients that come in with high levels of testosterone,” he says. “But they didn't need it, and now their blood gets too thick. Then they have to donate blood, called therapeutic phlebotomy. They're going bald faster. They're breaking out with acne. Their breasts are growing. All because they took testosterone unnecessarily."
The good news is with a little education and treatment, Dr. Niño has seen results. "When I treat them, they're getting back to normal. I tell them they don't need all this extra stuff.”
Sleep: "Do you get enough sleep? If you ask most men how much sleep they get, they often say they’re getting 4, 5, 6 hours a night. At that rate, I tell them, you're never going to feel better. There's no vitamin or supplement that you can take that replaces hours of sleep. Your body wants 8 hours."
Diet: "Eat a healthy, balanced diet. How many times do you go out to eat? Okay, and what do you get when you go out? It's like what they say: you are, what you eat. If you eat junk food, well, you’ll feel like junk."
Exercise: "How much are you exercising? I mean, there's a lot of people running around in the park and stuff, but most people are not doing an exercise program. You got to do a little something. Your body wants it. We were hunter gatherers. Our organism wanted to be active, but they're sitting down watching Netflix for hours. I mean, when the TV actually says, 'Are you still watching?', that’s a sign you need to be more active!"
Avoid toxins: “You don't need to drink so much caffeine; you don't have to drink a lot of alcohol. And don't start me on smoking and vaping and dipping stuff,” he laughs.
"They're going bald faster. They're breaking out with acne. Their breasts are growing. All because they took testosterone unnecessarily."
Donald R. Niño, MD