If it has been a while since your last checkup and you're feeling some aches and pains, family doctors say it's time to make an appointment.
The Dose 21:09 I haven't had my regular checkup since before the pandemic. What should I ask my doctor?
The pandemic interrupted routines for health, work and family — including regular checkups.
So if you haven't been to see your family doctor since before March 2020, now may be the time.
"There's a lot of diseases still going on," Dr. Peter Lin, a Toronto-based family doctor and a director at the Canadian Heart Research Centre, told CBC podcast The Dose.
"If you have diabetes, high blood pressure, all of those things need some fine-tuning."
Those who have a chronic illness or new pain should see their health-care provider right away, he said.
And if you're overdue for an age-related cancer screening test, like a Pap smear, colonoscopy or a mammogram, get in touch with your family doctor.
If you're unsure whether you need a checkup, several physicians told The Dose about what to consider before making an appointment.
Contrary to its name, an annual checkup isn't something most people need every year, said Dr. Tara Kiran, a family physician at St. Michael's Hospital.
"That's a little bit of a misnomer."
Instead, most practitioners and their staff look at several factors before seeing someone.
"What we do is really try and target preventive care based on people's health history and their age, sex and the [medical] history of their family," said Kiran, who is also the Fidani Chair for improvement and innovation at University of Toronto's department of family and community medicine.
Staff also triage patients based on who is closest to the "cliff edge," Lin said.
"If you have a pain, a lump or anything like that, let's get those things checked out now. Those are the things that we want to see right away."
Patients without any complaints can be moved to a lower priority.
If you do have an issue, create a list of symptoms before you get to your doctor's office, because that can help narrow down areas to test or examine, Lin said.
And if it's your first visit, he said, it's useful for patients to write down their family medical history.
The pandemic also delayed access to cancer screening in many provinces.
Screening stopped in mid-March 2020 across most of the country, with programs restarting at limited capacity a few months later, according to the Canadian Cancer Society.
What that means is that there are a lot of people due — or overdue — for regular screening, a critical tool in catching cancer early.
"We want to capture cancers at a time that they're small and at a time that we could actually use the word 'cure,'" said Dr. Iris Gorfinkel, a family doctor, vaccine researcher, and a health contributor with CBC News.
"That's why screening is so important."
In Canada, criteria for cancer screening is based on a person's age, lifestyle and family medical history.
If you think you're among those past due for routine screening, Gorfinkel, Lin and Kiran suggest calling your primary care provider – many can perform a Pap smear in their office or provide a referral for other tests.
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