Just as you wouldn’t neglect vehicle maintenance, it’s important to keep your body running at peak levels too.

During Men’s Health Month, I want to stress the importance of an annual wellness checkup for men. While many men skip these visits, they serve an important role in helping men lead a healthy life.

Don’t Ignore the Check Engine Light

Throughout childhood, it is recommended that boys and girls receive an annual well child check. It makes sense to continue the annual checkup once per year at the start of adulthood and moving forward. This can be challenging to do with college, career, family and other obligations as well as the transition from childhood to adulthood, but everyone, including men, should make it a priority.

The Body has Wear Items Too

The two big reasons why men should schedule an annual checkup is to, first, catch disease early to improve outcomes. This happens primarily through preventative screening tests and routine blood work.

The second reason this should be a priority is to prevent disease from happening. Lifestyle choices, such as smoking, alcohol consumption, exercise, sexual activity and diet play a big role in overall health. By curbing some harmful habits, we could help prevent type II diabetes and hypertension as well as limit the risk for contracting certain cancers, such as pancreatic cancer. Another prevention tool is vaccination. Vaccines can help prevent many types of infections and even some cancers.

That Detour is Not a Good Idea

Getting an annual checkup does take time, but the time is minimal, averaging only 30 minutes. Family and work obligations will get neglected if illness goes unchecked, so skirting around the checkup isn’t worth it.

Some avoidance of the annual checkup may be due to fear. No man wants to hear he has a disorder or disease. It can be scary to see a doctor and get bad news, but typically the earlier any issues are found the better the outcome.

I get a lot of guys who don’t like getting blood work. They may have an arm full of tattoos, but the idea of a blood draw is too much to handle. On average though, we draw blood once a year, and it is over within a matter of seconds. It’s really minimal.

There is a misconception that every appointment will include rectal or testicular exams. That turns some men away. In reality, there are now better screening tests for prostate cancer which minimizes the need for the rectal exam, and I typically don’t do any kind of testicular exam unless the patient has a concern or a symptom he’d like to discuss.

Money is another hurdle for men. Yet, yearly physicals are covered by insurance. The visit, the labs, any screening tests and vaccinations should all be covered through most insurance plans.

It’s Not Much Different than a 5,000 Mile Vehicle Checkup

Vehicle maintenance doesn’t make a car run better, but it keeps it running as well as it is. Similarly, getting an annual wellness checkup won’t turn back the hands of time, but it could prevent a man’s health from declining and provide him with steps to improve his lifestyle or get back on the road to recovery.

My team checks routine vitals, such as blood pressure, height, temperature and weight. I discuss family history with my patients. We review medications and go over any chronic disease. I examine the ears, nose, mouth, neck, heart, lungs and abdomen. These are the basic components of the physical part of the checkup.

Fluids In and Fluids Out

I also order routine blood work to review red and white blood cells, kidney function, electrolytes, liver function and cholesterol levels. We might screen for diabetes if there are risk factors. Also, once a man gets into his 50s, I’ll start talking about the pros and cons of prostate cancer screening using the prostate specific antigen (PSA) blood test.

Another major purpose of these preventative visits is to administer vaccines. Pneumonia vaccines, flu vaccines, shingles and, now, COVID-19 vaccines are a few that men should expect to receive over their lifetime.

A Lifetime Maintenance Schedule

This is a Chance to Talk Shop

As I mentioned earlier, lifestyle plays a big role in overall health. Do they smoke? Do they drink alcohol? How is their diet? Do they get much physical activity? Do they use some form of birth control or protection during intimacy?

We screen for sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) if a man is in the high-risk category. We also discuss the possibility of referrals to other specialized providers if a man needs help with something beyond our scope of practice.

Primary Care is a Specialized Maintenance, Repair and & Tune Up Service

I encourage every man to have a primary care provider and visit at least annually for the checkup. For whatever the ailment, we can help or refer a patient to a specialist.

My main goal is to help my patients live as long of a functional and healthy life as they can.

One thing I find out right away with new patients is their long-term goals. Most people, including guys, will say to be with their family. If a man wants to be around and active, he needs optimal health. This way, he can enjoy his favorite people and hobbies for as long as possible.

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About Scott Bartkoski, MD

Dr. Scott Bartkoski is a board-certified family medicine physician with clinical interests in preventative medicine for both men and women, epidemiology, sports medicine, dermatology, and chronic conditions like hypertension, diabetes, heart disease, and COPD. Dr. Bartkoski also enjoys seeing patients of all ages. Dr. Bartkoski earned his medical degree from the University of Missouri School of Medicine in Columbia, Missouri, and completed his family medicine residency at the University of Missouri Family & Community Medicine.

Dr. Bartkoski’s relationships with his patients focus on teamwork, where they are both equal members. He values patient autonomy and wants patients to make their own medical decisions, where he helps provide recommendations for them during that process based on current evidence and literature. Dr. Bartkoski prefers to guide patients on their health journey while working together as a team. He also views every medical decision as one with both risks and benefits. Dr. Bartkoski only does something if the benefits outweigh the risks and if it will help improve outcomes that matter to his patients. Outside of work, Dr. Bartkoski enjoys spending time with his wife and five kids, spending time outside, personal finance, and watching and playing sports, especially soccer.