Recommended check is every one to three years after age 18, or when sexually active. During the pelvic exam, you lie on your back with knees bent and feet in stirrups. The doctor or nurse will feel your pelvic organs and use an instrument called a speculum to look inside your vagina. He or she will also scrape a few cells with a cotton swab that will be sent to a lab to check for signs of cancer, disease or infection.

A rectal exam is recommended annually after age 50, earlier if you have inflammatory bowel disease or a first-degree relative with colon cancer. These important exams screen for colorectal cancers—the third leading cancer killer of American women—and other possible problems in your digestive tract such as an ulcer or infection. Usually recommended after age 50, the most common are: fecal occult blood (looks for blood in a stool sample), flexible sigmoidoscopy, and colonoscopy (both inspect the colon with a light on the end of a flexible tube inserted through your rectum as you lie on your side, lightly sedated).  

Recommended check is at the same time as your pap smear. An analysis of a urine sample can indicate possible problems such as diabetes, kidney problems, liver problems or bacterial infection. You will be asked to urinate in a special container.

A check is recommended once a year, with monthly self-checks. Your dermatologist will examine your whole body, looking for moles or uneven borders, more than one color, asymmetrical shape or a size larger than a pencil eraser.  

A check is recommended every one to two years, or yearly if you have diabetes or a family history of eye diseases.Tests will depend on your age, medical history and date of your last exam. You may need to read letters on a chart in the distance or at reading distance. You may get eye drops to numb your eye or dilate your pupil, to test for glaucoma and to check your retina. Your ophthalmologist may test how your eye moves and responds to light.

 
Page 1 | Page 2