It is fair to say that most people avoid seeing their doctors unless absolutely necessary, especially those who do not wish to be given bad news or reprimanded for not following health recommendations repeated by these physicians. While entering the exam room can be daunting, there are three appointments that absolutely must be made to maintain good health, especially if you have not had them in quite some time.
Dentist
Seeing the dentist is often a source of anxiety. It can be unnerving having someone else's hands busily poking and prodding around in your mouth with sharp objects as you lie in the reclined chair completely helpless. Visiting the dentist at least twice a year, however, is crucial for maintaining good health. The mouth is an indicator of more than oral health or disease. A dentist can tell after asking you to open wide whether or not you have oral cancer, cope with stress by grinding your teeth, or are in the early stages of diabetes. It is better to listen to a dentist warning you about the dangers of your bad flossing habits twice a year than to avoid the office long enough for a potentially fatal disease to go untreated and cause irreparable damage to your body.
Optometrist
Visiting the Eye Physician is another dreaded to-do on the list of doctors people often avoid when they can get away with it. Staring into a machine that waits maliciously to blow air into your delicate, exposed lenses is not an ideal way to spend the day. For those of us with less than perfect vision, this is followed by the humiliation of being unable to read most of the eye chart projected on the wall and the agony of listening to a brief lecture about peeling off our contacts every once in a while. Maintaining decent vision requires frequent eye checkups, especially as we get older and vision naturally worsens. Trying to use an old, outdated prescription lens to avoid the cost of upgrading to a level your vision now requires is more damaging for your eyes and your wallet in the end.
Proctologist
A visit to the proctologist is just embarrassing. There is no nice way to describe this necessary evil that must be performed as we age to assure that the colon, anus, and rectum are functioning properly. While it is generally unpleasant to discuss your body's activities in this region, a regular visit to the proctologist is the most effective way to determine whether or not you are suffering from hemorrhoids or various cancers affecting the aforementioned area.