6 Regular Health Checks You Shouldn’t Avoid

Looking after one’s own health can often be surprisingly hard to do. Yet, it is essential if you are to enjoy your life as fully as possible. Your health directly relates to life satisfaction, so make efforts to keep your health in check. There are a number of regular health checks that all adults should do from time to time as ignoring them could allow an invisible condition to develop or worsen – or that you’re not as healthy as assumed. Let’s look at a few of the most important check-ups to do regularly.

Blood Pressure

Your blood pressure can tell you a number of important things. It constitutes one of the most basic and vital health checks to undergo.

If you have high blood pressure, it means that you have an increased chance of developing heart disease, experiencing a stroke, or having a heart attack. Even slightly elevated blood pressure can tell you a lot.

But, the good news is that there is always plenty you can do to keep your blood pressure down if you need to. Of course, you will only do that if you know that it needs doing, and the only way to know that is to get regular checks.

For this, you don’t even need to see a medical professional. Instead, you can simply go to most doctors’ waiting rooms or some pharmacies and use their self-service blood pressure machines.

Eye Test

How’s your vision? You might believe that you have 20/20 vision, but if it hasn’t been checked in a while then there is really no telling whether it is good or bad.

The only way is to go to an optometrist and find out. The good news here is that there are many places offering eye tests completely free of charge, so stop worrying about the financial aspect. Plus, receiving a clean bill of health when it comes to your eyes is a big relief.

If there is a severe problem, you might need to get a further look. Fortunately, one of the benefits of LASIK is that you can have any kind of bad eyesight restored, no matter how bad it might actually be. So, it is never too late to go and get your eyes checked, and to get the necessary treatment afterward as well.

Cholesterol

If you haven’t had the doctor check your cholesterol in a while, consider doing so. If you have too high cholesterol, it can lead to a number of health problems, potentially including future heart-related issues.

The test is quick and painless. It will quickly tell you whether you need to do anything, so it is definitely worthwhile.

If you do need to improve your cholesterol level, fortunately, it is a simple matter of altering your diet. That generally means changing the kind of dairy you eat but also making sure to eat plenty of fruits and vegetables.

As long as you can keep a low enough cholesterol, you will have a much better chance of staying heart-healthy longer. Making healthier choices will become easier over time too.

Hearing Test

Most people won’t suffer from any hearing problems throughout most of their life, at least not until old age. However, there are many things that can cause temporary hearing loss.

If you experience any hearing impairment, absolutely have your ears checked out. Most commonly, hearing problems are caused by either infection or a burst eardrum.

In either case, there are simple treatments available, so you don’t need to worry. But, you do still want to have your hearing checked anyway, just to make sure, as they will be able to discover whether there is any nerve damage – a much more serious problem.

During a hearing test, you will likely sit in a soundproof booth and press a button when you hear a tone change in pitch. From this, the doctor can determine whether there is any damage or hearing loss, and recommend the next steps.

Even if your ears are fine, consider getting a hearing test once in a while, just to make sure. As with eyesight, you can never be certain that your hearing is okay until you have a professional examine it properly.

Smear Test

A particularly important one for women is, of course, the smear test. This test will tell you whether you have cervical cancer or not, so it is clearly very important to make sure you have it done regularly. Most health services around the world recommend that you have a smear test every three to five years, and it is definitely a good idea to make sure you follow this advice.

The Pap Smear detects abnormal cells in the cervix, which could potentially lead to cervical cancer. Ensuring that you schedule a consultation with an obgyn to have a Pap Smear test is vital and is something that you should never avoid. Keeping track of when your last Pap test took place so that you can stay up-to-date with your tests is the best way to make sure you never miss a screening.

The earlier you catch cancer, the more chance you have of surviving it, so this is an essential practice for keeping healthy and looking after yourself as well as possible. Don’t overlook this vital test.

Dental Check-Up

If there is any part of the body that most people need to pay attention to on a regular basis, it is the teeth. The truth is that if left alone all teeth would just decay and fall out by about the age of 30. Evolution has not yet caught up.

This is why you should go to the dentist once every six months or so, as you can never be sure what problems might be developing under the surface. Again, if anything is wrong it is much better to find it early on at the appointment, which is one of many reasons to get regular health check-ups.

Then you get the necessary treatment in time. Nobody wants to lose their teeth and, fortunately, it is avoidable if you go to the dentist often enough.