Preventative measures: A list of medical appointments you should schedule this year
Preventative health – watching ahead of the curve for any medical concerns – requires the scheduling of regular appointments. It’s still early in 2022, so which doctor visits should you plan?
While guidelines are general for a majority, there are individual differences. If you have any sort of chronic illness or ongoing medical concern, you’ll likely have more frequent appointments based on what your specialist says. Other regular visits might be based on age, whether for women or men, and what insurance covers.
With pandemic upheavals, along with busy lives, it’s easy to let those annual or semiannual medical visits slip by. Here’s a list to help keep track.
Primary Care Provider – Yearly
Adults should get a wellness checkup once a year to include blood work and any vaccinations.
Primary care providers are gatekeepers, screening for anything from high cholesterol to diabetes. The yearly screening includes cholesterol levels, blood pressure, immune system health and kidney and liver function. Professionals also can provide dietary advice and monitor mental health.
An infant or child should see a pediatrician regularly following birth. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends visits at 1 month, 2 months, 4 months, 6 months, 9 months, 12 months, 15 months, 18 months, 24 months and 30 months until they reach 3 years old. After that, wellness visits should occur each year.
Dr. David Joosten, with Providence Indian Trail Pediatrics, said those frequent visits up until about age 2 are necessary as babies develop rapidly, and then any problems can be caught early. They check milestones, such as vision, crawling, walking and talking.
“I’d say at least 20% to as many as 30% of my well visits in a day will cover things outside of just a standard wellness checkup because either things are discovered, or there are things we are trying to build up on in a year,” Joosten said. Issues might otherwise sneak up on parents or put a child behind in development without referrals to specialists.
Pediatricians also will ensure childhood vaccinations, with shots spread apart and required before kindergarten.
Dentist – Every six months
Most dentists recommend an appointment twice a year to clean teeth, check for cavities or tooth damage and for general oral health.
The American Dental Association says about 100 million Americans fail to see a dentist each year even though regular exams and good oral hygiene can prevent most dental diseases.
A child’s first dental visit should occur after the first tooth appears, but no later than the 1st birthday. Once teeth appear, babies can get cavities. Pediatricians often serve in a support role here, offering fluoride treatments and reminding parents to get babies off bottles by age 1.
“Otherwise, babies can have bottle rot in their teeth in no time,” Joosten said. “With oral motor mechanics and the way babies can hold bottles particularly at night, they go to sleep with that in their mouth. A lot of the milk will pool around the teeth and destroy the enamel. Those sugars sit in the mouth and go to town on the teeth in no time.”
Eye Doctor – Yearly to every 2 years
The American Optometric Association recommends eye and vision exams at least every two years until the age of 60, and then once a year.
For kids, the group suggests that children receive comprehensive eye exams on a regular schedule. Pediatricians or family doctors often do eye exams that can spot potential developmental issues such as lazy eyes or poor eye muscles for reading, Joosten said, and suggest specialist care.
The AOA urges a baseline eye exam between ages 6 and 12 months and at least one comprehensive eye exam between ages 3 and 5 to check for any conditions that could have long-term effects. Annual, comprehensive eye exams should start before first grade.
Women: Gynecologist – Yearly
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommends a yearly visit to an obstetrician-gynecologist who specializes in the health care of women, but it’s no longer for an annual Pap test. For younger patients, ACOG recommends that girls should have their first gynecologic visit between ages 13 and 15. Here are its general guidelines:
• Women ages 21-29 should have a Pap test alone every three years. HPV testing alone can be considered for women 25-29, but Pap tests are preferred.
• Women ages 30-65 have three options for testing. They can have both a Pap test and an HPV test every five years. They can have a Pap test alone every 3 years, or they can have HPV testing alone every five years.
• After age 65, you can stop having cervical cancer screenings if you have never had abnormal cervical cells or cervical cancer, and you’ve had two or three negative screening tests in a row, depending on the type of test.
Mammograms: Most Women 40-plus – Yearly
The ACOG recommends that women ages 40-49, if they desire regular screenings, to consult with a doctor and get a mammogram once a year or once every two years. A clinical breast exam may be offered once a year.
Guidance varies among medical organizations for women ages 45-54, but the American Cancer Society recommends getting a mammogram each year. At age 55, the organization suggests switching to having a mammogram every other year. However, women can still choose to continue annual screenings.
That’s for women of average risk who don’t have a family history of breast cancer and haven’t tested positive for certain genes linked to elevated risk for breast cancer. Women who are considered to be at high risk are advised to get a mammogram and an MRI each year.
Colonoscopy: Everyone 45 and older
National guidelines recently were adjusted to recommend the start of routine screening for colorectal cancer at 45 for adults at average risk of developing the disease. That baseline is lowered to age 40 if there’s family history of colon cancer. A doctor then will recommend how often screening should occur based on the colonoscopy results.
Mental health: Perhaps now
Joosten said this is a checkup that can sneak up on everyone, even children and teens, especially now.
“The amount of anxiety and depression has gone up extraordinarily since COVID,” he said. “I’ve never seen anything like it, and even more distressing is the number of cases of anorexia nervosa that have developed. I maybe saw two in 20 years that we had to hospitalize, and now it’s almost a monthly event.
“You can be in a purely functional family, and things like anorexia, bulimia, anxiety and depression will sneak up on people because, as we live with our kids day to day, our eyes adjust to new norms.” That’s why regular visits to a health provider, who notices a drastic change since a prior appointment, can bring an intervention.