What Happens During an Annual Physical?
The annual physical is an essential part of any doctor’s visit. There are no absolutes in a routine annual physical. A good doctor can be thorough or brief, but they spend time listening to your concerns and providing counseling for your personal risk factors. Your doctor may suggest preventive steps that will keep health problems at bay.
If you have a medical issue that does not seem quite urgent enough to schedule an appointment, your annual physical is a suitable time to address it. If you and your doctor catch a condition early and begin treatment, you will have a better outcome.
What Happens During an Annual Physical?
A yearly checkup will include some discussion with your doctor about your health and certain physical exams.
- History- This is your chance to mention any concerns about your health. Your doctor will quiz you about lifestyle behaviors like smoking, excessive alcohol use, sexual health, diet, and exercise. The doctor will check on your vaccination status and update your personal and family medical history.
- Vital signs- Some vital signs checked by your doctor include:
Blood pressure- Less than 120 over 80 is considered normal. High blood pressure, hypertension, is 130 over 80 or higher.
Heart rate- Between 60 and 100 is considered normal. Some healthy people have heart rates slower than 60.
Respiration rate- 12 to 16 breaths per minute is a normal rate. Breathing more than 20 times per minute can suggest heart or lung problems.
Temperature- The average temperature is 98.6 F, but your healthy resting temperature might be slightly higher or lower.
- General appearance- Your doctor gathers information about you and your health just by watching and talking to you. How is your memory and mental quickness? Does your skin look healthy? Can you easily stand and walk?
- Heart exam- Listening to your heart with a stethoscope, a doctor can detect an irregular heartbeat, a heart murmur, or other clues to heart disease.
- Lung exam- Using a stethoscope, a doctor listens for crackles, wheezes, or decreased breath sounds. These are clues to the presence of heart or lung disease.
- Head and neck exam- Saying ah shows your throat and tonsils. The quality of your teeth and gums can provide information about your overall health. Your ears, nose, sinuses, eyes, lymph nodes, thyroid, and carotid arteries can also be examined.
- Abdominal exam- Your doctor may use a range of examination techniques, including tapping your abdomen to detect liver size and presence of abdominal fluid, listening for bowel sounds with a stethoscope, and palpating for tenderness.
- Neurological exam- Nerves, muscle strength, reflexes, balance, and mental state might be assessed.
- Dermatological exam- Skin and nail findings can indicate a dermatological problem or disease somewhere else in your body.
- Extremities exam- Your doctor will look for physical and sensory changes. They could check the pulses in your arms and legs and examine your joints for abnormalities.
Do You Even Need an Annual Physical Exam?
Many people and doctors prefer the annual physical. Exercising, maintaining a healthy weight, and not smoking can help keep most of us in good health, with or without an annual physical. If you and your doctor are paying attention to prevention and your overall health, the choice is yours.
Related Article: Why Are Annual Physicals Necessary?