If you postponed or missed routine healthcare checks in the past 18 months, you’re not alone. A poll from Time Magazine (https://time.com/5941599/basic-health-care-postponed-covid-19/) found that 78% of Americans had skipped at least one medical service since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. At least 15% of those skipped seeing specialists, including dermatologists, cardiologists, and orthopedics.
Routine healthcare screenings are crucial for catching and treating diseases in the early stages and before they have the chance to get worse. Cancer screenings, like mammograms, pap smears, prostate exams, and colonoscopies, are designed to catch cancer as early as possible. Delayed diagnosis leads to worse outcomes in most cases.
If you’ve been putting off routine medical check-ups or even visits for acute illnesses due to the pandemic, it’s time to get back to regularly scheduled programming. If you’ve skipped any of the following healthcare checks, make an appointment today and ensure your health is on the right track.
- Cancer screenings: Mammograms and pap smears for women, prostate exams for men, and colonoscopies and skin checks for both are key to catching and treating cancer early. How important is early detection? According to the American Cancer Society, when breast cancer is detected early, and is in the localized stage, the 5-year relative survival rate is 99%.
- Follow-ups for chronic diseases: heart disease or failure, chronic lung and kidney diseases or diabetes all need to be managed closely to avoid serious complications. If you or a loved one has any of these, or other chronic illnesses, getting back in to see your provider should be a top priority.
- Mental health management: During the COVID-19 pandemic 40% of U.S. adults have reported symptoms of anxiety or depression, up from 10% pre-pandemic. If you are already taking medication or see a mental health provider for mental illnesses continuing those visits are crucial to ensuring you are mentally and physically well.
- New symptoms or illnesses: Whether it’s a change in sleeping or eating habits or persistent pain new symptoms or signs of illnesses should be treated promptly. If it’s happening often or impacting your daily life it needs to be examined by a health care provider immediately.
- Sexual health: Whether it’s making sure you’re birth control is up to date or getting screened for sexually transmitted infections, it can’t wait until the pandemic ends. Many STIs are treatable if caught early, but if left untreated, can cause life-threatening illness or infertility.
Don’t wait to schedule your screenings and get back to routine healthcare today. Call us at 1-800-859-0085 to make an appointment.