subject: Preparing Your Child For Their First Physical [print this page] Visiting the doctor's office for any reason can be intimidating to children. The good news is that once they get to a certain age, they usually get used to the process of going through a regular checkup. The issue comes in, however, when they have to go in for a procedure that is somewhat out of the norm for them, such as a sports physical examination.
Although there may be some similarities, this procedure is different from a regular checkup. Knowing this could throw a child off and cause them to have some fears and hesitations. However, there are things parents can do to combat those fearful feelings. If you have children who are scheduled to go in for a physical for the first time, there are a few things you can do to help ease their fears and hesitations.
First, you can let them know how important the examination is. Show them the "big picture." If they are taking the exam in order to play their favorite sport, let them know that they won't be able to play without going through that process. Tell them how disappointed they would be to allow this particular test to stop them from participating in the sport. Make sure you give them examples of the other things they would be missing like being with their teammates and a possibility of winning trophies and medals. This may seem like a form of manipulation to some people. However, all of these examples represent reality.
Another thing you could do is let them know how important the physical could be to their health. One of the things physicians do during these procedures is check for diseases, complications, and illnesses that could negatively affect a person while they are participating in physical activities. So, they may be able to locate something like heart problems, which could be very serious. Most children know at least the basic function of the heart. They realize that they need the heart to live. Therefore, using this particular organ as an example would be a good idea. Let them know that the doctor could find something that could have potentially been fatal.
The last thing you could do as a parent is allow your children to get familiar with the procedure. Let them know some of the things that will take place. That way, they won't be caught off guard by anything.
Easing children's fears before their physical examination doesn't have to be difficult. All it takes is for parents to put in a little extra thought and effort.
