Though I went for a yearly physical up until I was eighteen, by the time I left for college, the annual check-up flew out the window along with bed times, flossing, and eating from all four food groups. Unfortunately, even though I now have kids and am enforcing all the rules from my childhood, I haven't quite returned to my general practitioner on a yearly basis. That needs to change.

There is a lot to learn at the annual physical--from information about my body such as cholesterol levels to information from my doctor about early warning signs to health risks that I should be looking out for. I should also mention that I'm fantastic with fixing my car when there is a problem; getting it to the shop quickly so the situation can be addressed. I'm not as careful about keeping up with Jiffy Lube, which is quite obvious if you currently take a glance at my mangled windshield wiper blades. I seem to run my body in the same way that I run my car.

Because a general practitioner isn't addressing a specific problem, it may not seem as important. But this is far from the truth. Your yearly check-up should look at the following items plus more:

Children

• Physical growth in terms of height and weight. Babies and small children will also have the circumference of their head measured.
• A complete examination of the body for proper growth.
• Scoliosis check.
• Urine screening.
• Some doctors will also draw blood to see a complete blood count (CBC) and check for anemia.
• Immunizations if necessary.

Adults

• Vital signs: height, weight, pulse, blood pressure.
• Skin exam (looking for unusual moles or markings).
• Examination of ears, nose, and throat.
• Listen to lungs and heart.
• Palpitate the abdomen.
• Genitalia or rectal exam.
• Feel for enlarged lymph nodes.
• Some doctors will also draw blood to see a complete blood count (CBC) and check for anemia or high cholesterol.

There has been debate whether or not yearly physicals are necessary--whether they actually serve as preventative medicine, catching problems early on, or whether they are a waste of time for both doctors and patients.

Not that it is a perfect analogy because a body is not a car, but I think of the need for the yearly check-up as similar to swinging by Jiffy Lube. It's not just about changing the oil in the car or looking at fluid levels; it is connecting me to basic understanding about the state of my car. It puts me in touch with people who know vehicles and gives me a chance to ask a few questions that have popped up along the way, such as the source of a strange sound.

And that is how I approach the yearly physical--I collect questions that are more of the quelling anxiety variety rather than the this-is-a-problem variety. I look for information such as my cholesterol level or whether they think the sound my knee makes when I bend it is troubling. I find out what exams should be run at different ages--from the mammogram to a colonoscopy.

Doctor visits are on other blogger's minds:

Mom Knows Everything muses about how difficult it is to get her kids to the doctor.

Ten Squares, Three Squiggles recently had a post about a particularly difficult visit and how she held her own.

Kids Health has an excellent guide to explaining the office visit to small children. So now that you have your children squared away, what are you waiting for in making your own appointment?

Melissa is the author of the infertility and pregnancy loss blog, Stirrup Queens and Sperm Palace Jesters. She keeps a categorized blogroll of 1700 infertility blogs and writes the daily Lost and Found and Connections Abound, a news source for the infertility blogosphere. Her infertility book, Navigating the Land of If, is forthcoming from Seal Press in June 2009. She is the keeper of the IComLeavWe (International Comment Leaving Week) list which is currently open for March.