Urgent care clinics have been around for a number of years and can now be found in most towns and cities across the United States, with most towns having multiple walk in health clinics. Eighty-five percent of urgent care centers are open seven days a week, and don’t require an appointment in advance, making them ideal for patients who live life on the go and don’t have a lot of free time in their schedule. It’s easy to think of urgent care as being “just a clinic” but the truth is these places are fully equipped to treat a number of medical issues and this article will take a look at a few of them.
- Flu and Cold Symptoms: One issue that can be treated at urgent care are cold and flu symptoms. These are relatively common at urgent care, as the most common diagnosis is upper respiratory conditions that can spawn from cold and flu symptoms. While the average person can make a full recovery from cold symptoms within 10 days, it’s still possible for complications to occur, so it’s important to visit urgent care if you develop cold or flu symptoms. This way you’ll get proper treatment for what’s making you sick.
- Sunburn: Another issue that can be treated at urgent care is sunburn. It is relatively easy to dismiss sunburn as a minor inconvenience at best, but the truth is they can be extremely painful, and they’re easier to get than you might think. Actually, unprotected skin can take on damage from the sun in as little as 15 minutes, and if not corrected can result in painful burns that lead to peeling skin. If you end up with a severe sunburn, you can and should go to urgent care to get treatments that can soothe the pain of the burn until it has time to heal properly.
- Poison Ivy: A third issue that can be treated at urgent care is poison ivy, or more accurately, a reaction to poison ivy. Poison ivy is a plant that can be found in every state except Alaska and Hawaii. At least 85 percent of people are allergic to poison ivy, and it’s this allergy that causes the itchy rash that poison ivy is known for to form on the body. If a poison ivy rash forms, it is recommended to go to urgent care to get medication to soothe and ease the rash, as scratching at it will usually just make it worse.
- Food Poisoning: A fourth issue that can be treated at urgent care is food poisoning, which usually comes if you accidentally ingest food that has spoiled. The symptoms can often be similar to the stomach flu, which is why you should visit urgent care, as they can examine your symptoms and diagnose if it is indeed the stomach flu or if you have food poisoning, as different treatments are required for each. By going to urgent care, you can get the correct treatment for your problem.
- Sprained Ankles and Wrists: And finally, a fifth issue that can be treated at urgent care are sprained wrists and ankles. Ankle sprains in particular are especially common as reports estimate that 25,000 Americans suffer from an ankle sprain each day. If you sprain an ankle or a wrist, you can go to urgent care and have X-rays done on the affected area to see just how bad the damage is. Once an X-ray is complete, a proper course of treatment can be started to get the affected limb healed as quickly as possible.
In conclusion, there are a number of issues that can be treated at urgent care. These issues include flu and cold symptoms, sunburn, poison ivy, food poisoning, and sprained ankles and wrists. These are just a few of the issues that an urgent care can take care of.
