A health check up is a routine examination usually done annually or once every two to three years with a recommendation of once every five years as a method of analyzing the body current condition. It is performed so you can find problems or symptoms of abnormality with the body before they develop into severe conditions.

The purpose of a periodic health check up is mainly to serve as preventive healthcare and alert healthcare providers to chronic diseases that could occur within an individual patient and to check up for some disease that may not have visible symptoms. Generally, health check up screens for cholesterol levels, heart rate, blood pressure, and all the general non-invasive nose, mouth, throat procedures. Other specific health check up examination may include dental check ups, eye check ups, or gynecological checkups.

Purpose of a Health Check Up

The purpose of a periodic Health Check Up is mainly to serve as preventive healthcare and alert healthcare providers to chronic diseases that could occur within an individual patient and to check up for some disease that may not have visible symptoms. It is also used for updating person clinical data so that data is available for comparison on your next Check Up and to store it for family history in case a genetic disorder is found that could be predisposed to the next generation.

The Benefits of a Health Check Up

It is a good idea to get a health check up at least once every five years. Many times a disease has to display severe symptoms before a person starts to take notice of the fact that there is something wrong with their body and many a times, after the diagnosis, the disease has already reached beyond the developmental stages where it might have been easily treated. Also, a lot of diseases sometime have no visible indication to be noticed, which in turn can go undetected with deathly consequences later. Even if you feel like you are perfectly fit and healthy, a health check up is a good preventive healthcare that could save you money and time later on. ?

The Levels of Preventive Care

The three levels of preventive health care include primary prevention, secondary prevention, and tertiary prevention. Primary prevention mainly focuses on preventing a risk for diseases through precautionary care before a disease can occur such as vaccination for immunization against disorder before it even happens. Secondary prevention checks for certain risk factors that may show up as abnormal test results that helps to identify the risk of diseases and focuses on intervention. Pap tests for cervical cancer or checking blood pressure for possibility of strokes are examples of secondary prevention care. Tertiary prevention are the steps taken if a disease is diagnosed like for example having a management plan for what steps to take in preventing a heart attack or medication prescription if a person is diagnosed with a case of heart disease.

What to Expect

Some of the common things that are screened for during a health check up are for symptoms of breast or cervical cancer in women, prostate cancer in men, colorectal cancer, chronic diseases like diabetes, blood pressure, cholesterol level, osteoporosis. Clinical history is also recorded and updated as well as family history to check for genetic disorders that could be easier to get. There may be certain specific health check up especially for specific areas such as the women’s health check up focuses mostly on women and disorders especially related to women.

Other Health Check Ups

Dental Check Up

A dental check up mainly features on dental health in trying to check for early signs of tooth decay, infections, or to treat and prevent any oral health problems. In a dental check up, the dentist may first remove tartar building on the teeth with metal hand instruments and then the teeth are cleaned by a dentist or dental hygienist to remove stains and existing plagues. The teeth are also polished and fluoride is usually coated on the surfaces of the teeth. It is usually done every six months.

Eye Check Up

Regular eye check up is used to check up on eye disorders that could occur with aging, sneaky sight impairing diseases such as glaucoma, and cataracts. It is suggested that one should have an eye check up at least once every ten years. During the eye examination, a patient is tested for eye muscle movements by having the patients’ eye follow doctor’s directional instructions of tracking a regular eye check up is used to check up on eye disorders that could occur with aging, sneaky sight impairing diseases such as glaucoma, and cataracts.

It is suggested that one should have an eye check up at least once every ten years. During the eye examination, a patient is tested for eye muscle movements by having the patients’ eye follow doctor’s directional instructions of tracking a target. A cover test is performed by covering and uncovering each eye while it is focused on a target at a distance to see how much the eyes move to check for eye unity. A visual acuity test where the patient reads big to small letter until they can no longer read them is used to test for eyesight and retinoscopy is performed with a machine phoropter to check the way light reflects from the eyes to check for lenses prescription accurately.