In the medical world, full body scan health checks are extremely beneficial. Preventive health screenings help medical professionals detect the presence of any potential issues. These tests are critically important for senior citizens. Statistics show that an estimated 70% of people over the age of 65 suffer from multiple chronic conditions. This doesn’t mean that senior citizens are the only people needing preventive screenings. If you’ve made a screening appointment, it’s understandable to feel nervous about what to expect. In this post, you’ll learn the process behind receiving a full body scan health check.

Preparing for Your Visit

Before receiving a full body scan, you’ll need to fill out the required paperwork. While filling out this paperwork, it’s important to note all of your allergies. This ensures you aren’t given any medication that could cause an adverse reaction. If you’re pregnant, you’ll also want to mention this to a medical professional. As an added precaution, write down a list of all medications you’re using. It’s much easier to take this list with you instead of trying to remember your medications while in the waiting room. Prior to your scan, you’ll likely have eating and drinking requirements. For instance, many testing facilities require that patients avoid eating or drinking for several hours before the scan begins. However, it’s acceptable to drink water as this won’t affect your scan.

Receiving a Full Body Scan

Before your scan begins, you might receive what is known as contrast. In the medical world, contrast is injected into your body. This type of ink helps to give medical professionals a clearer look at the results of your scan. However, contrast isn’t always needed for scanning procedures. The duration of your full body scan health check will vary. You might spend a few hours at a scanning facility. However, it’s important to note that the scan itself won’t take this long. A large portion of your appointment time focuses on properly preparing you for this scan. In many cases, the scan itself only takes about 15 to 30 minutes. During this time, it’s important to remain as still as possible.

Obtaining Your Scan Results

After receiving a medical screening, it makes sense to wonder when you’ll obtain your results. Fortunately, you shouldn’t have to wait long to receive this information. Before you can receive your full body scan health check results, a professional needs to read these results. Many patients bring these disease screening results to their primary care physician. For instance, those with high cholesterol levels would be given the proper medication to lower these numbers. One study found that those with high cholesterol levels are twice as likely to develop heart disease than those with lower numbers.

In closing, full body scans are incredibly beneficial types of medical tests. These scans detect the presence of any abnormalities in the body including your thyroid levels. Statistics show that nearly 20 million people throughout the United States have some type of thyroid disease. Medical scans allow professionals to determine if your thyroid is functioning properly. Full body scans help people currently living with diseases by finding out more about their current condition. In addition, many healthy individuals receive these scans as a beneficial preventive measure.