Why You Need A Primary Care Doctor Even If You're Healthy
If you consider yourself to be healthy, you may not figure seeing a doctor for wellness visits is all that important. Making those appointments does take time, and it may also cost you some money, even with insurance. However, it really is important to have a primary care doctor and to see them for regular visits, even when you do seem to be in good overall health. Here's why.
Some problems are easy to overlook when it's your own body
Yes, you would probably notice something was wrong if you developed pneumonia or a cancerous growth appeared on your face. However, many illnesses and diseases are not that obvious to the person who develops them. The symptoms might be subtle at first, and they might be things that only a doctor can pick up on. Or, you might have some symptoms that you figured were just normal effect of aging but that a doctor is able to recognize as indicative of a disease. It's always a good idea to have a primary care doctor look you over so signs of disease don't go overlooked.
You'll get baseline readings for comparison
When you visit the primary care doctor, they'll take your blood pressure, heart rate, temperature, weight, height, and other metrics. These may all indicate that you are in good health now, but if you do become ill later on, being able to look back and compare your metrics at that time to your earlier metrics can be really helpful for diagnosis. In other words, you want your doctor to have wellness records for comparison if you do become sick in the future.
You can get good advice for staying healthy
You may, in fact, be really healthy right now. But you want to stay that way. Most primary care doctors place a big emphasis on prevention. In other words, they can talk to you about your current lifestyle and habits, and they can give you recommendations on things you can change or things you can keep doing in order to maintain your health. This personalized advice is worth the time it takes to make an appointment if it means you don't get sick later on.
Everyone should have a primary care doctor, regardless of age and their overall health status. It's simply the responsible thing to do for your overall health, today and in the future.
For more information, contact a company like Medical Associates Of Bedford VA.
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