We all want to be healthier. We want to be fitter, to maintain a good weight, to be less prone to disease, and better equipped to fight whatever issues we come up against. However, we don’t have the time for continual appointments with the doctor, especially as we get older. However, it doesn’t have to be such a hassle to ensure that we’re taking good care of ourselves. Here are a few methods to make a healthy life much more manageable.
Take care of yourself
It might sound like very obvious advice, but the better you take care of your body, the less likely you are to develop the chronic conditions that can make your healthcare schedule a lot busier. It’s never too late to start exercising and maintaining healthy eating routines. Not only are you going to decrease your risk of the two most common chronic diseases, heart disease and diabetes, considerably, but you’re going to be more mobile, flexible, and stronger for much longer. Don’t forget to try your best to manage a good schedule of seven to eight hours’ sleep at the same time every night, as well.
Don’t lose track
If you want to make sure that you’re taking care of yourself effectively, you don’t quite need to hire a personal trainer. Most of us don’t have the time or the budget for that. However, technology is making it even easier to manage an active lifestyle. Fitness trackers can tell you how many calories you’re burning every day, as well as setting new targets to make sure your routines don’t grow stagnant and, thus, less effective. There are also nutrition tracking apps that can help you measure the value of all the food you eat, as well as the calories, to make sure that you’re eating enough good stuff and can warn you whenever you’re getting into bad habits such as eating too much sugar, setting targets on dietary changes you can make over time.
Perform the essential checks on yourself
When it comes to spotting the signs of serious disease early, then nothing is more important than knowing how to do a self-examination for the cancers that are most likely to affect you. Breast cancer is more common in people over 50, but can affect us at any age, so examining your own breasts with these instructions from Lifehacker once a month is crucial. For men, examining your testicles for new lumps once a month is essential, too. For people of both sexes, the risk of skin cancer is also one to be wary of. Standing in a well-lit room and looking at yourself without clothes to see differences such as new dark spots and discoloration in the skin means that you need to get yourself checked out a little more closely by your doctor.
Schedule those big appointments
A healthy lifestyle can decrease your risk of not just heart disease and diabetes, but all kinds of health concerns. However, that doesn’t mean that you can simply ignore those risks from now on. Rather than getting caught up with a whole host of doctors’ appointments, you can schedule those few key appointments now throughout the year. An annual physical is important, but you should also look at more specific tests such as hearing tests, bone density tests, and breast screening that you should attend every now and then. Some tests are recommended annually, some are scheduled for every three years, some for every five.
Keep on top of your meds
As we get older, it becomes more and more likely that we’re going to develop some sort of condition that we’re going to have to manage over time. Primarily, we do that with medication. However, for many people, picking up their prescriptions isn’t quite as easy, especially if you have problems with mobility or accessing transport. You don’t have to visit the pharmacist in person anymore, however, with help from Simple Online Pharmacy. Now, it’s easier than ever to order not just over-the-counter medicine, but also prescription medications. You can even have a remote examination through the webcam to help diagnose and immediately start the process of delivering the medications you need.
Have your info at the ready
At some point, you may have to switch doctors or visit a new specialist who might not have all the information they need. In most cases, you’re going to have to go through an interview, asking all sorts of questions about your medical history. However, it’s very easy to forget certain details, including medications that you’re currently on, which can lead to some serious problems. You can keep track of your medical history much more easily with these steps from the National Institute on Aging, which gives you the space to answer the common medical history questions before you attend the appointment. Then you can simply give it to the doctor when you arrive, and they have all of the information about you that they need to know.
Don’t sit on it, even when it’s not an emergency
You may not want to bother the doctor if you’re experiencing a new symptom, but you don’t believe it’s an emergency. However, there are ways of getting help even if something isn’t an emergency. For instance, the NHS 111 hotline in a free telephone service that you can call at any time of the day for help in non-life-threatening situations. They can help you decide whether or not it really is an emergency, whether they can help you access your doctor out of hours, or whether it’s okay to schedule and wait for an appointment instead. Of course, if you’re ever in doubt whether a situation is an emergency, it’s wise to play it safe and treat it like one by calling 999.
With the tips above, you can make sure that you’re giving yourself the necessary attention you need to live a healthier life and to deal with potential risks, from cancer to hearing loss, as soon as possible. Staying on top of your body is your best chance at fighting whatever may come before it grows into a much more serious problem.
Ceri Wheeldon
Ceri is Founder and Editor of Fabafterfifty.co.uk She is a frequent speaker at events and in the media on topics related to women over 50 , including style and living agelessly. With 20+ years experience as a headhunter Ceri also now helps support those looking to extend their working lives.
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