Preventive Health Care For Women: 7 Things You, Your Mom and Girlfriends Should Do
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When it comes to health guidelines, the first thing that everyone should understand is that men and women have different needs.
Preventive health care for women involves more strategic actions, as their bodies are more complex.
In this article, we’re taking a look at important preventive health care for women, so you can take vital precautions at the best time.
7 Strategic Steps Of Preventive Health Care For Women
1. Get Regular Pap Smears
According to women’s health clinics, one of the most important parts of preventive health care for women is getting regular Pap smears by your gynecologist.
There is quite a lot that this test can do for you, such as checking for cervical cancer and pre-cancerous states too.
With regular Pap smears, if there is a discovery of something abnormal early on, the doctors can provide the correct treatment and care to stop deadly cancer from developing.
The Pap smear test is quite quick, takes about ten to twenty minutes, and can be lifesaving.
2. Test Yourself For STDs
It’s true that sexually transmitted diseases are not as common as they were before.
Proper protection was promoted to the population in the past few years, but it does not mean that they’re gone.
If you happen to be sexually active, you should consider testing for STDs on a regular basis, as some STDs can lead to serious health problems.
Even if you do not have any symptoms, you can still have an STD.
A lot of people who have it are carriers, and they are only caught having certain sexually transmitted viruses once they undergo a test for it.
Because of these factors, an STD test is one of the most important measures of preventive health care for women, and men equally.
3. Get Proper Prenatal Care
If you are planning to get pregnant, prenatal care is very important for both the development of your child, as well as your own health.
During prenatal care, you are going to receive the necessary testing and vitamins that your body needs for a more successful pregnancy. Studies show that prenatal care also reduces the chance of having issues during pregnancy.
4. Get Help For Menopause
While having a period every month can be an unpleasant experience for a lot of women, something that even more women struggle with is menopause.
Preventive health care for women should also include menopause treatment – simply to make sure you are feeling your best once it comes.
Menopause is a naturally occurring hormonal disbalance that causes all kinds of issues.
You should consult about that as soon as you enter perimenopause, which is the time before menopause.
Hot flashes, anxiety, irritability, insomnia, depression, and mood swings are just some of the potential problems that menopause can bring.
Helpful treatment can help to take care of all those problems.
There are both hormonal and non-hormonal treatments for menopause symptoms, and depending on your lifestyle, the doctor will prescribe the appropriate ones.
5. Consult About Contraception
There are quite a lot of options when it comes to contraception today, but if you are sexually active, it is always best to consult with a doctor.
When you are going to the gynecologist, consult about contraception if you are not planning on becoming pregnant.
6. Get Gestational Diabetes Screening
If you are pregnant, one of the necessary tests that you should consider getting every now and then is the gestational diabetes screening.
This is a test that will help you from developing diabetes without notice.
For the test, the doctor will perform an oral glucose tolerance test as well, as it is a good idea to combine it with GDS (especially if your medical history shows that you are at risk).
7. Have Mammograms
Preventive health care for women is incomplete without a mammogram.
One of the most common types of cancer, even today, after all the preventive measures, is breast cancer.
Because of that, if you have any suspicions at all while doing breast self-examination, (which is when you test yourself for any lumps on your breasts), you should get a mammogram.
A mammogram is a type of x-ray screening of your breasts, and it is the easiest way to confirm if you have breast cancer.
If breast cancer is detected early on, your chances of survival will be increased significantly.
If you are not sure how to do self-examinations, there are numerous tutorials online, but it is best if you ask your doctor instead.
Final word
The importance of preventive health care for women is undeniable.
It is one of the best ways to ensure that you have a healthy body and catch any diseases early on.
This is especially advised if you are planning to become pregnant or if you are already pregnant.
However, while preventive health care is important for women, it is important for anyone.
It’s a good idea to encourage your loved ones to have regular checkups too.
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