What Can I Expect at My First Women’s Wellness Visit?

What happens if you don’t take your car to the mechanic to get routine oil changes, have your tires rotated, and get your inspection each year? At some point, it stops running — usually at the most inopportune time. 

Just like getting left high and dry on the highway and needing an emergency tow, you don’t want to ignore your health, so getting your own “routine maintenance” is essential. 

Your annual wellness visit gives you a chance to talk about where you are health-wise at every stage of life — from adolescence to post-menopause — and a time when you can focus on YOU.

The engaged team at Southdale Ob/Gyn is ready to provide compassionate, expansive care, including your wellness visit, treatment for conditions like urinary continence, prenatal care, and more. They establish long-term relationships with their patients based on trust and mutual respect, which is why patients keep coming back.

Why a wellness visit?

A wellness visit is a chance for your Southdale provider to check in with you and for you to take a proactive approach to your health. Every woman needs screenings and vaccinations during each stage of life, including adolescence, childbearing, perimenopause, menopause, and post-menopause. 

Developing a good relationship with your provider requires that they really get to know you, your medical history, and your concerns about your health. Your wellness exam is the ideal time to do all these things.

During this appointment, you can discuss your personal medical history, your family’s medical history — which influences yours — and your lifestyle habits. You also talk about whether or not you smoke, what you eat, how much exercise you get each day, your emotional health, stress levels, sleep habits, and much more. 

During your wellness exam, you may receive, depending on your age and health conditions:

• HPV, flu, COVID, shingles, or pneumonia vaccines, or others
• A conversation about your menstrual cycle, if you still have a period
• Counseling about birth control or infertility
• Incontinence problems
• Menopause symptoms like sleep problems, hot flashes, and moodiness
• Post-menopausal issues like vaginal dryness 
• Recommendations about your mental health
• A Pap smear
• Sexually transmitted infection (STI) testing
• A clinical breast exam
• Counseling about your life circumstances, including work and your home/family  life
• Advice about prescription medication, recreational drug, and alcohol use
• Help with managing chronic conditions, including endometriosis and uterine fibroids

Your provider also gives you an overall physical exam and checks in about any screenings you may be due to receive, including your mammogram and colonoscopy. 

Your wellness exam is a fantastic opportunity for preventive care and conversation with your Southdale provider about any health concerns you may have. 

The Southdale team is highly invested in your health and seeing you enjoy the best quality of life possible. Wellness exams are an important tool that supports your good health.

Call Southdale at 952-920-7001 to schedule your wellness exam at our Edina or Burnsville office, or use our convenient online booking tool.