Preventative Health Care Clinic
In modern medicine, preventative health care is a paramount concern of many medical providers, and the doctors and other medical staff at Total Care Medical Centers also strongly believe in preventive health care. As our mothers used to say, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”
Total Care Medical Centers offer preventative health care to promote and maintain lifelong good health and wellness.
Preventative health care refers to the various tests, procedures and treatments that physicians use to not only monitor your overall health, but identify or diagnose on-setting and genetic risk factors relating to chronic or serious health issues.
Preventative services are a crucial part of healthcare by helping to identify serious health conditions early on. Usually, the earlier an issue is identified, the better health outcomes you’ll have, which is why accessing regular preventative health care is so important.
At Total Care Medical Centers, we offer comprehensive preventative health care as part of our practice. If you need primary health care services that include preventative care, contact us today to get set up with an appointment, or for more information.
What are preventative health services?
Which preventative health services you will have access to will vary depending on your life situation. However, in general, preventative health care services would include things like: blood pressure monitoring, diabetes (type 1 and 2), or cholesterol tests, general blood screenings, screenings for certain types of cancer, diagnostic scanning (such as mammograms) or procedures (such as colonoscopies), or lifestyle support such as nutrition counseling.
Regardless of their current health, most people should receive preventative care throughout their lifetime. Many forgo preventive care only to find out they are ill when the illness could have been caught much earlier.
Some examples of the Preventative Health Care services we offer to patients are:
- Annual Physical Examinations: Routine comprehensive physical exams to assess the general health of patients and identify potential health risks.
- Vaccinations: Immunizations to prevent common illnesses like flu, pneumonia, and certain types of hepatitis.
- Health Screenings: Regular screenings for various conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes, cholesterol levels, and cancers (e.g., breast, cervical, colorectal, skin).
- Preventive Cardiology: Assessments for heart health, including blood pressure and cholesterol checks, ECG, stress tests, and counseling on diet and exercise to reduce cardiovascular risks.
- Bone Density Testing: Screening for osteoporosis, particularly for post-menopausal women or individuals with certain risk factors.
- Nutritional Counseling: Providing dietary advice to promote healthy eating habits and manage weight, preventing diet-related diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, and certain cancers.
- Exercise Counseling: Promoting physical activity as a preventative measure against various diseases and for overall health improvement.
- Tobacco, Alcohol, and Drug Counseling: Programs designed to help patients quit smoking, limit alcohol intake, and avoid illicit drug use, all of which contribute to chronic diseases.
What type of preventative care should I be getting?
The kinds of preventative care services that are right for you will vary depending on specific factors in your personal health history. For example, if your family has a history of breast cancer, your primary care provider or specialist may recommend regular mammograms or breast exams as a preventative measure. Even something like a basic yearly physical is a part of preventative healthcare. A yearly physical typically includes things like taking your height and weight, checking your joints and flexibility, your ears, nose and throat, or checking your skin for moles or malformations that may be problematic.
Part of preventative care is also simply speaking with your doctor about any concerns you may have about your health or recent changes in your life or quality of life. For example, you may want to talk about your desire to start a family and become pregnant, whether your job or other factors have significantly increased your stress levels, or maybe even to discuss your new diet or exercise regime. This information can affect your health, and is often important for your doctor to know.
Are there benefits of seeing a doctor for preventative health?
Of course, preventative health is the first line of defense to maintain and manage your health over your lifetime. However, preventative care is of paramount importance in dealing with the risks that may present in your family history. Many chronic conditions are hereditary, and while having a specific disease or illness in your family history doesn’t automatically mean that you will develop the same thing, it does significantly elevate your risk. This is one reason why primary care doctors will typically ask a new patient about their family health history with illnesses like cancer, diabetes, or autoimmune disorders.
Once your physician understands your family history, they can better determine what type of preventative care you may need or benefit from. Depending on your situation, they may recommend that you could undergo testing regularly. Things like your gender, race, and family background are factors that can affect your health, and these are pieces of information that your physician will be able to take into consideration when recommending preventative healthcare services.
If you are looking for preventative healthcare services, Total Care Medical Centers is the right place for you. Call us for more information.