Preventive care is an essential part of managing your health and ensuring you catch potential issues early on, so you can live a longer life. Not only will preventive care reduce your chances of developing a serious health condition, but you can obtain most of these services at no cost since most are covered by your health insurance. That means there is no reason for you to neglect your health, so keep reading for some tips on how to manage your preventive care.
Tips on How to Manage Your Preventive Care
Preventive care allows you to identify health problems like diabetes or high blood pressure early when it is possible to treat the condition in its early stages. Immunizations are also considered preventive care since they can protect you from a range of diseases, including chicken pox, tetanus, and seasonal flu.
Here are some preventive care recommendations you should ask your healthcare provider about:
- Annual physical: Every year, you should schedule a physical exam, which includes screenings for high blood pressure, cholesterol, and more.
- Cancer screenings: Unfortunately, cancer symptoms often do not appear during its early and most treatable stages, so it is crucial to screen for it at certain periods of your life. Women and men should both start having colorectal cancer screenings at the age of 45. Women should also schedule mammograms and Pap tests, while men should screen for prostate cancer through prostate-specific antigen (PSA) tests.
- Childhood immunizations: There are many immunizations available to children that can keep them protected, including hepatitis A and B, measles, chickenpox, and MMR (mumps and rubella).
- Adult immunizations: Some of the immunizations available to adults include Tdap (tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis) boosters and immunizations against shingles and pneumococcal conjugate.
- Flu shot: Getting a flu shot can substantially reduce your risk of infection. Even if you do get the flu, the vaccine can reduce the severity of your symptoms and potentially keep you out of the hospital.
Preventive care, as the name suggests, only refers to the care you receive before an issue arises. For example, if something is detected, and you require treatment during the procedure or follow-up treatments to address a condition, these services would not be considered preventive. Further diagnostic tests and screenings are also generally not considered preventive care.
If you have doubts about what is considered preventive health care, check in with your insurance company to clarify any questions you may have.
Protect Your Health with Preventive Care
Your health is important. Detecting an illness or condition in the early stages can help avoid the condition from worsening and developing into a health risk that is more difficult or costly to treat. Make sure you stay on top of your regular checkups. If you have any questions about what qualifies as preventive care, reach out to your health insurance company for the answers you need to safeguard your health. The better you care for your health today, the better your tomorrow will be.