Posting for my dad because he will not. He is 61, a bit heavier than he was but not hugely, and over this year his chest has got noticeably fuller, more on the right. He mentioned it to me in a jokey way at a barbecue, "looks like I've caught your problem", and then went quiet when I asked if it was sore. Turns out the right side has been tender for a few months.
He is on a handful of tablets for blood pressure and his prostate, nothing exotic. My instinct after everything I learned on here is that he should see the GP, but he thinks at his age it is just what happens and does not want to waste anyone's time. Who is right?
You are. Even if it turns out to be just age, a new, one sided, tender chest at 61 is exactly what the GP wants to see. My brother in law had the same "I don't want to bother them" thing and his GP went through his tablets, examined him and referred him on, all from one appointment.
Tell him a GP would rather see ten of these that turn out fine than miss one. That is how my GP put it to me.
I am 52 and was in roughly the same "it's just my age" frame of mind about mine. Some of the age thing is real, testosterone falls as you get older, but some prostate and blood pressure tablets are known for this too. Only a doctor looking at the list can say which. He should take the actual boxes, not a description.
He went. GP examined him, said it feels like gynaecomastia rather than anything sinister, but because it is new and more on one side she has sent him for an ultrasound to be thorough, and she is looking at whether one of the prostate tablets is the likely culprit. He came out saying "well that was easy" as if he had not spent six months avoiding it. Thanks all.
