Learn these 8 "head to toe" health self-test methods to teach you to check yourself in time to eliminate health risks

Many people's lives

I've been a bit hectic.

Staying up late is just the norm

Sugar control is 70% sugar milk tea

Save money with "national trend" takeout

Maybe it's time to stop

Through simple self-examination

Understand your health status

The blood vessels in the human body are like water pipes. Over time, they will age, become hard and brittle. They are not as elastic as young blood vessels. This trend is called vascular sclerosis , which can easily cause cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases.

How to test yourself specifically?

Touch the instep

The arterial pulsation on the dorsum of the foot is very obvious and can be felt by touch under normal circumstances. However, if you find it difficult to feel, or it appears and disappears intermittently, or the pulses on both sides are obviously different, you should be alert.

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Press the toes

Check whether the toes are red to make a preliminary judgment on the fullness of peripheral blood.

If the skin regains its redness within 1 to 2 seconds after pressing, it means that the blood vessels are relatively unobstructed; if it takes more than three to five seconds to regain its redness, you need to pay attention.

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If you find yourself experiencing some physical symptoms, such as leg swelling, numbness in the hands and feet, and red or brown bruises on the skin of the hands and feet , it may be that blood clots have occurred in the body. You can go to the hospital for a blood test.

If you don't wash your hair for 5 days, stretch out your five fingers and insert them into the roots of your hair. Then put your fingers together and gently pull your hair outwards as if you were combing your hair. Repeat this operation 3 times.

If there are more than 6 hairs between your fingers, you should go to the hospital for a check-up.

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You can go to the hospital's dermatology clinic for a dermatoscope, hormone level, fungal and histopathological examination to determine the cause of the disease.

You can walk briskly on your commute and complete the " six-minute walking experiment ."

Walk back and forth as quickly as possible along a straight line of 15 to 30 meters, and test the total distance walked within 6 minutes.

The six-minute walk test distance for healthy adults ranges from 400 to 700 meters.

If the 6-minute walking distance is less than 400 meters, you may have cardiopulmonary insufficiency.

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When you go upstairs to work or school, try climbing stairs. It not only exercises your body, but also serves as an easy way to test your heart function.

The time it takes to climb 60 stairs is used as the evaluation standard:

If it is less than 1 minute, it means the heart is relatively healthy;

If it takes 1.5 minutes or more, it means you need to be alert to your heart health and go to the cardiology department for further examination.

Look carefully at yourself in the mirror, pay attention to skin condition, color, expression, foreign objects , and determine whether you have certain diseases.

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1. Acute (fever) illness

Symptoms: flushed face, irritable or tired expression;

Disease: Common in acute febrile illnesses, such as lobar pneumonia, malaria, etc.

2. Chronic disease

Symptoms: haggard face, dull complexion, lifeless eyes, depressed expression;

Disease: Common in chronic wasting diseases, such as cirrhosis, tuberculosis, malignant tumors, etc.

3. Hyperthyroidism face

Symptoms: enlarged palpebral fissure, protruding eyeball, flickering eyes, frightened look, excitement and restlessness;

Disease: common in hyperthyroidism.

4. Myxedema facial appearance

Symptoms: pale complexion, thick eyelids, and sparse hair;

Disease: Common in hypothyroidism.

5. Mitral valve face

Symptoms: purple cheeks and mild cyanosis of lips;

Disease: Mitral stenosis is common in rheumatic heart disease.

6. Smiley Face

Symptoms: During an attack, the jaws are tightly clenched, the facial muscles spasm, and the smile appears bitter;

Disease: Commonly seen in tetanus.

7. Full Moon Face

Symptoms: The face is round like a full moon, the skin is red, often accompanied by acne and small beards;

Disease: Common in patients with Cushing's syndrome and long-term use of adrenal cortical hormones.

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Observe changes in food intake

Due to insufficient insulin secretion or weakened cell response to insulin , diabetic patients cannot effectively utilize blood sugar. In order to replenish energy, the body will send out hunger signals, thereby increasing food intake.

So, if you find yourself feeling hungry all the time and eating more , this may be your body's way of telling you that you need to pay attention to your blood sugar levels.

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Observe weight changes

If you continue to lose weight without eating less , it may be because your body is unable to use blood sugar efficiently and instead begins to break down fat and muscle for energy.

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Pay attention to polydipsia and polyuria

Because diabetic patients have increased blood sugar levels, the kidneys need to produce more urine to excrete the excess blood sugar, which leads to polyuria.

Polyuria can lead to dehydration, further stimulating the thirst center and causing polydipsia. This cycle of polydipsia and polyuria is one of the typical symptoms of diabetes.

The kidney, an organ located deep inside our body, is usually unknown, but it performs vital physiological functions. Once problems occur, it will seriously affect people's health.

Whether you have kidney disease or not, you may need to learn how to self-examine your kidneys:

Press the thin soft tissue area of ​​the ankle or leg to see if there is depression and slow recovery.

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Observe your skin carefully. If you find a new mole suddenly grows and has the following characteristics, be alert! It may be melanoma!

Shape: One half of the mole is not symmetrical to the other half;

Borders: The edges of a mole are irregular or fuzzy;

Color: The color of the mole is uneven;

Diameter: whether the diameter of the mole is larger than 6 mm;

Evolution: A mole changes in size, shape, or color over time.

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Generally, the examination is carried out about one week after the end of menstruation . At this time, the breast congestion is the lightest and the lesions are easy to find. You need to stand in front of a mirror to fully expose your chest for observation.

Step 1: Stand naturally and observe whether the breasts have nipple retraction, skin contraction, collapse, swelling, etc. Then use two fingers to gently press the corresponding parts of the nipples on both sides to check for secretions.

Step 2: Place your fingers flat and use the palms of your fingers to palpate both breasts in the order of outer upper - outer lower - inner lower - inner upper - tail, paying attention to tenderness, lumps, changes in texture and elasticity, etc.

If you find any abnormalities in your breast self-examination, you can go to the breast surgery or general surgery clinic for medical examination.

Persistent self-examination can certainly promote health, but healthy living should not stop there. It also requires a balanced diet to provide energy, moderate exercise to maintain vitality, adequate sleep to restore energy, a good attitude to cope with stress, and regular physical examinations to prevent disease.

Integrate these good habits into your life and let health become our most solid support!

Statement: This article is a medical-related educational popular science article. It does not involve specific treatment methods or medical behaviors and cannot replace hospital visits.

Author

Liu Siqi West China School of Clinical Medicine 2022 Five-year Program in Clinical Medicine

Lei Zhiyi West China School of Clinical Medicine 2022 Five-year Program in Clinical Medicine

Wu Yanan West China School of Clinical Medicine 2022 Five-year Program in Clinical Medicine

Duan Xiaofei, 2022, five-year clinical medicine program at West China School of Clinical Medicine

Tang Hongyan, Class of 2022, Five-year Program in Clinical Medicine, West China School of Clinical Medicine

Li Hu Yuechen West China School of Clinical Medicine 2022 Five-year Program in Clinical Medicine

Zhang Xinyue West China School of Clinical Medicine 2022 Five-year Program in Clinical Medicine

This article is guided by the teacher

References

[1] 2024-09-13 Health Times "Two ways to self-test vascular sclerosis"

[2] 2021-04-12 West China Hospital, Sichuan University "Hair loss is terrible, but what's even more terrible is your actions that make hair loss worse!"

[3] 2024-04-09 Health Times "Brisk walking measures cardiopulmonary function"

[4]2024-07-30 Health Times "Climbing stairs, measuring heart rate"

[5] Chen Shujie. Learn about breast disease self-examination and medical screening methods[J]. Everyone's Health, 2023, (13): 80-81.

[6]American Diabetes Association (2018). 2. Classification and Diagnosis of Diabetes: Standards of Medical Care in Diabetes-2018. Diabetes care, 41(Suppl 1), S13–S27.

Content Production

Editor: Zhang Fuyao

Map: Eastern Zhou Dynasty