Annual CheckupNew York, NY

What Can You Expect at Your Annual Checkup in New York, NY?

NYC Internist, Dr. Gafanovich always begins each physical exam by speaking with her patient. She wants to understand the reasons behind your wanting to have the procedure, as well as, get to know you, your lifestyle, and your health concerns. During this oral evaluation period she will want to know about:

Your Health History: Dr. Gafanovich will want to know about any behaviors that affect or can affect your health. It’s important to speak openly about important behaviors, like smoking, alcohol use, sexual health, diet, and exercise. The doctor will also check on your vaccination status and update your personal and family medical history. Lastly, she will ask you about any particular health concerns you may have or goals for the future (weight loss, running a marathon, getting pregnant, etc).

Vital Signs: Checking a patient’s vital signs is standard for all physical exams. The doctor routinely checks:

• Blood pressure: less than 120 over 80 is normal blood pressure. Doctors define high blood pressure (hypertension) as 140 over 90 or higher.
• Heart rate: Values between 60 and 100 are considered normal although many healthy people have heart rates slower than 60.
• Respiration rate: Between 12 and 20 is normal. Breathing more than 20 times per minute may suggest heart or lung problems.
• Temperature: 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit is the average, but healthy people can have resting temperatures slightly higher or lower. A fever is not present until the temperature is over 101.0 degrees Fahrenheit.

General Appearance: Intuitive skills are rarely talked about, but are a much-used skill set by the medical profession. Dr. Gafanovich gathers a lot of information about an individual’s overall health and well-being just by observing and talking to her patients. Hair, skin, nails—the health of these things are indicative of your overall health. Your skin is the body’s largest organ. If your skin is unhealthy it is a clear sign that your overall health is suffering in some manner. Moreover, if your eyes appear dull and listless or you seem overly distracted these things could point to problems in diet or nutrition.

Heart Exam: Listening to your heart with a stethoscope allows a doctor to detect symptoms like an irregular heartbeat, heart murmurs, and other clues that could lead to a diagnosis of heart disease.

Lung Exam: Using a stethoscope, a doctor listens for crackles, wheezes, or signs of decreased breath capacity. These and other sounds are clues to the presence of heart or lung disease.

Head and Neck Exam: Opening up and saying “ah” displays your throat and tonsils. The quality of your teeth and gums also provides information about your overall health. Ears, nose, sinuses, eyes, lymph nodes, thyroid, and carotid arteries are also examined.

Abdominal Exam: During the New York health examination the doctor can use a range of examination techniques including tapping your abdomen to detect liver size and presence of abdominal fluid, listening for bowel sounds with a stethoscope, and palpating for tenderness.

Neurological Exam: Nerves, muscle strength, reflexes, balance, and mental state are assessed.

Dermatological Exam: Skin and nail findings could indicate a dermatological problem or disease somewhere else in the body.

Extremities Exam: Your doctor will look for physical and sensory changes. Dr. Gafanovich will check the pulse your arms and legs that could point to potential circulatory issues, as well as, examine your joints to assess for abnormalities.

Upper East Side doctor’s Physical Exam Emphasizes Prevention

The Manhattan annual physical is a great opportunity to refocus your attention on prevention and screening:

• At age 50, it’s time to begin regular screening for colorectal cancer. People with immediate family members with colorectal cancer may need to be screened before age 50.
• For most women, age 40 marks the time to begin annual mammogram screening for breast cancer.
• Everyone should have their cholesterol (lipids) checked every five years after age 20, according to the American Heart Association.

Healthy behaviors work far better than medicine at preventing illness, and don’t require a prescription:

• Do 30 minutes of brisk walking or other exercises, most days of the week. Your risk for cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and cancer will fall dramatically.
• Eat a mostly plant-based diet, low in animal fats.
• Above all, don’t smoke.