{"id":9902,"date":"2024-01-23T22:55:28","date_gmt":"2024-01-23T15:55:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/?p=9902"},"modified":"2024-01-23T22:55:28","modified_gmt":"2024-01-23T15:55:28","slug":"if-youre-pretty-healthy-do-you-still-need-to-get-a-physical-every-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/?p=9902","title":{"rendered":"If You&#8217;re Pretty Healthy, Do You Still Need to Get a Physical Every Year?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p> <span class=\"drop-cap__first text-dropcap \">T<\/span>he annual physical has long been billed as key to staying healthy. During this appointment, you can get blood work done, develop a better relationship with your doctor, and ideally catch health problems early on, which often makes treatments easier and outcomes better.<\/p>\n<p id=\"co198\">But do these checkups need to happen yearly to deliver all those benefits? If you\u2019ve skipped your annual exam this year (or, <em>ahem<\/em>, even for the past several), your procrastination might not necessarily be a problem, because just how often you should get a physical depends on your age and sex assigned at birth, according to the <a href=\"https:\/\/medlineplus.gov\/ency\/article\/002125.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/medlineplus.gov\/ency\/article\/002125.htm\">U.S. National Library of Medicine<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div class=\"\">\n<hr\/>\n<div class=\"experts-in-article noskim py-[24px] px-[40px]\">\n<p>Experts In This Article<\/p>\n<ul class=\"!ml-[18px]\">\n<li> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dralexamieses.com\/about\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.dralexamieses.com\/about\">Alexa Mieses Malchuk, MD, MPH<\/a>, a board-certified family medicine physician and District Medical Director at One Medical in North Carolina <\/li>\n<li> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.utmb.edu\/fammed\/about-us\/biographies\/samuel-mathis\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.utmb.edu\/fammed\/about-us\/biographies\/samuel-mathis\/\">Samuel Mathis, MD<\/a>, a board-certified family medicine doctor and assistant professor of family medicine at the University of Texas Medical Branch <\/li>\n<li> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/divesh-goel-ab8a3b15b\/\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/divesh-goel-ab8a3b15b\/\">Divesh Goel, MD<\/a>, board-certified family medicine doctor <\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<hr\/><\/div>\n<p id=\"co199\">Your general health also matters: If you have a chronic condition\u2014like asthma or diabetes, for example\u2014you might need to see your doc more often.<\/p>\n<p id=\"co200\">Having routine visits once a year or every other year (as opposed to, say, once a decade), delivers some key benefits, including:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><b>A better doctor-patient relationship:<\/b> It\u2019s not always easy to talk about matters related to your health. If you have a years-long or even decades-long relationship with your doctor, talking about your symptoms or trusting their treatment recommendations may feel more natural than if you\u2019ve just met. And the benefits may extend beyond the exam room: A February 2017 \u200b<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC5295692\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC5295692\/\"><i>PLOS One<\/i><\/a>\u200b study found when people had higher trust in their health care professional, they reported healthier behaviors, fewer symptoms, a better quality of life, and greater satisfaction with treatment.<\/li>\n<li><b>Early detection: <\/b>A physical exam has a hands-on component. Your doctor may palpate organs and tap on your body as well as look and listen to it closely, according to the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/my.clevelandclinic.org\/health\/diagnostics\/17366-physical-examination\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/my.clevelandclinic.org\/health\/diagnostics\/17366-physical-examination\">Cleveland Clinic<\/a>. All of this\u2014as well as the results of blood work\u2014can help reveal potential problems, like a changing mole that could indicate melanoma or an uptick to your cholesterol that could be stressing your heart. And that can help you catch conditions early and start treatment sooner.<\/li>\n<li><b>Preventive screenings and shots: <\/b>During appointments, your doctor may recommend certain\u00a0vaccinations, such as an\u00a0annual flu shot or the shingles vaccine. Your doctor may also recommend screenings, for cancer and other conditions, based on your age, family history, and other factors. Of course, you can take care of many of these tasks without a doctor\u2019s visit\u2014you can get your flu vaccine at just about any pharmacy, for instance\u2014but your physical can be a good reminder to tackle these tasks.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p id=\"co202\">To get the benefits from a physical exam, do you need to see your doctor once a year, every other year, or at some other clip? That&#8217;s what many of you wanted to know when we polled our readers about their biggest health questions for our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/real-talk-rx\/\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/real-talk-rx\/\">Real Talk Rx series<\/a>. Here&#8217;s what our panel of doctors had to say.<\/p>\n<div class=\"related-content \" style=\"\" data-module-init=\"related-content\" data-module-immediate=\"\" v-cloak=\"\">\n<div class=\"related-content__wrapper \" v-cloak=\"\" :class=\"{'is-loaded':isLoaded}\">\n<p> <span class=\"inline text-h5 text-seafoam-dark\">Related Stories<\/span> <\/p>\n<p> <related-content class=\"related-content__links\" parent-article-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/how-often-should-you-get-a-physical\/\" current-title=\"If You\u2019re Pretty Healthy, Do You Still Need to Get a Physical Every Year?\" current-image=\"https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/RealTalkRx_Editorial_How-Often-Do-You-Really-Need-a-Physical-1-425x285_418x278_true_70.webp\" v-on:parsely-posts-loaded=\"onPostsLoaded\" start-date=\"2023-07-23\" tag=\"div\" inline-template=\"\" url=\"https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/how-often-should-you-get-a-physical\/\" secret=\"w5ztterVB03LGZJLfXS0hf3EvQBuFFIWew9hmVQxthU\" apikey=\"wellandgood.com\" limit=\"3\"> <\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"related-content__card mb-[10px] sm:mb-[20px]\" :class=\"{'related-content__card--full':posts.length === 1}\" v-for=\"(post, key) in posts\"> <a v-on:click.prevent=\"trackLinkGA($event, key)\" :href=\"https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/how-often-should-you-get-a-physical\/post.url\" data-url-source=\"related-content\" class=\"related-content__link\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"\"> <\/p>\n<div class=\"related-content__card--image bg-tan\" :style=\"{ backgroundImage: 'url(' + post.image_url + ')' }\"> <img decoding=\"async\" :src=\"https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/how-often-should-you-get-a-physical\/post.image_url\" :alt=\"post.title\" class=\" js-inline-lazy-load\" src=\"\"\/> <\/div>\n<p> <\/a>  <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> <\/related-content> <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<h2 id=\"co203\">So, how often do you really need a physical?<\/h2>\n<p id=\"co210\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-1150731 js-inline-lazy-load\" alt=\"Alexa Mieses Malchuk, MD, headshot banner\" width=\"1170\" height=\"195\" src=\"https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Expert-Banner_Alexa-Mieses-Malchuk-MD_falsexfalse_true_70.webp\"\/><\/p>\n<p id=\"co211\">&#8220;So many people, including physicians, have different ideas about this. But I am a huge proponent of everybody, no matter your health history, having one physical per year.<\/p>\n<p id=\"co212\">If the only time you ever see your doctor is when something&#8217;s going on, like when you&#8217;re sick or when you have some sort of acute issue, you may never have the opportunity to talk about all of the preventive health screenings and family history and bigger-picture things that influence your health on a day-to-day basis.<\/p>\n<p id=\"co213\">Ideally, when you have nothing else going on medically and you&#8217;re doing well, you do want to check in with your family physician once a year. And what I do with my patients at that visit is review any age-appropriate cancer screenings and blood tests. We also always review medications, supplements, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/should-you-tell-doctor-about-weed-other-drugs\/\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/should-you-tell-doctor-about-weed-other-drugs\/\">other substances<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p id=\"co214\">We update any other elements of the patient\u2019s history, too. If someone in your family recently developed colon cancer that might change the\u00a0age at which we decide to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/colorectal-cancer-screening-age\/\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/colorectal-cancer-screening-age\/\">screen you for colon cancer<\/a>. So if you don&#8217;t take advantage of that annual physical, you won&#8217;t have an opportunity to really take charge of your health in the way that you could.&#8221;<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>&#8220;If you don&#8217;t take advantage of that annual physical, you won&#8217;t have an opportunity to really take charge of your health in the way that you could.&#8221; \u2014Alexa Mieses Malchuk, MD<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p id=\"co204\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-1150725 js-inline-lazy-load\" alt=\"Samuel Mathis, MD, headshot banner\" width=\"1170\" height=\"195\" src=\"https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Expert-Banner_Samuel-Mathis-MD__falsexfalse_true_70.webp\"\/><\/p>\n<p id=\"co205\">&#8220;You\u2019ll ask a number of physicians this question and you may get a whole slew of answers.<\/p>\n<p id=\"co206\">Physical exams do increase the likelihood of a healthier lifestyle and identification of chronic illnesses. We haven\u2019t really found that annual exams save lives, but they do actually improve health. So it\u2019s a really nuanced argument.<\/p>\n<p id=\"co207\">[Editor&#8217;s note: The research on this topic is as mixed as the opinions of physicians. For example, a January 2019\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC6353639\/\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC6353639\/\"><i>Cochrane Library<\/i><\/a>\u00a0review found no link between annual physicals and dying of any cause. But an August 2022\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/35787845\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" class=\"no-underline citation\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/35787845\/\"><i>Preventive Medicine<\/i><\/a>\u00a0review found an association between yearly exams and a 45 percent lower risk of death. More research is needed on the long-term effects of annual physicals.]<\/p>\n<p id=\"co208\">The short answer is: You should try to get an exam once every year or every other year. It helps to identify preventive services that are needed to help reduce disease, and to identify diseases before they become an issue.<\/p>\n<p id=\"co209\">In general, most annual exams do include yearly blood work, which helps to identify certain diseases such as diabetes and high cholesterol and if there are complications from medications or abnormal findings in the blood that need further evaluation.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-1150733 js-inline-lazy-load\" alt=\"Divesh Goel, MD, headshot banner\" width=\"1170\" height=\"195\" src=\"https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Expert-Banner_Divesh-Goel-MD__falsexfalse_true_70.webp\"\/><\/p>\n<p id=\"co216\">&#8220;The simple answer is every year.<\/p>\n<p id=\"co217\">Your health is really your store of gold. It\u2019s through your health that you\u2019re going to live this life. Getting your health consultant on board once a year is really good, and with current technology (such as Zoom), it\u2019s simpler to get a consult.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h2>The takeaway<\/h2>\n<p>If you have a health concern or develop symptoms, don\u2019t wait: Schedule a doctor\u2019s visit ASAP.<\/p>\n<p>And even if you\u2019re generally feeling fine and symptom-free, it\u2019s wise to keep routine checkups on your calendar. These appointments are a moment to catch conditions early on, keep current with preventive screenings, and build a trusting relationship with your health care provider.<\/p>\n<p>Routine visits are particularly important if you have a chronic condition. The simplest option is to schedule appointments annually or at least every other year.<\/p>\n<p><em>\u200cConfused about your health? Get answers to more common questions in our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/real-talk-rx\/\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/real-talk-rx\/\">Real Talk Rx series<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"block-thin post-citations mt-[40px] mb-[30px]\" data-module-init=\"main-2020\/post-citations\" data-module-immediate=\"true\">\n<hr class=\"!border-seafoam-dark mb-[24px]\"\/>\n<div class=\"post-citations-content flex flex-col gap-[24px]\">\n<p>Well+Good articles reference scientific, reliable, recent, robust studies to back up the information we share. You can trust us along your wellness journey.<\/p>\n<div>\n<ol class=\"!ml-[18px] !mt-0\">\n<li>\n              Birkh\u00e4uer J, Gaab J, Kossowsky J, Hasler S, Krummenacher P, Werner C, Gerger H. Trust in the health care professional and health outcome: A meta-analysis. PLoS One. 2017 Feb 7;12(2):e0170988. doi: 10.1371\/journal.pone.0170988. PMID: 28170443; PMCID: PMC5295692.            <\/li>\n<li>\n              Krogsb\u00f8ll LT, J\u00f8rgensen KJ, G\u00f8tzsche PC. General health checks in adults for reducing morbidity and mortality from disease. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2019 Jan 31;1(1):CD009009. doi: 10.1002\/14651858.CD009009.pub3. PMID: 30699470; PMCID: PMC6353639.            <\/li>\n<li>\n              Pathak R, Kang D, Lu Y, Mansuri F, Kasen S, Deng Y, Chen H. Should we abandon annual physical examination? \u2013 A meta-analysis of annual physical examination and all-cause mortality in adults based on observational studies. Prev Med. 2022 Aug;161:107130. doi: 10.1016\/j.ypmed.2022.107130. Epub 2022 Jul 3. PMID: 35787845.            <\/li>\n<\/ol><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<hr class=\"!border-seafoam-dark mt-[24px]\"\/>\n  <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div data-type=\"_mgwidget\" data-widget-id=\"1675549\">\r\n<\/div>\r\n<script>(function(w,q){w[q]=w[q]||[];w[q].push([\"_mgc.load\"])})(window,\"_mgq\");\r\n<\/script>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The annual physical has long been billed as key to staying healthy. During this appointment, you can get blood work done, develop a better relationship with your doctor, and ideally catch health problems early on, which often makes treatments easier and outcomes better. But do these checkups need to happen yearly to deliver all those &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":9903,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9902","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9902","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9902"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9902\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9903"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9902"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9902"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9902"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}