"
As the school year approaches, its time to schedule a back-to-school physical for your child. In addition to meeting the school requirements, annual physicals are some of the most important medical appointments for your child. Unlike when your child sees the doctor for an illness, the doctor has a chance to take a look at your child’s overall help and make appropriate recommendations to keep your child healthy and strong.
Back-to-school physicals provide many benefits, including:
Preventative care
Your child’s doctor will look over all of your child’s stats and vitals to make sure everything is in order. If anything does look out of place, your child’s doctor can help you create a plan to deal with it sooner rather than later, before it becomes a much bigger problem.
Development checks
In addition to pointing out any issues, your child’s doctor will check that they are growing adequately according to their weight or height. As your child gets older, your doctor will also make sure they are hitting the appropriate puberty milestones. Again, if there are any issues, your doctor can talk these over with your family and help create a plan to handle them, or refer you to a specialist, if necessary.
Vaccines
Back-to-school physicals are the perfect time to make sure your child is up to date on his or her vaccinations. Your child can get any vaccines he or she needs at the appointment, and it will give you the opportunity to check in with the doctor and make sure none have been missed.
Health Reviews
These back-to-school physicals also serve as a time for your child or teen to ask questions about their health and their bodies. Topics like puberty, relationships, alcohol, drugs, and sexual intercourse can all be addressed at these visits. Your child’s doctor can also provide guidance on healthy lifestyle changes such as increasing physical activity or encouraging better eating habits.
Teaching wellness
Many adults do not receive preventative care and wellness checks that they should. However, by taking your child to their wellness visits, you are helping to instill this practice in them.
If getting an appointment with your child’s doctor is a challenge because of scheduling, or cost is an obstacle, consider an urgent care center. Although typically thought of for illnesses and injuries, urgent care can also provide affordable, convenient, and accessible options for children to get their back-to-school physicals.
"
