Do you have a cold you just can’t shake? Are you suffering from seasonal allergies? Do you have persistent neck and back pain from being on your feet at work all day?
These are all common medical aliments and are a big reason why more than three million people choose to visit their local urgent care locations. If you’ve got sports injuries, are suffering from poison ivy, are dealing with back and neck pain, dealing with ear infections, fevers, sprains, fractures, cuts and scrapes dizziness or even STDs, all of your local urgent care locations can take care of you and get you back on a path to being healthy.
An urgent care clinic is a type of walk-in clinic that will save you a trip the ER if you’re feeling under the weather. You’ll save time and money because you’ll get in to see a doctor much faster and won’t have to spent a ton of time waiting forever and ever in the waiting room only for your actual visit to last 10 minutes.
Some of them might vary in the services they offer, but when it comes to urgent care locations in your area, what all of them offer is a quicker and more cost-effective way to treat a number of common, everyday medical ailments. Let’s face it, nobody really enjoys going to the doctor, but it’s one of those things you’ve got to do when you or a loved one is sick. If you’re dealing with sickness, an urgent care visit can get you in and out and back to your busy schedule.
Before you visit an urgent care, it’s important to know a few things. There are several pros and cons that come with the decision to visit an urgent care including:
- Pro—Cost: Urgent care locations can offer treatment to the average consumer at lower rates than hospitals. Urgent cares work great if you’re on a budget because they offer price transparency where you can see how much different treatments cost.
- Con—Potentially higher costs: It’s true that urgent care locations can potentially save you money, but if you’re not careful the costs can add up. Since urgent care centers are convenient to visit, patients may grow prone to visiting them every time they come down with something. Doing that can make costs add up quickly.
- Pro—Convenience: If you’re in need of health care but you’re always busy, you want convenient treatment options. Urgent cares offer a health care option that’s easy to get to. They’re usually located in easy-to-find spots and many retail clinics offer patients access to quick treatments such as flu shots and Z-packs, which saves you a lot of precious time.
- Con—Deferral to hospital: Before you visit any sort of health care spot, educate yourself on where you can receive care. You don’t want to go to an urgent care just to be referred to the ER because your sickness or ailment is more serious than originally thought. Do some research into your problem and figure out the best course of action.
More than half of urgent care facilities have a wait time of less than 15 minutes and most of them have a physician on site at all times. Urgent care centers stay open longer too—most are open until 7 p.m., so you can stop by after work and some are open later depending on the location.
If you’ve got a life-threatening issue, do what’s best for health and visit the emergency room right away. The last thing you want to do is play chicken with your health just to save a little money or time. Emergency room doctors play a very important role in medical care and if you’re suffering from a severe injury or something like food poisoning or severe bleeding, you don’t want to sit and just wait it out. You need to go to the ER immediately and see a doctor.
For non life-threatening injuries and easily-treated, everyday illnesses and conditions, your local urgent care location is the perfect spot to visit. You’ll be able to get in and out and get whatever medicine you need to get yourself healthy again.
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