Waiting until you’re sick might seem like the normal – perhaps even the most sensible – thing to do when it comes to visiting a healthcare professional, but the truth is that this isn’t always the best option. Although, of course, if you are feeling unwell making an appointment with your doctor, therapist, dentist, or whoever else it might be who can help you most is important, it’s the checks in between, the times that you go to see your doctor even if you’re feeling fine, that can make the most difference. Read on to find out what it’s important to schedule an appointment with your healthcare provider even if you’re feeling fine.
To Establish a Good Relationship With Your Doctor
Having a good relationship with your doctor is definitely a positive thing. The better you feel about your doctor – or whichever healthcare professional it is you need to see for your condition – the easier it will be for you to trust them, ask them questions, and get your healthcare under control.
Having a doctor you can trust and that you have a good relationship with, someone who is familiar with every aspect of your medical history, means that no matter what is required in the future, you will always have someone to go to. In some cases, a delay when it comes to medical care could be fatal, and for those who don’t have a good relationship with their healthcare provider, these delays are much more common. So, seeing your doctor regularly even when there is nothing wrong means that when there is something wrong, you’ll be much more inclined to make an appointment with them.
To Establish Your Health Risk
Do you know whether your family has a particular history of a certain condition? It could be diabetes, heart disease, dementia, perhaps a particular form of cancer, and many other things besides. If this is the case, you could certainly be at risk of developing any of these conditions as well. Many health problems are hereditary. However, just because you might be more at risk, that doesn’t mean that you are sure to develop the disease, especially when there are ways you can limit the risk. Knowing what your risk is and learning what you can to do reduce it is another reason to see your doctor and get your health checked even if you’re feeling fine.
If you’re concerned about your risk factor for something, you can have the relevant tests done to see what your risk is. Again, seeing your doctor for the results of these tests (and even the tests themselves) will help you gain a much better understanding of your own health condition.
To Get an Overview
If you haven’t seen a doctor in a long time, it can be something of a shock to get a check-up. You may have gained a significant amount of weight, for example, or your cholesterol might be high, or perhaps your heart isn’t beating in the way that it should. You won’t know this (necessarily) if you don’t see a doctor because many conditions like this can start slowly and if it has been many years since your last check-up, the changes could be big ones.
The more often you see a doctor, the better overview you will have of your health, and therefore the better control you’ll have on it. Plus, you’ll be able to tell if something is happening that isn’t in your best healthcare interests and put a stop to it before it gets out of hand. Health markers like your weight, your blood pressure, your heart rate, and other things need to be checked regularly over time. Any changes will indicate that there is an issue. If there is no base to compare things to, it will be much harder to determine whether you have a serious problem or not.
To Keep Your Mind in Check
When you think of a doctor or chiropractor or a nurse who takes blood and so on, what you’re thinking about is your physical health. Of course, this physical health is crucial for your well-being, but although it’s vital to stay healthy within your body, it’s just as important to stay healthy within your mind.
Depression, anxiety, stress, and other mental health problems can creep up on you. Sometimes there is a reason, sometimes nothing specific will be the cause other than an imbalance of the body’s chemicals. It’s easy to think that mental health isn’t important and that you can ‘shake out of it’, getting back to normal if you just try to ignore the issue. Yet, as we’re beginning to learn, this is not how mental health issues work. Over time, if nothing is done, it can become worse until it takes over your life.
By regularly seeing not just a physical health expert but a mental health one such as a therapist, you can help to keep your mind in check. By having regular health screenings, your doctor will be able to notice the potential warning signs of a developing mental health disorder long before anyone else, and the sooner you see a professional after these symptoms have been noticed, the sooner your life back get back on track.
To Get a Good Night’s Sleep
Did you know that around 33 percent of all adults in the US experience some form of insomnia, and around 15 percent have chronic insomnia? That’s a huge number of people who aren’t sleeping well, and the results stemming from this can be highly problematic.
It’s crucial to get as much good quality sleep as you can. When you sleep, your body can repair any issues it is facing – it can put all its energy into this since it’s not being used for anything else. The better sleep you get, the more your body can do to fix itself. Not only that, but when you sleep well, you’ll feel more alert and less stressed, and you’ll be a lot more productive in whatever it is you do.
The problem is, when you have a sleep disorder you might think you can handle it yourself; a good cup of coffee when you’re feeling tired and your energy crashes, or perhaps a cold shower will help. However, although this might help you temporarily, the truth is that chronic insomnia can lead to many other health issues such as depression, diabetes, and high blood pressure. By visiting a doctor regularly, you can talk about your sleep patterns and understand how they have changed over time. The underlying cause of the issue can be investigated, and a cure decided upon. When you can sleep better, your entire life will improve.
To Make Sure Your Cervix Is Healthy
Men and women have different healthcare needs, and they will have even more disparate needs at different times in their lives. A woman should visit her gynecologist regularly for a check-up on her cervix and pelvic area. A gynecologist can detect the symptoms of any sexually transmitted diseases, can help to prevent vaginal infections, and will be able to carry out a PAP smear to check for any abnormal cells within the cervix.
Not every woman will feel comfortable with having these tests carried out, and they may put them off due to embarrassment or fear. However, the more regularly you see your gynecologist, the sooner any problems will be discovered, and the sooner something can be done about them. Also, you will learn how to prevent issues from happening, and since prevention is better than the cure, having an expert on hand to guide you in this area is ideal. You will learn much more about your body in this way, and you will be much less afraid of dealing with issues as they arrive.
To Get Peace of Mind
You don’t have to see a doctor when you get your health checked. There are a number of different medical professionals who will be able to help you depending on the issues you feel you’re facing or the areas of your body you want to get checked out. You may even discover that it’s a nurse you need to talk to instead of a doctor; when you consider the evolution of nursing, you’ll see that these particular health care professionals are responsible for a lot more than they used to be.
Whoever it is you need or want to see, and whoever it is who will help you the most, what you are guaranteed to come away from your appointment with is peace of mind.
Worrying about your health is not going to improve things. Worrying will even potentially make things worse. Although you can look your symptoms up online, and the internet can be very helpful in giving you some ideas about what might be the issue, it can also make things a lot more worrying than they need to be, causing people to think they have some terrible disease when they don’t.
To prevent any worry like this or any misunderstandings, which can so easily occur, if you know you can speak to your healthcare provider when you need to, and you visit them regularly for check-ups anyway, you’ll never have to concern yourself over your health. You’ll always have complete peace of mind, and in turn, this will make your health much more positive overall.
Photo by Gustavo Fring
