Health Check-up: What Are The Medical Appointments To Plan?
What if one of your New Year's resolutions was to get a complete medical check-up? For all those who wish to have a health check-up, here are the medical appointments to plan at the beginning of the year.
An appointment with your general practitioner
To perform a comprehensive health check, start by making an appointment with your general practitioner.
The latter will be able to perform basic medical examinations, i.e. :
- measuring your blood pressure
- measure your height, weight and calculate your body mass index
- prescribing a blood test (to check your cholesterol and fasting blood sugar levels) and possibly a urine test.
An annual visit to the dentist
Your checkup wouldn't be complete without a checkup with your dentist.
It is recommended that you visit a dentist at least once a year to perform scaling and to check for cavities or other oral problems.
This checkup allows for early detection of cavities but also gum problems so that they can be treated earlier and more easily.
For women, an annual appointment with the gynecologist
For women, the health checkup should also include an annual visit to the gynecologist.
This visit is an opportunity to have a checkup, discuss her contraception and perform certain essential screenings.
This visit should in fact include a breast palpation and a Pap smear used to screen for cervical cancer.
Additional appointments with specialists
To complete a comprehensive health assessment, you should also schedule additional appointments based on your age, family history and current health issues.
If you wear glasses or corrective lenses, schedule an annual visit to the ophthalmologist.
This appointment will check that your vision has not changed and monitor your eye health by performing tests such as a fundus.
If you have many moles, also schedule a visit to the dermatologist.
Because moles are a risk factor for skin cancer, you should have them checked by this specialist at least once a year.
Do not hesitate to show your skin, on the whole body, because facing the risk of melanoma better to prevent than to cure!
To be noted: depending on your age and your history, your attending physician may prescribe other personalized complementary examinations, such as an audiometry at the ENT to check your hearing, a cardiovascular check-up at the cardiologist, a PSA blood test to screen for Prostate cancer in men, or a lung x-ray if you are a smoker.
Organized cancer screenings
Finally, depending on your age and situation, don't forget to participate in organized cancer screenings.
These include the Hemoccult test, which is used to screen for colorectal cancer by looking for blood in the stool, and the mammography screening to screen for Breast cancer in women over 50.
These exams are entirely free, so take advantage of them to complete your health checkup.
All these exams may seem daunting, but tell yourself that prevention is essential to stay healthy for a long time and to start the year off on the right foot.
