Primary Care: What You Can Do to Maintain Your Health

When it comes to living a healthy lifestyle, your primary care provider is an excellent resource. Aside from a doctor’s help, you can start living well by making a few positive lifestyle changes. While these changes will not keep you from needing to see the doctor, they will help prevent unnecessary health complications.

Ways to maintain your health

Start exercising

Regular exercise is a great way to prevent diabetes, stroke and heart disease. It can also help with depression and high blood pressure. Exercising regularly does not mean that you have to join a gym and lift weights. It simply means that you should try to be more active.

You can go on a daily run or walk, play sports or do any other physical activity that you enjoy. If you live or work in a building with elevators, you should try taking the stairs to get your blood flowing and engage your muscles. Whatever you decide to do for exercise, try to do it for 30 to 60 minutes a day, five times a week.

Switch to a healthier diet

Eating a healthier diet helps to prevent numerous health problems because the food you eat directly affects your health. Try to cut back on starchy foods as well as fatty foods to avoid clogging up your arteries. Primary care physicians also suggest watching your salt intake to avoid having high blood pressure.

Lose weight

This only applies to people who are medically overweight. Carrying added weight increases your risk of developing health conditions like heart disease, diabetes, high cholesterol, cancer and stroke. Being overweight can also lead to conditions like arthritis in your hips, spine or knees. The Department of Health and Human Services reports that it only takes a five percent drop in weight to see health benefits.

Avoid tobacco products

Smoking cigarettes and using tobacco products has many health-related risks, including cancer, emphysema and pulmonary disease. Tobacco use can also lead to oral health problems like periodontitis and the loss of your teeth.

Drink alcohol in moderation

Living a healthy lifestyle does not mean you have to give up the occasional alcoholic beverage. If you drink, make sure you do it in moderation because too much alcohol can damage your liver and cause health problems like throat and pancreatic cancer.

Use sunscreen

If you spend your free time outdoors, remember to protect your skin from the sun because overexposure to the sun can lead to skin cancer. If you forget to take sunscreen with you, protect your skin with clothing that limits the sun’s contact with your skin. Some retailers even offer clothing designed to withstand the sun’s ultraviolet rays.

Get plenty of sleep

A common trend seen by primary care physicians is that most people do not get the seven hours of sleep that they need daily. The Harvard Medical School states that a lack of sleep is detrimental to your long-term health. Over time, the lack of sleep increases your risk of developing heart disease and stroke.

What to do when you are sick

Even when following all these tips, you can still become sick from time to time. If you are not feeling well or need help managing your health, visit our urgent care clinic.

Call us today at (703) 945-1942 for more information from Millennium Medical Care Woodbridge.

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