Preventative care is an often overlooked but an important part of young men’s health. Seeing your doctor once a year for an annual physical can seem like a burden when you’re a healthy teenage boy, but it’s a great opportunity to check in, make sure all is well, and clear you for the upcoming school year, sports season, work, or camp. Yet, unless prompted by their parents, teenage boys and young men are notorious for skipping this visit.
Besides performing a physical exam, keeping you up to date with your immunizations, and filling out any forms, the physical is your doctor’s chance to screen for any risk factors to your health. Studies show that the adolescent and young adult years of a young man’s life tend to coincide with a multitude of risky behaviors such as experimentation with alcohol, drugs, sex, supplements, reckless driving, and more. During this stage of development, young people tend to be more impulsive which can have negative consequences for the rest of one’s life. If not screened for and discussed, this “can cause routine health issues to worsen and become larger concerns,” says Kyle Bardet, MD, a doctor in Penn Medicine’s Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine Department. “That could lead to the need for more significant healthcare down the line.”