Urgent medical care is something you seldom think about until you need it. This, despite the fact that 20,000 qualified doctors practice urgent care medicine today. Although many turn to emergency room care … even when the ailments in question aren’t technical emergencies … waiting in the emergency room can take several painful hours, and cost thousands of dollars. You’d be surprised at the types of issues that urgent care clinics can treat, with quality care given by trustworthy physicians when you need it most. Here are a few of the issues urgent medical care can help you tend to.

1. Athletic Injuries

Every year, an estimated 12 million individuals between the ages of 5 and 22 suffer sport injuries. This results in 20 million missed days of school, which can have a devastating result for both students’ academic performances and their behavior records. The costs for sports … related injuries is $33 billion annually; some of these costs are impossible for certain students to cover. An urgent medical care clinic is a great alternative for students like these, with their prices usually being much lower. Furthermore, the availability of after hours urgent care means that students don’t have to take time out of school to get treated.

2. Chronic Medical Conditions

Chronic illnesses and ailments are an increasingly large problem in America, especially amongst baby boomers. In fact, by 2030 it’s believed that 6 out of 10 baby boomers will suffer from a chronic medical condition. The issue with chronic conditions is that they constantly have to be treated, which can become quite expensive. A walk in health clinic not only diminishes these costs, but can often provide things like physical therapy for anything from old injuries to continuous back pain.

3. Flu Shots And Other Vaccines

Vaccines can be expensive if done through a doctor’s office, especially for families that need to have several children vaccinated during the same year. Luckily, urgent medical care clinics usually offer a variety of vaccines, some of which are free. This could end up saving people both time and money, and is a rather simple perk of choosing an urgent care clinic over a doctor’s office. As urgent care clinics employ professional clinicians just as a doctor’s office would, there’s no point in choosing a doctor’s office first for something as simple as a flu shot.

4. STD Testing

With the effects of sexually transmitted diseases being anywhere from painful to deadly, it’s vital that people know whether or not they are infected. Urgent care clinics offer STD testing that is both fast and anonymous. That way, there is no shame in being tested, and people know their health status as quickly as possible.