When it comes to your health, prevention is better than cure

In the busy lives that we all lead, the to-do lists can seem endless, and the mental load can become overbearing.

As well as the admin of running a household, such as cooking, cleaning, fixing appliances, paying bills and attempting to find that all important time to spend with family and friends, looking after our health and the health of our family can end up being put on the long finger.

Health is very much something that is easy to take for granted. As long as everything is ticking along as we expect it to, we don’t give it too much thought. And we assume we can keep doing what we’re doing. But it’s not always necessarily the case that no obvious symptoms means that nothing needs to be checked, or certain actions don’t need to be taken.

Prevention is very much better than cure when it comes to our health. A favourite saying of many is “Make time for your health. If you don’t, you’ll be forced to make time for your illness.” And that really is the case, a realisation that hits when health lets us down, and we retrospectively reflect on the actions we could have been taking, or the checks we could have been conducting.

Below are some of the things to consider for yourself, to build into those to do lists going forward to make sure there are no nasty health-related surprises down the track, but rather a good overview of our health status, and proactive, early, preventative actions.

Vaccinations – keeping kids up to date on their immunisation schedule can be challenging when life gets busy, but is an important step in their healthcare, particularly with recent outbreaks of measles.

Asking your doctor to clarify that all is up to date for them is good to do if unsure, and once they reach primary school, some vaccinations will be offered through that setting also which you will receive information about.

For adults, getting older leaves us prone to certain conditions, so staying up to date on whether you should be availing of vaccines such as for pneumonia or shingles is important.

Cancer screening – screenings of different types of cancer are age-dependent for many, and your eligibility will be explained to you by your doctor.

Breast mammograms are available from the HSE from the ages of 50-69 every two years for example, or if there is ever a specific concern.

Skin cancer is a serious concern in Ireland, and if you have a number of moles, mapping is something to consider looking into. It’s an appointment that you attend annually, where very high-resolution images of your body are taken to identify and review any moles you may have. They get graded, measured, and categorised into those that non-suspicious, versus those that need removal. The next year, the same pictures are taken to facilitate a direct comparison to last year’s images, and any changes in the moles can be flagged early on. This gives great peace of mind and oversight that nothing alarming is occurring in the skin.

Dental visits – it seems to be a generational thing, but a significant number of people have a fear of the dentist. And this fear can lead to avoidance, which leads to bigger problems later on.

Covid also seems to have disrupted previously good dental practice in terms of regular appointments. We should be attending the dentist twice a year typically, including visits to the hygienist.

Brushing and flossing twice per day prevents plaque build-up, causing decay and dental problems.

Those who are getting orthodontic or dental work done will need more visits, and will be informed of this by their dentist.

Look into what either your health insurance and/or your PRSI entitlements are here, as there are some savings to be made by claiming fees back.

Introducing children to the dentist early on too is great to establish life-long habits.

Vitamin D supplementation – because of our lack of sunshine in Ireland generally, we can be prone to Vitamin D deficiency, which can impact growth, bone strength and development. We should all be supplementing ourselves and our children with vitamin D from Halloween to St Patrick’s Day at a minimum, and all year round if we have darker skin tone or are typically not very exposed to sunlight.

Blood tests can check for deficiency if unsure, which may indicate a stronger dose being needed. Chatting to your doctor about this is a good idea.

There are so many ways that our health can fail us, and there is only so much we can do to pre-empt that. Eating a balanced healthy diet, exercising, hydrating, sleeping, and reducing stress are all solid actions to take, but the above steps are good additional ways to stay aware of our health status and to be proactive in our health management.

Dr Michelle O’Driscoll is a pharmacist, researcher and founder of InTuition, a health and wellness education company. Her research lies in the area of mental health education, and through InTuition she delivers health promotion workshops to corporate and academic organisations nationally. See intuition.ie