What Tests to Put on Your Annual Health Check-Up List

By Your Health Magazine

Interested in maintaining your overall health? You should be. The good news? There are an abundance of annual check-ups you can get done to be sure everything’s ticking along as it should be.

Performing annual checks of various aspects of your health is not just good for your peace of mind. It’s also essential to intercept any impending health issues, and could even save your life.

From checking your bone density to testing your blood pressure, keeping your teeth in check, and screening your skin, there are several ways to ensure your general health and well-being are being maintained.

Let us take you through some of them.

Medical Maintenance: Add These to your Annual Health Check-Up List

So, you want to maintain your health. The first step? Get yourself a trusted medical team to perform your health check-ups regularly.

You want, of course, to know that they’re accredited – if they’re doctors, they need to have obtained the requisite medical qualifications. If they’re nurses, it’s best to ensure they’ve completed the relevant studies in nursing – such as online nurse practitioner programs, for example.

Once you know you can trust them, these are some of the check-ups you’ll want to ask your treating team of practitioners to perform annually:

Bone Density Checks

Let’s face it, we’re all getting older. And as we age, our bone density drastically reduces. Skeletal aging and bone mass loss are mostly unavoidable and can be attributed to hormonal factors, as well as genetics and lifestyle choices.

Are you keen to keep your skeleton as healthy as you can, for as long as you can? You can keep tabs on the thickness of your bones by getting annual bone density checks. For older adults, this could help prevent fractures and breakages, and even intercept and minimize the risk of developing osteoporosis – particularly if you’re a woman over 65, or a man over 70.

Blood Tests

Checking your blood. An essential annual health check-up that can easily be added to your yearly routine. Usually performed by a nurse, blood tests usually involve drawing out blood intravenously, and sending samples off to get tested. The best part? Your blood can be tested for a variety of different health concerns.

To check for cholesterol, for example, your blood sample will be tested for the amount of fat in the blood. In the case of blood sugar levels, this measures how much glucose is in your blood – and can be critical in intercepting the onset of diabetes.

Blood pressure must also be checked regularly. If you have high blood pressure, you could develop hypertension – which can increase the risk of heart attack or stroke.

Dental Check-Ups

Scared of seeing a dentist? Snap out of it. Regular dental check-ups are central to maintaining optimal oral hygiene, preventing tooth decay, and making sure your molars stay minty and fresh.

Of course, you’re not alone in delaying your dental check-ups, whether you’re afraid of visiting the dentist, or simply too busy. But scheduling your dentist appointment at the same time each year will help make sure you don’t forget – for example, book it for summertime, and make your date with your dentist a regular activity to kick off the warmer months.

Skin Screenings

Checking for moles and skin tags every year is not just a ‘nice to have’ – it’s essential. It could even save your life. With 1 in 5 Americans at risk of developing skin cancer in their lives, it certainly pays off to add an annual skin screening to your list of yearly health check-ups.

In the case of 31-year-old skin cancer survivor Nicole Riley, getting her skin screened by a dermatologist stopped her from almost dying from developing melanoma.

As mentioned, these are just some of the regular medical tests you should consider adding to your annual health check-up list. There are, of course, many more, and this list has just scratched the surface.

For more information on what your annual health check-up should include, be sure to consult your doctor, family nurse practitioner, or another licensed medical professional of your choosing.

Most important? Keep a regular schedule of annual health check-ups. Make sure to get them done every year – your health will thank you for it.