From a young age, men are taught to shake off your pain and keep on moving – you’re men after all. And while this attitude may mean fewer doctor’s visits, there are some common health threats that hide behind simple visages. Before brushing off that next bit of pain, make sure you know where it came from. Here are a few health threats that many men are likely to ignore.

Nosebleeds Could Mean High Blood Pressure

If you're on the basketball court and get hit in the nose, you may get a nosebleed. In this situation, the nosebleed has a cause and effect. However, if you are sitting at your desk at work and your nose suddenly starts running blood, there may be an underlying problem that needs to be addressed – hypertension. Inside the nose are tiny blood vessels. These blood vessels have tiny cracks on the surface. When blood pressure peaks, blood escapes out of those tiny cracks and your nose bleeds. If you weren’t hit in the nose with a basketball and you can find no other reason for your nosebleed, it's time to have your blood pressure checked.

Sore Joints – Particularly Sore Knees

As men age, joints tend to get achier with each passing year, but not all achiness is normal. If joint pain, particularly knee pain, lasts for three months or more, it could be a sign of osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritis is caused by loss of cartilage at the joint. Pain tends to be persistent. Knee replacement surgery is one of the more common treatments for cartilage loss. A simple X-ray can show just how severe cartilage loss is at the joint. Men without joint or knee pain can reduce the risk of developing osteoarthritis by icing down joints after exercise. Exercise causes inflammation of the joints and ice reduces that inflammation. Less inflammation means less cartilage loss.

Skin Lesions

A simple pimple may not be so simple after all. When skin lesions arise, even if they look like a pimple, leave the lesion alone and allow it to heal on its own. If the lesion does not go away naturally, talk to your doctor about having a skin test to determine if the “pimple” is caused by basal cell carcinoma, a form of skin cancer. If caught early, there is a 95-percent cure rate for basal cell carcinoma, but popping that “pimple” could cause the cancer to spread.