The bustle of everyday life can serve as an excuse not to see your doctor. However, maintaining good physical health requires that you keep up with your routine checkups. For women, this includes your annual well woman exam. Suncoast Women’s Care is familiar with your unique health needs. They understand why you should never miss your annual exam.
What Is a Well Woman Exam?
Anyone can go in for a physical exam. This procedure is usually focused on the overall health of the patient. However, a well woman exam is specialized to the unique needs of a woman. It focuses on the health issues specific to the female reproductive system.
Usually, a well woman exam is performed by a primary care provider, certified nurse-midwife, or obstetrician-gynecologist. The provider should be up to date with current medical trends.
Benefits of Well Woman Exams
A well woman exam is not just routine. As a woman, you stand to benefit a lot from attending these routine checkups. This is how:
Birth Control
At some point, every woman must have a conversation about birth control with their OB/GYN. Do you plan to have kids? If so, when and how many? Discussing these reproductive matters with a specialist will help you arrive at a suitable form of birth control. You can also receive recommendations about supplements or lifestyle changes depending on your fertility needs.
An annual exam allows your doctor to adjust your birth control preferences to your current needs. Whether you are going through pregnancy or menopause, your doctor will have an answer.
Screening
During your exam, your doctor will screen you for certain diseases. The exact tests will depend on your age, medical history, and requests. However, you will likely go through a breast exam, pelvic exam, and Pap smear. These tests are meant to check for conditions such as breast and cervical cancer. Your doctor might also recommend STI screening.
A good number of women also get blood tests to check blood pressure and cholesterol levels.
Preventative Care
The main benefit of disease screening is that it allows your doctor to catch any abnormalities early. Your physical exam, pelvic exam, pap smear, and breast exam will turn up results about your reproductive health. If something is wrong, your doctor can begin treatment early. If you are not ill but at risk of developing a condition, your doctor will recommend some changes.
During your exam, you will also receive preventative care. This might include immunizations such as flu shots and the HPV vaccine.
Patient Counseling
After your tests, you and your doctor will have a conversation about your health and lifestyle. They might make some recommendations and answer any questions you might have. Remember, your health includes both the mental and physical. You might need to discuss recent significant changes with your doctor, such as job loss or divorce.
Final Thoughts
There are so many services you could receive at your annual exam. If you develop a condition, routine checkups could help your doctor detect it on time. This is why you should honor every appointment, regardless of how tight your schedule might be.
Are you due for your annual well woman exam? Contact the team at Suncoast Women’s Care to schedule your appointment with a gynecologist.