Maybe you are hesitant to do a medical check-up during menstruation. Apart from being uncomfortable, especially during a urine test, there are concerns that the results of the examination will be inaccurate. Is that right? Let's see the following explanation yes!
Can a medical check-up during menstruation?
Medical check-up is a series of health checks at the hospital to check the overall condition of the body. Aside from being a routine check-up, medical check-ups are also useful for early detection of diseases that appear in the body.
Although each woman's menstrual cycle is different, menstrual bleeding generally lasts for 3-7 days.
Well, his sudden arrival can make the plans you have made a little messy, one of which is the plan for a medical check-up.
Why so? This is because doing a medical check-up during menstruation is not recommended because it can interfere with test results.
Actually this is not prohibited, but should be postponed until menstruation ends, which is seven days after menstruation (not the 7th day after the first day of bleeding).
The reason is, one of the mandatory procedures in a health check is a urine test. This test is done to detect certain diseases early on such as kidney disease, liver disease, urinary tract infections, and diabetes.
Citing the University of Rochester Medical Center, in this examination, the doctor will analyze the urine in three ways.
- Microscopic examination to check for small substances that should not be in the urine.
- Visual examination to check the color, smell, and appearance of urine.
- Examination with a dipstick test uses a thin plastic strip that will be marked by a color change according to the content in the urine.
To check urine content accurately, of course, pure urine is needed without any additions in it. Meanwhile, when you are menstruating, urine is most likely mixed with blood and vaginal discharge.
This is due to the close proximity of the vagina and urinary opening, making it difficult to obtain urine that is not contaminated with menstrual blood.
This blood can later affect and make urine test results inaccurate. As a result, the results of the overall medical check-up during menstruation are invalid.
In addition, the presence of contamination in the urine sample could lead to a false positive diagnosis leading the doctor to conclude that there is damage to your urinary system due to the presence of blood in the urine.
Therefore, if you have made a schedule and suddenly your monthly guest comes, you should immediately talk to the health officer.
However, if the medical examination is an emergency because you are in a very severe condition, the doctor may still run a urine test.
This is done to help diagnose the cause of the health problem you are experiencing based on the accompanying symptoms.
You can collect urine by temporarily holding your period. You do this by closing the vaginal opening using a clean cloth or towel that can absorb blood.
This is done to reduce the risk of urine contaminated with blood if you are forced to do a medical check-up during menstruation.
Besides menstruation, what other things need to be considered before a health check?
In addition to paying attention to the menstrual schedule, you also need to prepare other things to help get accurate test results.
Usually, you need to prepare the following things.
- List of drugs that are being consumed, both doctor's drugs and herbs.
- Symptoms and complaints that have been experienced.
- Medical and surgical history.
- Fasting according to the advice of doctors and medical staff.
- Remove all jewelery to expedite the inspection process.
Always consult a doctor or medical officer before you carry out a full health examination.
Also ask if you are allowed to do a medical check-up during menstruation, as well as other things. Make sure all information is clear before conducting the inspection.