Your handy guide to the doctor appointments you should be making annually

It makes sense to go to the doctor when you’re sick, but preventative visits are also an important part of keeping you healthy.

“The goal of health should be prevention of any issues instead of reaction to an issue that has already come up,” Dr. Barbara Bawer, family medicine physician at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, tells Yahoo Life. “Regular visits can catch things early or, better yet, prevent them from occurring through regular screenings so we can get ahead of them.”

Preventative visits and screenings shouldn’t be minimized — they can help keep you alive, Dr. Alfred Tallia, professor and chair of family medicine and community health at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, tells Yahoo Life. These visits “provide preventive services that have been shown to reduce death and illness,” he says.

Of course, it can be tough sometimes to stay on top of these appointments, and it’s understandable to have some basic questions about who you need to see and when. For example, do you need to visit the eye doctor if you don’t need glasses? And how often should you see your dentist if you’ve never had a cavity or other tooth issues? Doctors break it all down, along with important screenings to get done as you get older.

Physical exam

A primary care physician is the person you see for checkups and more minor illnesses. “One of the single most important ways to ensure that you receive really good medical care, including preventive care, is to have a trusted source of primary care,” Dr. Richard Wender, chair of family medicine and community health at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, tells Yahoo Life. During a checkup, your doctor can screen you for high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes, among other things, he says.

How often you should see your primary care physician depends largely on your personal health, as well as any underlying conditions you may have, Wender notes. “Many young adults can receive good preventive care seeing a primary care clinician every two or three years through age 35 or even up until 40 or 45, assuming their health is good,” he says. “People with one of a great many chronic illnesses will need to see their primary care clinician more often.”

However, you may want to see your doctor on an annual basis to make sure you’re up to date on necessary screenings, labs and vaccines, Dr. Arashdeep Litt, section chief for internal medicine at Corewell Health, tells Yahoo Life. “Annual visits also open the door for a discussion on any new family history occurrences since your last exam,” she says. “For example, if a close family member has developed cancer or another chronic condition since you were last seen.”

After you turn 50, it’s usually best to see your doctor on an annual basis — if you’re not doing that already, Wender says.

Dental checkup

If you haven’t had dental issues in the past, it’s easy to assume that you can see your dentist whenever a problem comes up. The American Dental Association recommends seeing your dentist “regularly,” which is open to interpretation. However, dentists generally agree that it’s ideal to get your teeth checked every six months.

“The best type of dental care is preventive care,” Julie Cho, a general dentist in New York City, tells Yahoo Life. “By going to the dentist regularly, you can get ahead of any discomfort, sensitivity, pain and swelling that may occur in your mouth.” Regular cleaning, exams and X-rays (when needed) can help catch underlying problems such as tooth decay, cracks in the teeth and infections early, even if you don’t have symptoms at the time, Cho says.

These exams can also help find other health issues. “Dental visits aren’t to just check for decay,” Sarah Jebreil, a cosmetic dentist at Dental Esthetics in Newport Beach, Calif., tells Yahoo Life. “Dental exams screen patients for cancer, enlarged lymph nodes and HPV [human papillomavirus] that is often present in the oropharyngeal area.”

Skin check

Full-body skin checks help detect melanoma and other forms of skin cancer. There is no official recommendation on how often to see a dermatologist, but the Skin Cancer Foundation recommends getting a full-body screening once a year, or more if you’re at higher risk for skin cancer. The American Academy of Dermatology notes that skin cancer screenings can detect abnormal spots early and potentially save your life. “I recommend that individuals start to see a dermatologist at least at the age of 40 for yearly skin checks,” Bawer says. “But if they have fair skin, have had extensive sun exposure or tanning history, then even as early as mid-20s is important to start getting checked consistently.”

Eye exam

You don’t necessarily need to see an eye doctor every year, but it’s important to get checked out at some point, Dr. Alice Lorch, a comprehensive ophthalmologist at Mass Eye and Ear, tells Yahoo Life. “A comprehensive eye exam is necessary to identify any underlying eye pathology that a patient may not be aware of,” she says. Lorch points out that eye exams are more than just checking to see if you need glasses — your doctor will look to see if you have signs of eye disease such as glaucoma, cataracts or macular degeneration. Some conditions can lead to blindness if they’re not properly treated, she says.

If you don’t have risk factors for eye disease (such as diabetes or a previous history of eye disease), the American Academy of Ophthalmology recommends seeing your eye doctor based on your age. That includes:

• Under 40: every five to 10 years.

• 40 to 54: every two to four years.

• 55 to 64: every one to three years.

• 65 and older: every one to two years.

However, the American Optometric Association recommends that adults between the ages of 18 and 64 get an eye exam every year regardless of their eye health. “Everyone should have a baseline exam at 40 if they haven’t previously,” Lorch says.

Well woman exam

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) recommends that teens begin seeing an ob-gyn between the ages of 13 and 15. After that, ACOG suggests seeing your ob-gyn at least once a year for a well woman visit, which is a chance to talk about any gynecological issues or questions, sex, birth control, pregnancy planning and more.

Worth noting: ACOG says that there isn’t much research to support the usefulness of pelvic exams in women who aren’t pregnant, aren’t having symptoms (such as abnormal vaginal bleeding or discharge, pelvic pain or pain during sex) or aren’t at risk for gynecological conditions, such as cervical dysplasia, which is when abnormal cells grow on the surface of the cervix. Ultimately, it’s best to talk to your doctor about when you may need a pelvic exam — and you can discuss this at your well woman visit.

STI screening

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommends that all sexually active women be screened for chlamydia and gonorrhea — the most common and second most common bacterial sexually transmitted infections in the U.S., respectively — if they are 24 years old or younger, or 25 years old or older and at an increased risk of infection. The USPSTF says there is “insufficient” evidence to suggest that the benefits of screening outweigh potential harms for men. As a result, there’s no recommended screening for men.

Specialty screenings

Specialty screenings can help catch illnesses and conditions before you develop symptoms, Bawer says. “We have great ways to treat many cancers or provide better therapies if something is caught early,” she points out. “They are important to be up to date on.”

Essential specialty screenings include:

Pap tests

Pap tests involve using a swab or brush to collect cells from the cervix and check for any abnormal cells that may become cancer, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Women ages 21 to 29 should have a Pap test every three years, while those who are 30 to 65 can have a Pap test every five years if it’s done with an HPV test, or a Pap test alone every three years, ACOG says.

HPV screening

This test, which also involves collecting cells from the cervix, checks for human papillomavirus (HPV), which is the most common sexually transmitted infection, according to the CDC. Some forms of HPV can cause genital warts and certain types of cancer, including cervical cancer. There is currently no approved test for HPV in men, and screening isn’t recommended for them because it’s hard to get reliable test results in men. ACOG recommends that women ages 21 to 29 should have a Pap test, rather than an HPV test, every three years, while women who are ages 30 to 65 should have an HPV test every five years.

Some doctors recommend HPV screening over Pap tests because HPV tests can catch problems a bit earlier than Pap tests. It’s also why you need to test less often when you get HPV tests. According to Planned Parenthood, “they find HPV before it may cause cell changes — Pap tests find cell changes after they’ve already happened.”

Mammograms

Mammograms are X-rays of the breasts that help screen for breast cancer. The USPSTF recommends that women ages 50 to 74 get screened for breast cancer every other year. However, the agency says that women may start screening as young as age 40. ACOG also recommends that mammograms be offered to women at average risk of breast cancer starting at age 40.

Colorectal cancer screening

Colorectal cancer screening can check for the presence of colon cancer or polyps that may develop into colon cancer. The USPSTF recommends that all adults ages 45 to 75 be screened for colon cancer. This can be done with a stool-based test or an exam called a colonoscopy that uses a flexible tool with a camera to look at the colon and rectum.

Some stool-based tests should be done every year, while others can be done every three years, according to the American Cancer Society (ACS). A colonoscopy should be done every 10 years, per the ACS, while a virtual colonoscopy or a flexible sigmoidoscopy (which looks at the lower part of the large intestine) can be done every five years.

Prostate cancer screening

There is no standard or routine screening test for prostate cancer, and the USPSTF says that the choice for men aged 55 to 69 years to be screened should be an individual one. However, the ACS says that a digital rectal exam or prostate-specific antigen test (a blood test that screens for prostate cancer) may be performed. There is also a test known as a prostate cancer gene 3 (PCA3) RNA test, which is a urine-based test to look for cells that indicate prostate cancer, that may be used. The USPSTF warns about the risk of false positives with all of these tests, so check in with your doctor about your individual risk and next steps.

Bone density scan

Bone density screenings use X-rays to measure the mineral content in bones to check for osteoporosis, a disease that weakens bones and raises the risk of fracture. This scan is recommended for women age 65 and up, per the USPSTF. Women should have their first bone density scan around the time they start menopause, the agency says. These scans, also known as DEXA scans, can be done once every two years, but some research suggests every 15 years. Your health care provider can help determine the right timeline based on your personal and family health history and medications.

There is a lot to remember with health screenings and appointments, and it can get overwhelming. There’s also some variability from person to person. “Family history, prior test results and individual risk factors can also help determine the frequency of these tests for a particular patient,” Litt says.

That’s why Tallia recommends starting with a primary care physician. “If you have a trusted provider, he or she can guide you through the maze of what to do and what not to do, and when it is appropriate, based on evidence,” he says.

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