Urgent Care vs ER: Skin Rashes
The fact that rashes are a pretty common occurrence and that they come and go regularly means that most of the time they are taken lightly. This may be the case since not all skin rashes are medical emergencies and a majority of them can be treated with the help of over-the-counter medication. Skin rashes can be brought about by a number of causes ranging from allergic reactions, coming into contact with poison ivy, eczema, psoriasis or even infections which can be fungal, parasitic, bacterial or even viral. As stated above, while most cases of skin rashes are not serious, some may be indicative of a much more serious underlying problem that may need to be attended to as immediately. It is therefore important to know which cases of skin rashes warrant a visit to urgent care and which are the ones that should lead to a visit to an emergency room. To that end, this article should be of great help as it will look to do just that and help out when it comes to deciding whether to head over to an urgent care or ER for skin rashes.
The first thing we are going to explore are the scenarios when visiting an urgent care as far as skin rashes are concerned. If you develop a rash covering your entire body, then instead of trying to treat it at home, you should head over to urgent care as soon as you can. This is usually a sign of a major allergic reaction and as such should be treated with the seriousness it requires. You should also ensure you visit urgent care if you develop a skin rash that is accompanied by fever. This could be indicative of the fact that you may have an underlying infection or even a serious allergic reaction and as such you should get checked out. If the skin rash you are experiencing appeared suddenly and then begun spreading rapidly, then you should head over to urgent care for assessment as well. Other cases where a visit to urgent care will suffice, with frontlineer.com being the best place to visit, as far as skin rashes go include skin rashes that start to blister, skin rashes accompanied by pain, those accompanied by purple spots on hands or feet or both, circular shaped rashes, rashes that are not getting better.
As has been allude to earlier, a skin rash may sometime indicate a serious medical issue or condition that may require emergency medical attention and as such a visit to an emergency room. One of the symptoms that should lead to a visit to an ER is if the skin rash is accompanied by difficulty breathing. For obvious reasons, breathing issues should always be taken seriously and as such should always be treated as medical emergencies. Skin rashes that appear and spread on sensitive parts and areas of the body should also be taken seriously with the result being a visit to an ER. These include skin rashes and blistering on the mouth, skin around the eyes and the genitals. Once again, for obvious reasons, this should be taken seriously especially when you take into account the implications and consequences if left unattended to. If on top of the skin rashes there are signs of infection such as yellow or green discharge from the area with the rash, crusting, red streaks, swelling and skin being warm to the touch, then a visit to an ER and not urgent care is recommended here. Skin rashes that are accompanied with joint pain, severe unexplained headaches as well as tightness and swelling of the throat should lead to a visit to an ER.
Experts are also adamant that if you develop a skin rash after coming into contact with toxic chemicals and materials such as arsenic, mercury among others, then the next logical step should be to head over to an ER, with frontlineer.com being the best place to visit, as soon as possible. If you develop a skin rash and you have some immune system problems like say you are on chemotherapy or any other cancer treatment medication or technique, have diabetes or even HIV/AIDS, then you should visit an ER as soon as possible. The reason why the cases with skin rashes that are more serious should be handled in an ER is that unlike in urgent care, the ER has facilities that will help in blood work if required, administering of IV antibiotics in cases of infection, or even admission to the hospital if necessary, especially those extremely serious cases that need monitoring say overnight. This can only be done over at an ER and not urgent care which has limited facilities in comparison.
Hopefully, the above discussion will help you ibn making a decision whether to visit an ER, with frontlineer.com being the best place to visit, or urgent care when it comes to skin rashes.
