Summer is on its way out. With it comes falling leaves, several holidays…and lots of illnesses.
Convenient health care is going to be more necessary than ever to get through the next few months. When you find yourself coming down with a persistent cough or facing a slip and fall injury on your icy steps, you need an option that’s faster than your regular doctor and less expensive than the emergency room. Convenient medical care can be easily found at your urgent care clinic. These locations are a wonderful in-between that will give you the quality attention you deserve without sacrificing efficiency. What should you expect to see when dropping by any number of nearby locations?
The list below will detail the basics of your average urgent care setting to catch you up to speed.
The Common Cold And The Flu
Let’s start off this list with what you’re going to be encountering a lot in a month or less. Every year the United States will come down with one billion colds, spreading through germs left on doorknobs, keyboards or poorly concealed coughs. This same span of time will see anywhere between 5% and 20% of Americans coming down with the flu. The latter has become unfortunately more common in certain areas of the country, with the past few years seeing some of the highest rates of flu-related deaths recorded. Your urgent care clinic can provide medication as well as yearly flu shots to keep you protected.
Poison Ivy And Poison Oak
When you come down with a bad rash from poison ivy or poison oak, you likely don’t want to sit and wait for it to get better. It’s usually not severe enough for the emergency room (unless breathed in), but too painful to wait for a regularly scheduled appointment with your family doctor. Over 80% of Americans today are allergic to poison ivy. This plant can sometimes turn red during the end of its lifespan, but frequently manifests as green leaves with a mitten-like shape. It can be found in every state except for Alaska and Hawaii. When you’re in pain, a multicare clinic will provide you a swift treatment.
Urinary Tract Infections And Nausea
Another painful and very common issue is the urinary tract infection. Exactly what it says on the tin, this issue is caused by a build-up of harmful bacteria in the urinary tract, manifesting as a painful burning and itching when you go to the bathroom. It also will give you the constant urge to pee in spite of an empty bladder. When left unchecked it can cause gradual damage to your kidneys and even require surgery. It’s estimated the UTI account for over eight million visits to the doctors every year.
Fractures And Sprains
Even more painful issues can be swiftly addressed at your urgent care clinic. A recent study revealed four out of five urgent care centers to provide fracture care. Combine this with the statistics that over 25,000 Americans will suffer an ankle sprain every day and you can imagine the necessary function of a medical setting that’s just as fast as it is skilled. Medical care clinics today are doing their best to become more flexible and more accessible to all sorts of issues, ranging from a flu that lasts too long to a sprained ankle that keeps you from working.
Burns And Cuts
Last, but not least, you can visit an urgent care clinic when you have a burn or cut that can’t be attended to at home. Over three million patients visit urgent care centers every week, thanks to data provided by the Urgent Care Association Of America, and many of these are painful accidents that are too deep to be patched up with a band-aid. Burns, in particular, need a careful eye due to their increased likelihood of coming down with an infection. You can also take solace in the fact over 80% of urgent care centers are open seven days a week.
When you need peace-of-mind from start to finish, your urgent care center is ready and waiting.