If you’re like most people, you meet with your general practitioner once a year for an annual physical examination. At this time, your doctor will take your bloodwork, check your weight, check your cholesterol levels and blood sugar levels, and perform other regular tests to make sure you remain in good health. But it’s not enough. Twice yearly physical exams are even more effective.
When you go to the best dentist SE Portland has to offer, they’ll also recommend half yearly exams to make sure your teeth and gums remain in good physical condition. But are there really additional benefits to seeing your doctor twice a year for a physical examination? You only see your allergy doctor in Parker when your allergies flare up. So why should you bother getting an extra physical exam if you aren’t feeling sick?
It’s a good question that many people tend to ask. So we’ll do our best to share the biggest benefits of getting a physical exam twice a year. Stick around to find out more.
Benefit #1: Your Healthcare Costs Will Be Lower
By staying on top of your health, it makes sense that your overall healthcare costs are going to be lower. And since nobody wants to spend their hard-earned money on massively expensive doctor bills, it’s very wise to schedule regular health screenings and undergoing twice yearly physical exams.
But how will you save money? It’s pretty easy to understand if you think about it. By getting a checkup from a medical doctor twice a year, you’ll be able to catch problems as they first begin. And the quicker you learn about your health problems, the quicker you can take steps to turn things around.
As an example, let’s say that during one of your yearly checkups your doctor discovers that you have high cholesterol. If you waited an entire year, you may have had a heart attack or stroke before you even found out about your high cholesterol levels.
Obviously, the treatment for a heart attack and/or stroke is a lot more expensive than treating high cholesterol levels. With your twice yearly exam, your doctor could have immediately put you on cholesterol medication to lower your cholesterol levels and prevent the heart attack or stroke from happening in the first place.
Benefit #2: Regular Blood Tests
Once you find the perfect doctor, you can schedule twice yearly physical exams and also ask them to perform blood tests. By getting regular blood tests and regular health screenings, your doctor can determine whether or not you are a higher risk for specific diseases that show up in your bloodstream.
As an example, there are certain forms of cancer that show up in the blood. If you only get your blood checked once a year or even less, you might not know that these cancerous cells have invaded your blood until it’s too late. Getting regular blood tests will help the doctor determine if you have blood-related forms of cancer very quickly because your blood is being tested more often.
The same holds true for HIV, AIDS, coronary artery disease, high blood pressure, anemia, diabetes, and high cholesterol. Having your blood checked twice a year will make it easy for your doctor to find out if you are suffering from any of these unwanted diseases.
Benefit #3: You’ll Receive Treatments for Illnesses and Diseases Faster
Not only will your doctor have an easier time discovering if you have a certain disease quicker, he or she will also be able to treat these diseases much faster.
Imagine discovering that you have cancer six months faster than you would have if you only underwent an annual physical exam. You can treat cancer right away and catch it quickly before it metastasizes and spreads throughout the rest of your body.
Twice yearly physical exams could very well end up saving your life.
Final Thoughts
At this point, we hope you truly realize the value of getting physical examinations and health checkups from your doctor twice a year. It may seem inconvenient on the surface, but the results of these examinations could change the trajectory of your life and health dramatically for the better if they catch a disease or illness faster than normal. So consider getting a checkup twice a year to help you maintain excellent health.