Should You Go to an Urgent Care for Sports injuries
Sports injuries are common and easy to over-treat. For many of them, a visit to your family doctor is all that’s required. But if an injury has happened at work or during an organized sport, then you may want to think about heading to urgent care instead of waiting for a full appointment with your regular doctor. Here’s how to tell if it’s time for a quick trip to urgent care
While minor medical issues are often treated by urgent care physicians, there are times when a more serious injury occurs that would require immediate emergency room attention. These injuries include traumatic brain injuries, uncontrolled internal bleeding and bone fractures. If you have a fracture or fracture-related condition, like a broken arm, ankle or ribs, get to an ER immediately. However, if your injury is less severe than these examples—like an elbow sprain—then you might want to consider going to an urgent care clinic instead of an emergency room because it will likely be faster and cheaper than an ER visit. But in either case: Go now! Ignoring sports injuries could result in long-term damage or even permanent disability.
One of the most common questions people have is whether they should go to urgent care or a hospital. Here are some tips: Know your location : The closer an urgent care facility is to where you live and work, for example, if it’s in your city center instead of several miles away, makes it more convenient. If a sports injury occurs on Saturday morning during business hours at work and your closest urgent care facility closes at 6 p.m., that convenience goes out of sight.
Sports injuries and regular old minor injuries are not one in the same. An injury sustained at your favorite sporting event should be treated differently than a sore shoulder from doing heavy lifting at work. If you aren’t sure whether to seek medical attention for an injury, ask yourself these questions: Does it require treatment immediately or will it get better on its own? Can I go to my regular doctor, urgent care or pharmacy instead of an emergency room (ER)? Is there a chance my injury might affect my job or ability to do daily activities later on? Is my pain severe enough that it’s keeping me from sleeping well, concentrating or generally being productive? These are good indicators that something may be wrong and it might be best to seek medical attention right away.