I’ve Come Down With The Flu Should I Visit An Urgent Care Center?
You know the function of visiting your regular doctor. You also know to turn to emergency services when you’re unable to wait for treatment. What about when you need medication, a vaccination or a check-up in a short amount of time? Urgent care is one of many forms of American healthcare you need to be aware of if you want to both save money and get the care you need to stay at your best.
The urgent care field is vast and growing. It’s estimated there are over 20,000 physicians working specifically in urgent care medicine and demand is only getting higher by the day. This is due in no small part to an estimated three million patients visiting a local urgent care center every week. Whether you’re new to urgent care or have visited a multicare urgent care clinic in the past it helps to know what services they can provide you when you need an in-between.
Have you ever gotten a fracture or a sprained ankle? Urgent care centers can help. As many as four out of five urgent care centers can provide immediate fracture care. This is particularly useful, since as many as 25,000 Americans suffer from an ankle sprain every single day — these are rather common for workers who find themselves walking or standing for long periods of time, though they can occur to anyone when they least expect.
The common cold and the flu are both reoccurring illnesses that gain prevalence in the winter and in large populations. Every year Americans will come down with a collective one billion colds. Although the flu isn’t quite as widespread, as many as 20% of the population will still find themselves bedridden from the flu virus on a yearly basis. The common cold is characterized by stuffiness, sneezing and watery eyes, while the flu is accompanied by a mild to severe fever alongside nausea.
Cold symptoms can last for just two days to over a week, depending on your immune system, and the average person will make a full recovery within 10 days or so. Your urgent care clinic can provide vaccinations to keep both you and others safe when the flu season hits. The elderly, people with compromised immune systems and children are at the highest risk for complications presented by the flu. For those unable to take conventional vaccines there are alternatives that can still keep you healthy at your urgent care centers.
Additional minor, yet not negligible, issues include urinary tract infections, poison ivy infections and cuts that need stitches. Urinary tract infections are often caused by poor hygiene, unsafe sex and a lack of proper hydration. Although this condition is very painful, it can be easily reversed with a few days’ worth of medication. Poison ivy is found in every state except for Alaska and Hawaii (due to the more extreme climates) and over 80% of people are allergic to its touch.
It’s important to remember that every urgent care clinic is a little different. Some provide multicare services, while others are oriented toward children. Doing a little research beforehand will help you better determine which location can assist you during your time of need. Rather than spending excess money during an emergency room visit you didn’t need, consider visiting your nearby urgent care clinics for those minor to moderate problems that can’t wait for a regular doctor.
