Ask a man about the relationship he has with his PCP and he may think you’re talking about pest control products, not primary care physician. For whatever reason, many men loathe going to the doctor — often to their detriment.

“I allowed a mole to progress to a stage 3 malignant melanoma before I saw a doctor on my wife's strong recommendation,” said Bruce Hyland, a 64-year-old marketing communications consultant from Rochester, New York. “They ended up taking a huge steak out of me and I had to follow up with X-rays, blood tests, etc., for five years.”

Hyland is hardly an anomaly. According to the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, men are 24 percent less likely than women to have visited a doctor within the past year. And many are quick to proffer excuses. Seeing a doctor is a waste of time, they’ll say. It’s invasive. It’s scary.

Read the source article at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center