What a Routine Wellness Exam Can Reveal About Your Health

If you don’t feel sick, you may not feel the need to see your doctor. Though it’s always a good idea to make an appointment with your doctor when you’re ill, your routine wellness exam is the most important visit of the year.

At East Side Primary Medical Care located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, our skilled physician, Dr. Daniel Klein, is a big believer in preventive healthcare. He schedules annual physical exams for all of our patients so he can help them stay well.

Here, we want to share with you what a routine wellness exam can reveal about your health.

Risk factors for illness

Health risk factors indicate how likely it is that you might get sick in the future. Genetics, lifestyle, family health history, and personal health history influence your risk factors.

Your routine wellness exam gives us an idea of what health conditions to look out for based on your risk factors. For example, if you have a family history of diabetes or high blood pressure, we may screen for these health issues early and talk to you about lifestyle changes that may reduce your chances of getting the diseases.

Your lifestyle is also a big indicator of future health, and we ask detailed questions about your eating habits, physical activity, stressors, and daily routine to look for habits that may contribute to disease. This information helps direct our personalized health education and wellness plan. 

Changes from your last exam

A lot can happen in a year. Seeing your doctor every year for a routine wellness exam helps you see how your health changes from one year to the next. It also provides a good visual for how your lifestyle affects your health, especially if you implement changes like quitting smoking or exercising regularly.

The changes we notice from year to year also help us see deviations that clue us in to early signs of disease. Diagnosing and treating diseases during the early stages may prevent or reduce your risk of complications.

Early signs of chronic disease

Your routine wellness exam also reveals early signs of chronic disease. If you wait until you feel sick to see the doctor, it’s likely the illness has already caused damage.

Health screenings are part of your routine wellness exam, looking for diseases before you have symptoms. Health screenings vary based on age, family history, and personal health history, but may include blood pressure checks for hypertension, glucose test for diabetes, and lipid profile bloodwork for high cholesterol.

We may also recommend a colonoscopy to screen for colon cancer or a bone density test to check for osteoporosis.

The purpose of your routine wellness exam is to keep you well, so don’t skip it. If it’s been more than a year since your last physical, now is the time to make an appointment. Call our office today at 680-206-2794 or book an appointment online.

We also offer concierge primary care services for people who want more help managing their health.