One of the issues being highlighted for Men's Health Week is that Irish men are generally reluctant to go to the doctor. The reasons range from fear and embarrassment to the cost of GP visits.
Dr. Ruairi Hanley told us how this often leads to men presenting to their GP with more serious problems that could have been prevented with early detection.
"As a general observation, men tend to go to the doctor less, and they tend to wait until a problem becomes more serious before they go."
"I personally believe people need to take more personal responsibility."
According to Ruairi, 60% of men are not availing of free bowel cancer screenings. This is very serious, as men are twice as likely to die of the disease than women.
While he is aware that doctor's visits are very expensive for a lot of people, he believes that most can afford to go for check-ups a couple of times a year.
"Of course there are people who are struggling to pay, and there should be subsidised GP visits for those people. But why is spending money on unhealthy things never questioned?"
Ruairi's main advice is that if you notice something isn't right, don't leave it for months - and stay away from Google when it comes to diagnosing your symptoms. Even if everything seems fine, you should still aim to go to the doctor once or twice a year to get checked out.
"I understand the fear, but the quicker you act, the best chance you have of getting things sorted out."
