There are many reasons why people have put off scheduling things like regular doctors’ appointments due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to staying in our homes and avoiding public gatherings, many people avoided the potential risk of going to the doctor’s office and risking exposure to COVID-19 over the past year. However, the longer you put off going to the doctor, the more time a health condition can develop into a bigger issue or cause other complications in your life. Many places offer outpatient medical imaging with higher standards of safety precautions to prevent exposure and spread of the coronavirus. Visit an outpatient Lithia Springs imaging center near you that has safety precautions in place so you can get back on track with your medical care and healthcare needs.
If you have delayed a trip to the doctor over the last year, you are definitely not alone. Almost half of the population has reported delaying medical care because of the concerns surrounding the coronavirus. In some cases, however, that actually led to people’s health conditions getting worse. Now that we know more about the COVID-19 virus, how it spreads, and how to more effectively protect ourselves from exposure, you can start scheduling those much-needed doctor visits again. Your doctor may have recommended a medical imaging test that you delayed due to the pandemic. Now is the time to schedule an appointment again for that CT scan or MRI so your doctor can help you with disease prevention and detection of any healthcare concerns.
How Delaying Medical Care May Affect You
Here are four examples of how delayed care can affect you and why scheduling your medical imaging in a safe environment can benefit you.
Increase Preventable Health Conditions
When we avoid going in for that CT scan or MRI, that means some preventable health conditions are more likely to go unchecked. Medical imaging scans are a great way for doctors to get a look inside the body in a non-invasive manner so they can detect potential issues that may be cause for concern down the line. The sooner your doctor can diagnose a health condition, the sooner you can get started on a treatment plan that will benefit you. We tend to forget just how beneficial those annual wellness checks and routine scans can be until something goes wrong, and then we wish we’d gone to the doctor sooner.
Increase Development of Chronic Pain
If you suffered an injury or have a medical condition that may have gone untreated during the pandemic, then you run the risk of developing chronic pain or other complications. The sooner you get medical imaging scans on an injured or affected area, the better your doctor can provide an accurate diagnosis and monitor your healing and recovery process. An injury that goes untreated or only partially treated can end up causing you chronic pain that can really start to negatively affect your quality of life.
Decrease Effective Diagnosis and Treatment
The sooner you get an accurate diagnosis for your health condition, the better your chances are for responding to more conservative and non-invasive treatment approaches. If you delay diagnosis and treatment, you risk being in a less healthy state, which can make your treatment process take longer and end up costing you more. Medical imaging can also help cut down on the need for surgical intervention when diseases and injuries are caught earlier. When your doctor can catch a disease in the early stages, you have a better likelihood of a healthy outcome.
Benefits of Timely Medical Imaging
From health benefits to cost savings, the sooner you get medical imaging to support diagnosis and treatment the better. A CT scan or MRI will provide your doctor with highly detailed images of the affected area, including bones, joints, muscles, tendons, ligaments, organs, and other soft tissues. Medical imaging helps your doctor to develop a precise diagnosis, which then informs the treatment plan and next steps. Your doctor may also want to monitor your recovery process with repeated scans that help to measure your progress. Don’t delay any longer and visit AICA Orthopedics to schedule your Chiropractor Lithia Springs imaging scans today.