6 Key Reasons to Get that Annual Physical

Common Health Concerns and Key Screening Tests

The start of the year is a great time to assess your health – what behaviors are contributing positively toward your health and what can you be doing better? A good way to gauge where you are is by getting an annual physical. We know it’s not the most fun thing to do, but trust us, it is certainly worth it.

Six Reasons to Get a Health Physical:

1)       As primary prevention – stop it before it starts

2)       To identify risk factors for common chronic diseases

3)       To detect disease that has no apparent symptoms (secondary prevention)

4)       As a way for the doctor to counsel and promote healthy behaviors

5)       To update clinical data since your last checkup

6)       To enhance the relationship between you and your doctor

It is best to get in front of and manage your health, whether you have a history of family conditions or whether you want to prevent them from ever happening.

Common Health Concerns:

Chronic Disease.  Is it possible to have one and not even know it? According to the Center of Disease Control, 133 million Americans are currently living with an undiagnosed chronic disease. Bothersome symptoms that just don’t seem to go away could be something to discuss with your physician. And of course, we are all too familiar with chronic low back pain, especially associated with Piriformis Syndrome and Sciatica – low back pain is the second most common reason for visits to a primary care physician in the United States. And given 70-80 percent of low back pain is muscle-related; there are things you can do to help prevent and alleviate it.

Heart Attack. Heart disease is no joke. Just by getting an EKG if you’re over 35 and by adding a stress echo if you’re over 40, you can decrease your chance of having a heart attack by 47 percent. Talk to your doctor about early warning signs and how to prevent these symptoms from escalating to a heart attack.

Cervical Cancer. For women, getting a Pap test according to your physician’s recommendations can help you avoid, or at least detect, cervical cancer early on.  For the guys, getting their PSA checked can provide more effective ways of treating cancer early on.

Diabetes. Diabetes has been linked to heart disease, obesity, stroke, Alzheimer’s, and many other diseases.  By detecting early warning signs, managing your diet, exercise, stress levels and lifestyle habits, Diabetes Type 2 can be completely avoided in most cases, and in some, even reversed.  That’s great news!

There are certain screening tests recommended by the U.S. Preventative Services Task Force to be considered.  Screening tests and timeframes are below:

Blood Pressure: Every 2 years for adults with an ideal blood pressure below 120/80 points. Annually if your blood pressure is above 120/80.

Breast Cancer: Mammogram every 2 years for women ages 50 to 74.  Women at higher risk should talk to their doctor about getting screened before age 50.

Cervical Cancer: Screening and pap smear every 3 years for women ages 21 to 65. Human papillomavirus (HPV) testing every 5 years after age 30.

Cholesterol: Every 5 years recommended for most individuals, starting at age 35 for men and age 45 for women. Men and women at risk for heart disease should start getting screened at age 20.  

Colon Cancer: Screening for all adults between ages 50 and 75, usually every 10 years.

At Miracle Stretch® it is our goal to help you live happy, healthy and pain free – so please get that physical, you will feel better for it.

Lose Weight- Lose the Pain!

Many people have trouble keeping their New Year’s resolutions.  Especially the one about losing weight.  After all, there’s all that leftover holiday candy… And once you’re out of shape, it’s so difficult to get back into a workout routine…  New Year’s Eve, that resolution seems so logical and you’re so determined.  New Year’s Day comes and excuses are like potato chips: you can’t have just one. 

But sometimes we just need a concrete reason to stick to the resolution.  Often, we make them just because we feel we should have them, or base them on abstract ideas of how we should be.  I am going to offer you a solid reason to stick to that resolution to lose weight, one that will help remind you WHY you shouldn’t eat those Lindt chocolates sitting in the bowl there on the counter… 

Losing weight will relieve a lot of your back pain.  Studies have shown a direct link between being overweight and aggravated back pain like piriformis syndrome.  There are several contributing factors, such as:

    Over pronation of the foot- being overweight is a large contributor to flat feet and  over pronating.  Over pronating has been shown to directly contribute to piriformis syndrome and aggravated sciatica.

    Wallet Sciatica- Piriformis syndrome is often called “Wallet Sciatica” due to the fact that sitting on one’s wallet is a leading aggravator. What does this have to do with losing weight?  Think about it…  All that extra gluteal fat.  It’s like having 3 wallets in your back pocket!

     Tight gluteal muscles- This is an indirect effect of being overweight.  Large amounts of sitting cause this condition and overweight individuals usually do a lot of it. Adding exercise and proper stretching to that weight loss regimen goes a long way in alleviating this contributor.

Being overweight is a critical factor in a lot of health related problems.  A lot of these problems are silent and unnoticed.  Not so with back and buttocks pain.  You can’t ignore it. You can’t get away from it.  But you can alleviate it by losing the weight.  And you can measure your progress with how much your symptoms have decreased.

Make the New Year of 2016 different. Remember that you can have a hand in alleviating your back pain. Stick to that resolution to lose weight. Throw away those leftover Christmas candies, stick to a strict dietary regimen, and get out and exercise.

As you do, continue to use your Piri-Stretcher®  by Miracle Stretch® the patented home therapy tool recommended by users for lasting relief of low back and buttocks pain. You’ll be amazed by the difference it makes.  Satisfaction guaranteed.