Why You Should Go for that Checkup Even If Nothing Seems Wrong

I know it is difficult to think about visiting the doctor's office. During flu season especially, germs are flying around everywhere and sometimes when you leave, you become sicker than you were when you arrived. To even mention the cost of health care (even with some insurance co- pay) scares many people away from the doctor's office. Others have undergone bad experiences in the doctor's office and fear a repetition of the bad experience. Still others value buying material things over their health. The excuses for not visiting a physician annually are many but none are good enough.

Physicians generally agree that annual checkups are necessary for everyone. Some medical problems cannot be detected based on your self-report. A lot of medical problems that can be treated, cured, and even prevented do not show symptoms obvious to the layperson. If your reason for not going to the doctor for that annual checkup is because you're feeling fine, think again.

I do not say this to worry anyone but to give information. In November of 1992, I was a mostly fine feeling fifteen year old. My first annual examination at St. Jude hospital (I finally reached the point of annual visits) revealed my blood pressure to be extremely high. Scans later revealed a blockage to my kidney that would set into events the uncovering of a recurrent dysgerminoma. My right kidney was lost in the surgery that followed.

If we had missed this checkup, my being alive now would be in question. Without a doubt, I would have undergone radiation and not been able to have my two wonderful children. I know you may be thinking, "I've never had cancer and no one in my family has either." Only one other person in my family had cancer and it was before I was born. My first diagnosis was at nine years old. These things are rare but they do happen and the earlier they are caught-the better.

For all of us, it is necessary to keep priorities in order and visit the physician at least one time a year. When something feels not quite right, it may be necessary to visit more often. People complain about the cost of insurance but much of that cost is because of the uninsured (and others) being unwilling to pay the expenses needed to visit the physician. Most physician offices will work with you in regard to payment-insured or not. I have been to a lot of doctor's offices and never found one that will hold a person at gunpoint if they have an unpaid balance. A visit to the physician to be sure nothing is wrong can prevent a tragedy down the road if something, such as cancer, shows up.

There are no excuses. Visit your physician at least one time a year and let him know what is happening in your life. To go longer than one year, may mean something is missed that could otherwise not be a problem.

If you go longer than one year, everything may be fine and in fact there is some dispute over annual checkups (see my links to support this information from AC content) but overall most physicians continue to say annual visits are the right thing to do. In two different times of my life, an annual check-up saved my life.