Men Wellness & Prevention
Provida Family Medicine offers top-quality to care to all of our male patients. It is important that you have regular wellness visits with a healthcare provider to make sure that you are maintaining your health and preventing any issues that may arise as you age.
With annual visits, your doctor will perform a physical and mental exam to check your overall health. These exams include the taking of your vitals, checking your heart, lungs, and skin, and examining your overall appearance.
The American Cancer Society recommends that both men and women receive a colonoscopy exam at least every ten years when they reach fifty years old. However, if your family has a history of colon cancer or other risk factors, your healthcare provider may suggest earlier screenings.
To schedule a wellness visit, please call (847) 548-2200.
Medication Review
Provida Family Medicine offers all of our male patients a medication review, which is an examination of a patient’s medication with the goal of coming to an agreement of what treatment plan should be used to maximize the positive effects of medication.
The side effects of each medication are discussed and factored into the treatment and care plan within the medication review. Patients are also encouraged to keep track of any changes they notice in their behavior or how they feel while taking their medication, and to voice any questions or concerns they have with their doctor.
Provida also offers medication reconciliation, which is a process of maintaining an accurate and up-to-date list of a patient’s medicine across multiple disciplines of healthcare through treatment and prescription reviews.
Staying Healthy
As men age, maintaining their becomes more and more important. Leading a health life is a daily undertaking that includes getting proper nutrition, sleep, and exercise. Just like in your teenage years, we recommend that adult men get a full night of sleep, between seven and eight hours, and eat a healthy diet, and reduce the amount of alcohol they consume. We also encourage adult men to monitor changes in their health with regular visits with their Provida Family Medicine doctor to help us keep an up-to-date health record.
Living healthy is about making daily lifestyle choices that actively improve your quality of life and functionality of your mind and body, and with the right choices, you’re wellness and mental health will improve.
Nutrition
A healthy diet is a critical part of staying healthy. Just like when you were growing up, as an adult, you need to eat balanced meals full of whole grains, fibers, fruits, vegetables, fish, and proteins. The foods you consume become the energy for your body, and an unhealthy diet can result in you feeling lethargic or facing long-term health consequences later on.
At Provida Family Medicine, it is our goal to prevent diabetes with the care we provide and help you monitor and control your weight to prevent other health complications that can stem from rapid weight loss or weight gain.
The media consume is just as important as the food we eat. Many TV shows and movies portray the female form in unachievable and often dangerous standards. These portrayals can have damaging effects on the mental health of men just as they do with women, and in some cases, can cause eating disorders to develop. If you or a loved one are suffering from an eating disorder and are looking to receive help, please schedule an appointment with us today.
If you have questions about planning a healthy diet, Provida Family Medicine’s on-site dietician and credentialed diabetic educator, Monica Gonzalez, can work with you to create a nutrition plan that works best for you within your lifestyle.
Sleep
In order to function at their best, adult men need between seven and eight hours of sleep a night. A persistent lack of sleep leaves your brain exhausted, which impairs motor function and your cognitive thinking skills.
In order to best achieve a good nights rest, adult men should stick to a consistent sleep schedule. Going to bed and getting up at the same time every day reinforces your body’s sleep cycle and helps you fall asleep when you need to and rise feeling refreshed in the morning. Creating an environment conducive to sleep is also important. The light from your phone actually decreases your brain’s ability to produce melatonin, a chemical needed for sleep. We recommend you put away your phone at least one hour before you plan on sleeping.
Naps during the day can also disrupt sleep at night. Naps that last longer than thirty minutes produce REM sleep, the deepest level of sleep. Achieving REM sleep during the day disrupts your internal sleep cycle and will leave you just as tired as you were before the nap.
Everyone experiences and occasional sleepless night, but if you find that you have persistent trouble finding sleep, contact your doctor at Provida Family Medicine so that we can help you identify the source of this issue and help you get the better sleep you need.
Exercise
Because of the push to online and remote working, many men found themselves sitting in front of a screen for many hours a day, but reducing the amount of hours you sit and increasing the amount of time you exercise during the week is important to maintaining your overall health.
The best form of exercise is hitting at least one hundred and fifty minutes of a combination of moderate and vigorous aerobic activity a week, and strength training all major muscle groups at least twice a week.
The important thing for you to remember is that exercising does not have to be running a marathon every day. Exercise should be about what is best for your individual body. Even if you can only go for a fifteen minute walk in the morning- some activity is better than none at all.
Many adult men exercise with strength training in particular, and the Mayo Clinic recommends that these strength training exercises include all major muscle groups and to complete these exercises at least twice a week.
If you want to lose weight or increase your muscle mass, increasing your level of exercise gradually while maintaining a healthy diet will result in the changes you wish to achieve.
Sports & Secondary Education Physicals
If you want to play an a college team, join an intramural sport at the local rec center, or you’re beginning classes at your university, Provida Family Medicine is the best place to receive your necessary physical.
A physical is a required check-up that is similar to a wellness visit which needed for you to compete in certain sports or to attend a university or secondary education institution. At these physicals, a provider will do a complete check of your blood pressure, weight and height, lungs, heart, eyes, ears, and beyond.
This check is to make sure you are healthy enough to attend the coming year of school or compete in sports, and can be completed in a single visit to Provida Family Medicine’s office.
Unscheduled Appointments
We encourage all patients to schedule follow-up visits, regular check-ups, and wellness visits in advance to best serve you. We recommend you to visit our online schedule for availabilities or call us to see a provider when you need to.
You can’t predict when you’ll get sick or need to see the doctor, so we encourage you to visit our office when you need to without scheduling an appointment.
Provida Family Medicine offers minor injury treatment directly at our office. Minor injuries include scrapes, cuts, bumps, and bruises. Other minor injuries to look out for are bug bites which may manifest as a localized rash or raised and swollen skin. Be sure to monitor for any other symptoms, such as difficulty breathing or the irritated area of skin quickly spreading.
If you or your loved one has a life threatening injury or is having a serious allergic reaction, please call 9-1-1. As soon as you or a family member is able, call our office so that we may follow up with the hospital or emergency department.
Vaccinations
The vaccinations you receive throughout your life are the strongest tool we have to prevent you from contracting an illness or disease. To provide the most protection possible, we recommend that you receive all of your recommended vaccinations, as well as the booster shots recommended for adults.
A yearly flu shot is also recommended for adults.
We recommend the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s schedule for immunizations to track what vaccinations and boosters are appropriate to receive at each age of adulthood.
While we respect every patient’s decision on whether to take or refuse vaccines, we strongly prefer patients receive all vaccines, and are professionally more comfortable keeping you healthy by administering all state-reguired vaccines. We are always happy to answer any questions you may have and provide you with the information you are looking for.
Walk-ins for vaccinations are also welcome.