Deciding whether to go to a local urgent care clinic or a local emergency room can be a difficult distinction to make. After all, many people have only recently realized that urgent care locations provide a viable option for medical care. Fortunately, there is one easy way to make this distinction: if it is a serious matter, one that could easily become life or death, go to the emergency room. Below, you will find a list of conditions that will able to instead be treated at just about any walk in urgent care center out there.
1. Various injuries. Various injuries can easily be treated at just about any given urgent care center – even more serious ones. Though wound repair is the most commonly performed procedure at any given urgent care location, there are other more extensive forms of treatment that can also be given. The treatment of ankle sprains is just one good example – and certainly an extensive one, as there are up to 25,000 different ankle sprains occurring throughout the course of just one day here in the United States alone.
On top of this, fracture care is also possible at the majority of urgent care centers – more than 75% of them, as a matter of fact. An x ray can locate the fracture and then minor fracture treatment can be given. Though more serious fractures might need hospital care, the majority of fractures seen in an urgent care setting will be able to be taken care of right then and there. For most people, this will save a great deal of time and money alike.
2. Illnesses. There are many types of illnesses that can be treated at walk in clinics and urgent care clinics. For instance, the flu will often be seen in an urgent care setting. After all, a particularly bad flu year will leave up to one fifth of the population infected by the flu – with no less than 5% infected during even more minor years. In addition to this, the flu can lead to complications outside of itself, such as pneumonia. And while the flu is a virus and cannot be cleared up through medication, most walk in urgent care centers will be able to provide an anti viral treatment that can lessen the duration of the disease as well as the severity of the symptoms.
Various infections also receive treatment at many an urgent care location. Respiratory infections are the most commonly treated, especially during flu and cold season, when they are particularly prolific. But urinary tract infections are also commonly seen, due to the fact that more than eight million of them are diagnosed in the United States over the course of a single year. Fortunately, most UTIs are relatively minor and are therefore easy to treat with a round of antibiotics.
3. Skin conditions. Various skin conditions can also be assessed and treated at your local walk-in medical care clinic. Poison ivy, for instance, is often seen during the summer months, when people are spending more and more of their time outside. As poison ivy is an allergen for up to 85% of the adult population AND is found in the entirety of the continental United States, it should come as no surprise that poison ivy cases are plentiful in just about any urgent care or walk-in medical clinic setting.
Sunburn cases are also quite commonly seen. After all, you only need fifteen minutes of unprotected sun exposure before your skin begins to become damaged. And most people are spending much of their summer months outside, therefore putting themselves at risk of burning if they are not taking the proper precautions. And it is far easier for a burn to become serious than many realize. If you feel that you have sustained a burn so serious that you don’t know how to treat it, going to your local urgent care center will be a good option for you.
Urgent care centers can treat a wide array of medical issues, more than many realize.
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