Woman’s Health Month – May
May marks Woman’s Health Month and stresses the importance of living a healthy lifestyle.
The infographic below is extremely useful and highlights some very important dates, explaining what check up’s you should receive yearly and ones that are age appropriate – it outlines all the important check ups that a woman should get in her lifetime.
Click on the infographic to enlarge
Diet, exercise and non-smoking are all obvious factors we should consider when thinking of our health. Personally, I follow the Juice PLUS guide to eat well and take their multivitamins to provide me with fantastic benefits. I am currently trying to expand the amount of exercise Molly and I do by planning outdoor games and walks for us both to enjoy.
But their are plenty more ways to make sure you are healthy. Keeping in regular contact with your doctor with up to date vaccinations and preventive screenings are extremely important as we can’t always tell what’s going on with our inside; stress management, mental health and sleep all play a large factor too. Furthermore general safety awareness and alcohol awareness will help us keep good habits, promoting a positive lifestyle.
Searching Woman’s Health Month online will allow you to see what check-ups you should be having, filtered by age in more detail. As I am in my twenties, it is recommended that I:
- Get my blood pressure checked
- Get an annual well-woman visit
- Eat healthy
- Maintain a healthy weight
- Get at least 30 minutes of exercise most days
- Quit smoking or don’t start
- Limit alcohol use
- Get a seasonal flu shot
- Ask what other shots I need
- Talk to my doctor about any domestic and interpersonal violence
- Choose the right birth control if I have sex
- Talk to my doctor about whether I plan to have children in the next year
- Talk to my doctor about when I need a Pap test (21 and older)
- Talk to my doctor about my risk for sexually transmitted infections and need for screening
- Get an HIV test at least once in my lifetime
- Get tested for chlamydia and gonorrhea
- Get the HPV vaccine if I have not yet received the series of shots (26 and younger)
- Talk to my doctor about getting my cholesterol checked if I have a family history of heart problems
- Get tested for diabetes if I have blood pressure higher than 135/80
- Talk to my doctor about my family history of cancers
- Talk to my doctor about getting screened for Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C
- Talk to my doctor about stress, depression, and other mental health concerns
Many of these may seem obvious but perhaps not all of them, I have found this to be a very useful guide and has definitely given me something to think about and provided me with some questions to ask next time I am at the doctors.
It is never to late to be an even healthier version of yourself and support your friends and family to better themselves too. Our health should be one of our biggest priorities so I hope you will find the infographic and search material very useful.
Stay healthy!
