When to go to Urgent Care for Allergies
Allergies can cause itchy, watery eyes and other unpleasant symptoms, but they typically aren’t serious enough to warrant an emergency room visit or hospitalization. However, you should always be aware of the signs that might indicate your allergies are more severe and require urgent care, so you can seek immediate treatment if necessary. Keep these four symptoms in mind when you think about when to go to urgent care for allergies.
Signs That It’s Time to Go
One sign that you should seek urgent care for allergies is if you’re in a lot of pain. The Mayo Clinic says you can seek urgent care if your symptoms indicate a bacterial infection, such as strep throat or a sinus infection. If you have swelling of your lips, tongue and/or throat, or hives plus difficulty breathing that isn’t relieved by an antihistamine (such as Benadryl), those are also signs that it’s time to head to urgent care.
How to Choose a Clinic
After you decide that urgent care is right for your situation, it’s time to choose a clinic. But with so many urgent care locations in town, how do you know which one is best? Although there are a number of ways you can find a local clinic, we recommend using Yelp—it has thousands of user reviews from patients who have tried out these urgent care clinics. Patients post their thoughts on all aspects of visiting urgent care: wait times, doctor ratings and whether or not they were satisfied with their visit.
What Are Some Causes of Allergy Symptoms?
You might assume that only people with asthma or some other respiratory condition would experience allergy symptoms like coughing, wheezing, and a runny nose. However, anyone who is exposed to an allergen can suffer from allergy symptoms. Your body’s immune system treats allergens as invaders, releasing chemicals such as histamine and leukotrienes in response.
Should I Treat My Own Allergies?
Most of us believe that if we can treat common illnesses at home, then we should. But there are some cases when you should see a doctor instead of relying on over-the-counter treatments: If symptoms are severe or persistent, seek medical attention right away. In cases where your illness could be serious and allergy symptoms get worse after a few days of treatment at home, see your doctor right away.
