Medical Checkups

Regular doctor visits aren’t just for babies. It’s important to track growth, screen for disease and address health and parenting issues affecting older kids, too.
A vital part of keeping your child healthy is staying up-to-date on his or her physical exams. Learn more about how often children should be checked and what happens at [...]

Write a Comment! »

Routine Exams

A physical usually includes a health history and physical examination. The health history consists of a series of questions concerning your child’s health. During the physical examination, the doctor may check your child’s:

Height and weight. The doctor will then plot these values on a growth curve that shows the height and weight ranges in a [...]

Write a Comment! »

Preventive Screenings

Several potentially serious conditions that affect children show up on routine examinations and tests. Regular exams increase the chance that such conditions will be detected early, before they do lasting harm.
Starting at ages 3 to 5, children are typically screened for:

Lead poisoning
Tuberculosis
Obesity
Blood lipid abnormalities such as high cholesterol, when family [...]

Write a Comment! »

Chronic Condition Update

If your child has a chronic condition, such as diabetes, seasonal allergies or asthma, use some of your time with the doctor to review your plan for managing such conditions. It may be useful to talk about:

Recent changes in symptoms.
Possible changes in medication and prescription renewals.
School nurses’ roles in the management plan. [...]

Write a Comment! »

Adolescent Concerns

When your daughter turns 18 or becomes sexually active, she should have a pelvic examination (including a Pap test, for abnormal cervical cells) and breast exam as part of the routine physical. This may be started earlier depending on the family and patient. When your son starts to mature sexually, the doctor may do a [...]

Write a Comment! »