What is medical check-up?
The routine physical, also known as general medical examination, periodic health evaluation, annual physical, comprehensive medical exam, general health check, preventive health examination, medical check-up, or simply medical, is a physical examination performed on an asymptomatic patient for medical screening purposes.
For most patients, a physical exam will begin with an age-appropriate discussion of your overall health. This provides your healthcare provider with an opportunity to discuss your medical history and any risk factors based on family history or pre-existing conditions.
Your doctor may include a general health check when you visit for another reason, such as a cold.
Your doctor can tell you how often you need health checks.
What is included?
Normally it includes:
– An overview of your health, vital signs.
The NHS offers a free check which includes:
You can read more about what is usually checked here. You can read more about the NHS health check here.
Can you do a health check yourself?
You can do a basic health check at home to review your health in relation to:
- Alcohol – people who have at least two alcohol-free days per week and stick to no more than two standard drinks per drinking day have better long-term health.
- Dental care – cleaning your teeth regularly and eating a low-sugar diet can reduce your risk of tooth decay, gum disease and tooth loss. Visit a dentist or other oral health professional at least once a year for a dental examination and professional cleaning, or more frequently as advised by your dentist.
- Diet – a healthy diet improves your general health and wellbeing. Have at least two serves of fruit and five serves of vegetables each day.
- Physical activity – regular physical activity is good for your mental health, heart and bones, and can prevent many diseases. Aim for 30 minutes to an hour of moderate physical activity a day. Moderate physical activity takes some effort, but still allows a conversation to be held (for example, brisk walking, gentle swimming, social tennis).
- Skin checks – check your skin regularly for unusual moles or freckles, and see your doctor if you notice anything unusual. People who work outdoors need a yearly examination by their doctor or a dermatologist.
- Smoking – smoking increases your risk of many diseases, including heart disease, stroke, lung disease and thin bones. If you smoke, quitting as soon as possible helps reduce the harm.
- Weight – maintaining a healthy weight range helps prevent longer-term diseases, such as diabetes and arthritis.
Why is it important?
Every car and vehicle is required by law to do an annual checkup to drive safely on the road. It should be more important for us to do regular checkups for our own health. Eventually we are likely to have some medical problems, so it is important to be able to catch those issues early. Often being able to identify medical issues at an early stage can make a huge difference and enable it to be treated much more easily than if it was identified later.
There are many benefits that come from getting a regular annual medical exam. Prevention and the early detection of potential health problems is the most significant benefit. Others include peace of mind and a more comprehensive health history that can help you make informed health decisions throughout your lifetime.
Most of our medicine is treatment based rather than preventative. It is important to be proactive with our health and manage it by ourselves.
You can also be evaluated for future risk factors.
Becoming Healthier
Being healthy is not just binary, you’re either healthy or not, but you can make yourself healthier, give yourself more energy, be fitter and continually improve your body.
You can do this by learning about health, your own health, and your own body, exercise, eating right, sleeping right, and having great relationships. By doing this you can become more and more healthier, perform at a higher level and live a better life.
What are the types of medical checkups?
There are some other types of medical checkups such as for visa applications, immigration and visas. There are also annual checkups.
How to find a medical checkup near me?
You can search on google here for a local health check. The options totally depend on each country. Be sure to check: 1) What is being tested, 2) What are the reviews and reputation of the place you are being tested.
