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Do you perform oil changes on your car? Or get your air conditioner check-up done each year (I tend to forget about this one)? What about your annual health check up? Once you have your vaccines, you often forget to get your “Annual” or “Check-up”. This is considered health maintenance and is just as important as seeing your doctor or healthcare provider when you are sick

You may be thinking, “Why do I have to go to the doctor when I feel perfectly fine”? I hear this all the time once kids are in school and their vaccines are up to date. What is the point?

Just like regular maintenance on your car or air conditioner, your body needs to be checked out too. You may have started having an elevated blood pressure or even blood sugar. Your body weight may be creeping up to unhealthy levels or maybe you have been growing a freckle or mole on your back that you can’t see but it is changing rapidly. All of this and so much more are things that can be recognized during a health maintenance exam.

You should get your health maintenance exam every year!

As we get older, our bodies change significantly. So many ailments are silent, meaning that we do not have symptoms from them until it is too late. Finding these early is the purpose of a “Preventative” health maintenance exam.

Each decade of life has new, more likely diseases that may present and medical experts have recommended ages to check for specific diseases during these visits.

For instance, the chances of having cervical cells change to pre-cancerous cells is more likely in early adulthood thus screening in women is recommended to start at the age of 21. Finding these cells early can significantly reduce the risk of developing cervical cancer and death.

Keep reading to see what your age group is looking for during your Preventative Health Maintenance Exam and why it is so important for you to go.

Starting with Children

Children seem to go to the doctor A LOT! They have scheduled check ups almost on a monthly basis for the first year. Why is this?

Well, the first year a baby will have so many changes in their growth and development and if they are not progressing (gaining weight, meeting developmental milestones) the ability to “catch-up” or prevent worsening is linked to how early the deficit is caught and treatment started. The longer they stay behind in their growth and development, the harder it is catch up with their peers.

Newborn and infant visits are scheduled as follows:

• 2 weeks
• 1 month
• 2 months* * indicates scheduled vaccines due
• 4 months*
• 6 months*
• 9 months
• 12 months*

Luckily these visits start to slow down after the first year!

After the rush of their first year, the visits are as follows:

• 15 months*
• 18 months*
• 24 months
• 30 months

American Academy of Pediatrics Vaccine schedule here

Then ANNUALLY!!!!

For the rest of your life, lol.

Each year, through early adulthood, we have new growth and development parameters. These are not always physical at this point, but more-so developmental. Kids can develop mental health issues that a parent may think is a “normal phase”! Young people also deal with social struggles, whether at home or at school, such as academic failure or bullying that are reviewed and evaluated. Kids are also in ever changing social situations that parents often are unaware of and having someone they can talk to about what is happening in their life is of utmost importance. Their healthcare provider will touch on all of this stuff as well as make sure their bodies are developing appropriately and on schedule.

Given that child health is a practice in and of itself, we will save the rest of child health maintenance for another post. This post will focus on adult health.

As we get older, our bodies continue to change. We may gain weight or start to lose weight unexpectedly. Most will become sexually active and need family planning. This, as well as screening for sexually transmitted infections (STI) or mental health disorders, is extremely important for community health. Unfortunately, early adulthood is often the time people stop going to their healthcare provider.

Let’s start with women: The Cleveland Clinic (reliable science based source) lists the following recommendations to be done during annual preventative health maintenance exams.

20+	*Blood pressure annually *Cholesterol every 5 years or as needed pending results *Sexually transmitted infections annually or more frequently
40+	*Prostate check for African Americans due to prevalence (50+ for other races)– Check Annually *45+-Diabetes check every 3 years or as needed
50+	*Prostate check for non-African American- Annually *Colonoscopy every 10 years
Adult Vaccines	*Flu Annually *Pneumococcal (pneumonia) 65+ once *DTap between 19-64 years (only need once to boost pertussis immunity), then every 10 years get a booster of Td (tetanus only) *Zoster (shingles) 60+ once

Finally, it is not all about the screenings and exams. Education is a huge part of going to your health care provider.

Topics often discussed include: Diet, appropriate weight, exercise, smoking cessation, safe sex practices, illicit drug use, alcohol use, sleep patterns, just to name a few.

As you can see, there is a lot to monitor. On top of all of this, your HCP will also be gathering information on specialists you have been seeing and make sure everyone is on the same page when it comes to your help. We also help you develop health goals to work on for the next year.

What is a Primary Health Care Providers (HCP)?

Read this to find out more:

https://fitandfulfilledmom.com/another-doctors-visit/

All in all, health maintenance is life saving and a necessary part of your health and longevity. Do not skip your next visit.

Do you know someone who had an amazing find at their wellness check that saved their life? Please share in comments to encourage others to go get checked!