By Ryan
Just as it’s important for you to be extra diligent when choosing a family doctor, so should you be extra diligent in using your doctor’s services. If you have small children, you probably take them for regular checkups. You might even get reminders at the beginning of the school year to update their immunization records, and make sure they’re in good shape to return to school. However, chances are you don’t get as many regular checkups yourself, and if you have teens, they are probably not going as regularly either. In fact, one-third of teens do not get regular checkups.
Even if you all seem healthy, it’s important to have regular preventative checkups. Thanks to recent healthcare reform, all insurance plans must cover 100 percent of the cost of preventative checkups, without charging you copay. If you are currently not insured, you can purchase a plan through your state’s marketplace or from an independent broker for companies like US Health Group Private.
Why Preventative Care is Important
Preventative care, also known as wellness visits, can help your doctor detect potential problems before they become serious.
For example, hypertension is known as the silent killer because it often has no signs or symptoms but, if left untreated, could cause heart disease or stroke. In fact, many patients don’t realize they have high blood pressure until their doctor detects it during an exam.
Types of Preventative Screening
The type of preventative screening you should get depends on your age and gender.
Teens
Kid’s Health recommends your teen have yearly meetings with his doctor to track any physical or mental changes in your child and to provide information on issues that teens might face including:
· Sex and sexually transmitted diseases;
· Diet and nutrition;
· Smoking, drinking and other unhealthy behaviors.
They also recommend that your teen should have at least three complete physical examinations between the ages of 11 and 21. If he has a medical condition, such as juvenile diabetes, he should have a complete physical more often. A complete physical could include:
· A physical examination including checking the lymph nodes and reflexes;
· Vital sign screening including breathing, blood pressure, and heart;
· A standard blood panel, including cholesterol and blood sugar screening;
· Urinalysis to screen for possible medical issues;
· A tuberculin test;
· Scoliosis screening; and,
· Screening for obesity and eating disorders.
In addition to regular medical checkups, your teen should also have regular dental visits to check for tooth decay, normal tooth development, and any other dental issues, as well as regular vision and hearing screening.
After puberty, teen girls should also have regular gynecological examinations.
Adults
Adults should have many of the same screening tests as teens including:
· A physical examination including checking the lymph nodes and reflexes;
· Vital sign screening including breathing, blood pressure, and heart;
· A standard blood panel, including cholesterol and blood sugar screening;
· Urinalysis to screen for possible medical issues; and,
· Gynecological examinations for women.
However, as we age, there are additional tests that need to be done. Not only are these tests age specific, they are also gender specific.
Men
After age 50, the yearly physical should include screening for prostate cancer and colorectal cancer. If you have a strong family history of either type of cancer, your doctor could recommend that you start younger.
Everyday Health also recommends that smokers, or former smokers, get screened for abdominal aneurisms. If you have a family history of aneurisms, or blood vessel anomalies, consider getting screened sooner.
Women
You should have your first mammogram at age 40, and continue having them every one to two years. If you have a strong family history of breast cancer, your doctor could recommend that you start younger.
Like the men, you should start colorectal cancer screening at age 50, unless you have a strong family history – in which case you would start earlier.
At age 65 you should also have a bone density test, which will screen for osteoporosis. If you have more than one risk factor for osteoporosis, you doctor could recommend that you start younger.
Comments are closed.