When to go to Urgent Care

When to go to Urgent Care

We have all suffered from a medical condition at one time or the other that has required us to seek immediate medical attention. It could be an injury or you could be exhibiting symptoms that indicate that you have a problem that requires to be addressed immediately. In such situations, it may be difficult to get an appointment with a primary care doctor, as sometimes due to scheduling, you may have to wait even for days to be able to see them. Thankfully, there are facilities such as urgent care clinics and emergency rooms that allow us to visit and seek immediate medical attention. The problem is usually knowing when to go to an emergency room and when to go to an urgent care clinic. What we see most of the time, as is revealed in discussions over at frontlineer.com, is that people end up panicking and heading over to an emergency room for conditions that could have been handled comfortably in an urgent care clinic. This denies folks who are suffering from real life-threatening situations from getting services quicker as the staff in the emergency room have to sift through the patients and ascertain who should go first. This means that apart from paying more as emergency rooms can be quite pricy, you will have to wait for longer as the staff handle those with more serious conditions. It is therefore important to know when to go to an urgent care to avoid this and this article will look to highlight some of the instances when you should go to urgent care.

the very first instance where you should definitely go to an urgent care clinic is if you are experiencing a medical condition that, even though it requires immediate medical attention, it is not threatening your life or any of your limps or body part. This includes instances where one has suffered from a cut or bruise, that is not too deep or that is not squirting blood and only requires stitching to be closed up. As is covered in detail over at frontlineer.com, such instances can be handled at an urgent care as they are well placed to clean, stitch and dress the cut. Other conditions that may require immediate medical attention but are not life or limb-threatening and as such can be handled in an urgent care clinic include cases of pink eye, urinary tract infections, ear pain especially in children which could indicate an ear infection, rashes and hives that are due to allergic reactions that are not severe, asthma attacks that are not severe as well as eye irritations and redness.

Another instance that should lead to one visiting an urgent care clinic for evaluation and treatment is in cases of fever or flu or cold-like symptoms that are not responding to home remedies and over-the-counter medication. As is revealed in discussions over at frontlineer.com, a flu or cold can be handled at home with home remedies most of the time. However, there are instances when it may not be responding to these home remedies and as such it could indicate something more serious such as bronchitis or pneumonia. It is therefore important to head over to an urgent care clinic if you start experiencing symptoms such as a fever, chills and sweating, body and muscle aches, headaches, stuffy nose, chest congestion among others, that have been persistent for more than two days even after trying out home treatment remedies. The same applies for cases of severe sore throat or coughs, which can both be handled comfortably at an urgent care clinic.

Chest pain is usually cause for concern as it is usually associated with a heart attack. However the subject matter experts over at frontlineer.com recommend that if you are under the age of 55 years, have no history of heart disease, and you think your chest pain may be due to a specific reason like over exerting yourself in the gym or even due to heartburn, then you should also head over to an urgent care clinic for assessment. However, you should be sure of your chest pain as you don’t want to waste time if you are suffering from a heart attack. Given urgent care clinics have X-ray machines, you should also head over there if you have suffered a minor bone fracture especially if the fracture is on the wrist, hand, elbow, finger, ankle, foot, toe and ribs. Compound fractures and fractures of long bones in the arms and legs as well as those in the hip and back should however only be dealt with at an emergency room. You should also go to an urgent care clinic if you have suffered a sprain or strain, although severe strains involving complete ruptures of ligaments and muscles should only be handled at an emergency room. Cases of moderate back problems as well as instances of vomiting, diarrhea and dehydration can also be handled at urgent care, as are cases of minor or 1st degree burns.

The above are the instances when you can go to an urgent care clinic, keeping in mind that there is more to be uncovered on this topic and then some by checking out the ever reliable frontlineer.com.

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