How Often You Should Get a Checkup?
Posted by Dr. Della Parker on April 2, 2019
Part of maintaining and monitoring your health is regular visits to your doctor. However, it can sometimes be easy to procrastinate scheduling a checkup with your doctor until years have passed. Seeing your doctor regularly, though, allows you to be more aware of what’s going on with your body.
How often should you get a checkup?
It depends. A few important factors that should help you determine the frequency of doctor visits should be your age and how likely you are to contract a disease.
People Ages 30 and Under Who are Healthy
If you’re 30 or under and in realtively good health, getting a checkup every 2 to 3 years is acceptable. You’ll want to discuss things like disease prevention and healthy lifestyles with your doctor so you know how to stay on the path to maintaining good health. Ask about what vaccines you may need, especially if you travel internationally. Women should discuss the benefits of regular cervical cancer screening.
Ages 30-40
Yearly checkups are better for people ages 30-40. Certain common diseases (such as obesity, diabetes, and hypertension) often do not cause symptoms. These diseases can sometimes be detected early by a doctor before they become too serious. Women at 40 years old should begin discussing the benefits of regular breast cancer screening with a doctor.
Ages 50+
Maintaining annual physicals becomes more important at ages 50+. Both men and women are more at risk for colon cancer and should have colonoscopies performed. Women in particular at this age should discuss the benefits of regular mammograms. At ages 65 and older, people are at higher risk for illness and hospitalization from diseases like flu and pneumonia. For this reason they should ask their doctor about the benefits of receiving pneumococcal vaccines and regular influenza vaccines.
Remember that a doctor is far more likely to detect a disease than you are to on your own. If they can catch health issues in the early stages, it is both better for your health and your wallet. You can come back from disease in the early stages easier, and treatment will be less expensive as well.
Stellar Health & Wellness is here to keep you healthy and happy.
The professionals at Stellar Health & Wellness are serious about the health and happiness of our patients. We take a holistic approach to healthcare and believe in giving each and every patient personalized treatment. We are also moms and know how much work moms do. If you are a mom and want to focus on your wellness, call 503-344-6631 today for a free consultation!