Looking after your health should always be your number one priority. Whether you’re in your teens or your nineties, it’s important to take of yourself. After all, a healthy body helps with a healthy mind and a happier life.
If we eat well and exercise regularly it can drastically reduce a various number of ailments and health problems that those who don’t exercise or eat well may face later on in life.
As a woman it’s so important to me that I get checked regularly. Having lost my own mother to ovarian cancer 15 years ago, I’m not afraid to go to the doctor should something concern me. If you feel uncomfortable going to the doctor, consider a Concierge MD in Atlanta. They offer house call services in which a healthcare professional will come to your home to perform a well woman exam. With that in min, here are three health checks that every woman should have.
Smear Test
Here in Wales, Cervical Screening Wales will automatically invite all women aged 25 to 64 who are registered with a GP for cervical screening (every 3 years if you are 25 to 49 and every 5 years if you are 50 to 64).
Sadly some women find smear tests too embarrassing which means they decide not to have one. However, a smear test could quite literally save your life. It’s painless, takes less than five minutes and trust me, the nurse carrying our your smear test really doesn’t care what you look like down there. Shaved, not shaved, nobody cares. The important thing is that you attend your smear test.
STD Check
Following on from a smear test, if you’re sexually active it’s really important that you have an STD check. Again, like smear tests, a lot of women are too embarrassed to go for check. However, it’s extremely important for women’s health and wellbeing of ourselves and the future that you get tested.
Check your breasts
Checking breasts is another important check that women should do on a regular basis. Many women worry that they’re doing it wrong, but the good news is that there is no right or wrong way to check your breasts. You know your body better than anyone else so by checking yourself regularly, you should come to know what feels right and what doesn’t. This is why it is important to know how your breasts usually look and feel. That way, you can spot any changes quickly and report them to your GP.
The NHS Breast Screening Programme has produced a 5-point plan for being breast aware:
- know what’s normal for you
- look at your breasts and feel them
- know what changes to look for
- report any changes without delay
- attend routine screening if you’re 50 or over
Look at your breasts and feel each breast and armpit, and up to your collarbone. You may find it easiest to do this in the shower or bath, by running a soapy hand over each breast and up under each armpit.
You can also look at your breasts in the mirror. Look with your arms by your side and also with them raised.
There are a number of changes you should out look for. Some of these are:
- a change in the size, outline or shape of your breast
- a change in the look or feel of your skin, such as puckering or dimpling
- a new lump, thickening or bumpy area in one breast or armpit that is different from the same area on the other side
- nipple discharge that’s not milky
- bleeding from your nipple
- a moist, red area on your nipple that doesn’t heal easily
- any change in nipple position, such as your nipple being pulled in or pointing differently
- a rash on or around your nipple
- any discomfort or pain in one breast, particularly if it’s a new pain and doesn’t go away (although pain is only a symptom of breast cancer in rare cases)
