Why Are School Physicals Important?

Have you been wondering why your child needs to get a school physical each year?

About the time your child has to go back to school it’s always a good idea to schedule their school physical. This is something that should happen every year without fail and it may even be required before students can enter school or play in a school sport. So, why are school physicals so important? Our Marion, VA, pediatricians have the answer.

Protect Against Serious Illnesses

While it’s impossible to keep your child from ever getting sick, there are precautions you can take to ensure that many serious and life-threatening illnesses do not happen to them. How? By following the vaccine schedule laid out by your Marion, VA, children’s doctor. These annual exams make sure that your child is up-to-date on all vaccines to protect them, their classmates, and others in the community from severe diseases that still exist.

Be Preventative

Benjamin Franklin once said, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” During these school physicals, your child will receive a full examination to track their development and to make sure they are reaching certain developmental milestones. By tracking their progress early on, we can pinpoint potential issues right away and address them.

Protect Against Injury

Whether your child has asthma or has experienced broken bones in the past, their medical history can be very telling when it comes to whether or not they are healthy enough for certain physical activities. We can determine whether your child has injuries that may not have fully healed. This is important because we can talk to you and your child about things they can do to prevent injury (e.g. dynamic stretching and warm-ups; wearing protective gear) while playing sports. We can also determine whether your child is fit for the specific sports activity they want to participate in.

Don’t let your kid sit out on the sidelines until they get their physical. Make sure to schedule your child’s next appointment at Royal Oak Pediatric Associates in Marion, VA.