How are you feeling? Do you know if you are at risk for any cancers or diseases? Have you noticed a change in your health over the past year? These questions, along with others, are what medical providers aim to answer during annual wellness visits.
While these essential screenings are important, Faith Community Health System reminds adults in the community to schedule annual wellness exams this fall.
Regular health exams, screenings, and tests can help medical providers better understand the state of your health. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), annual health exams can also help providers track changes in your health and find problems in patients before conditions escalate.
“Annual wellness exams are just one way that you can take a proactive role in your healthcare,” says Dr. FNAME LNAME, a SPECIALITY physician in Jacksboro. “When you know more about what is going on with your body, you can work with your medical provider to treat any conditions so that you can live a longer, healthier life.”
Dr. LNAME adds that wellness exams are an opportunity to document the state of your health and be on the lookout for conditions for which you might be at risk down the road.
The CDC estimates that fewer than half of American adults, age 65 or older, and fewer than a quarter of adults, ages 50 to 64, receive the recommended level of preventative health services. This includes immunizations, as well as cancer and cardiovascular screenings.
Annual wellness exams typically review height and weight changes; check for possible diseases that could be treated early; update necessary immunizations; and order laboratory screenings that check cholesterol, blood pressure, and blood sugar levels.
Before your next wellness exam, it is recommended that you write down your family history of illnesses and any changes in your health that you might have observed within the past year. Dr. LNAME adds if you have put off any health screenings previously recommended, it is important that you share that information with your physician.
“Patients can often be coy about how they’re feeling, but wellness exams are no time to hide things from your physicians,” Dr. LNAME explains. “It is important that you be open and honest during every visit with your medical providers and take the opportunity to ask questions about anything that may have been lingering in the back of your mind.”
Medicare and most private insurance companies cover the cost of preventative wellness exams once a year.
For more information about annual wellness exams, or to find a local medical provider, please call the FCH Rural Health Clinic in Jacksboro at 940-567-5528, or in Bowie at 940-872-1121.
