Are Annual Wellness Exams Necessary?
The goal of routine wellness exams is to help you live a healthier and longer life.
For the average healthy person, these are the recommendations for frequency of wellness exams:
20’s: every 2-3 years
30’s: every other year
40’s: every other year
50’s+: every year
Wellness exams focus on detecting any health complications early on before they have the potential to become serious, and early detection of disease and illness is crucial. Wellness exams also help monitor that you’re on the right track to living a healthy lifestyle.
What is a wellness exam?
During a wellness exam, your health care provider will run through a series of tests to get a sense of your overall health. Taking your age, gender, and risk factors into consideration, these are some things that may be checked:
Heart rate: This provides insight into your fitness level, heart health, and emotional health. A high resting heartrate may indicate too much stress, caffeine, dehydration, or inactivity.
Blood pressure: Keep in mind, many things affect blood pressure, including, but not limited to: stress, diet, exercise habits, sleep habits.
Height and weight: While BMI is not the tell all for how healthy you are, your height and weight can provide your health care provider with a basic understanding of your body.
Lungs and heart: This checks for breathing problems and heart murmurs.
Physical exam: Your health care provider will examine important areas of your body, such as the color and size of your eyes, bumps or lumps on your skin, and checking for reflexes. This may also include a breast or testicle exam.
Family history: It is important to update your health care provider with any udpates in your family medical history, as it may provide more insight into your own health.
If necessary, your health care provider will refer you to a specialist or doctor if there are any concerns that arise during your wellness exam.
In addition to a wellness exam, it’s recommended to get routine health screenings such as skin checks, pap smears, mammograms, and colorectal cancer screenings.
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