A yearly physical exam may seem inconvenient, especially when you live a busy life – but it's necessary for many reasons. A physical exam is like a tune-up for your body, allowing a doctor to examine you head-to-toe to find any abnormalities that could signal a problem.
If you're unsure where to start with a physical exam, the knowledgeable team at Novell Primary Care and Weight Loss can help. Our team is passionate about health and wellness, offering primary care consults and weight loss tools to help you live your healthiest life.
A physical exam is a comprehensive screening doctors use to track your health and wellness. It's usually a routine screening that you get at least yearly to build a relationship with your doctor and learn about lifestyle changes and tips to stay healthy throughout your life.
During a physical exam, we ask questions about your past and current health, family health history, and any problems you've had in the last year. We also check your pulse, blood pressure, temperature, and oxygen saturation.
We perform the physical exam after obtaining a thorough health history and vital signs. This includes looking at the following:
We also listen to your heart and lungs, assess your mental health, check your neurological system, and perform gender-specific screenings.
A physical exam is one of the most critical aspects of healthcare because it gives us a starting point for developing a care plan for a healthy lifestyle. Routine physical exams often find issues early on, addressing problems before they become overwhelming.
There are so many reasons that you should consider regular physical exams, and a few include the following:
Preventive care is a hallmark reason to get regular physical health screenings. It allows us to detect and prevent serious health issues before they develop or become life-threatening.
During preventive care screenings, we utilize diagnostic tools, immunizations, and health counseling to find problems with your health early, leading to faster treatment and better outcomes.
Although the physical exam provides some information, diagnostic testing allows us to examine your health more thoroughly. Blood testing, cholesterol evaluations, and blood pressure monitoring are a few ways to monitor your health.
Diagnostic testing also includes routine screenings, such as breast, pelvic, and testicular or prostate examinations, to find certain cancers. We also offer EKGs to look for electrical heart problems.
A risk factor assessment gives us a baseline of where to start with your health and wellness. We utilize your family history, current health history, and lifestyle to determine your risk for serious issues like heart disease and diabetes.
One key reason to get a regular physical exam is to detect preventable diseases early on. The sooner we find a problem, the better the overall outcome with fast and efficient treatment.
Your lifestyle is integral to your overall health and wellness, but not always in a good way. We provide guidance on a healthy lifestyle, such as exercise plans, meal plans, and weight management strategies to keep your body and mind working well.
If you smoke or have trouble with drugs or alcohol, we provide the appropriate resources to help you get clean and cut back on serious health consequences.
You should at least have a physical exam yearly, especially when you're young. However, visits may become more frequent as you age to keep tabs on chronic health problems or diseases.
If you're healthy and don't have current medical problems, we usually want to see you yearly to continue preventive screening exams and address any issues you've had since your last visit.
People who have chronic medical problems or who are at risk for heart disease and other issues should come in more often.
To learn more about our primary care services, call our office in Tallahassee, Florida, today to schedule an appointment or book a consultation on the website.
