An urgent care center is a type of walk-in clinic that focuses on injury and illness treatment, especially in situations requiring prompt care that is not life-threatening. Although most people know that these centers offer treatment for many minor injuries and illnesses, many are surprised to learn about the variety of services available. This review discusses the services that an urgent care provides, highlighting a few of the lesser-known ones that may benefit you.
Conditions that urgent care centers can treat include minor injuries, illnesses such as the cold and flu, headaches, stomachaches, ear infections, rashes, cuts, and scrapes. The following is a closer look at the common services that urgent care can provide.
Urgent care can provide healthcare services for minor injuries, especially when prompt care is needed. This includes injuries during sporting events, physical exercise, and car accidents. Examples of minor injuries that an urgent care center can treat include burns, lacerations, sprains, strains, fractures, and bone bruises. Severe injuries that pose a more immediate health concern are often best treated at an emergency room.
Cold, flu, strep throat, coronavirus, and other respiratory illnesses can lead to symptoms such as a fever, cough, sore throat, stuffy nose, and difficulty breathing. Many respiratory illnesses do not require medical treatment, and many patients can make a full recovery at home in less than a week. This is often the best strategy if symptoms are mild, as it reduces the risk of spreading the illness to others.
However, if symptoms are more severe, such as a fever above 103 degrees Fahrenheit, then a trip to urgent care may be warranted. Keep in mind that urgent care centers offer care for non-life-threatening conditions, so any serious concerns (e.g., an inability to breathe) would require a visit to the emergency room.
Urgent care providers can also treat many types of headaches, including migraine, tension, and cluster headaches. The healthcare team can also determine if a headache is a sign of something more severe, such as a potential concussion or head trauma following an auto accident. There are various ways that urgent care providers may recommend treating headaches, including with anti-inflammatory injections and nausea relief medications. The recommended treatment largely depends on the underlying cause of the headache.
Other common urgent care services include treatments for stomach aches, ear infections, rashes, cuts, and scrapes. Additional treatments that an urgent care center can provide range from minor eye conditions to mononucleosis.
Broadly speaking, urgent care services include diagnostic tests, preventative health services, and physical examinations, along with the aforementioned restorative health services.
Diagnostic tests are a standard part of the urgent care experience for many patients. Examples of tests that providers typically offer include (but are not limited to) blood glucose tests, basic and comprehensive metabolic panels, complete blood counts, electrolyte tests, pregnancy tests, STD tests, drug tests, flu tests, strep tests, and urinalysis.
Preventative health services are also common among urgent care centers. Every center offers its own set of services, so it is essential for a patient to check with the urgent care before visiting. That said, common preventative health services that urgent care centers offer include vaccinations, well-baby checks, drug screenings, and gynecologic exams.
Other forms of preventative health services that many urgent care providers offer are physicals. These can be in the form of annual physicals and regular health check-ups, school physicals, or physicals for sports. A normal physical includes a measurement of the patient's vital signs to check for irregularities and a neurological exam.
Our urgent care is here to help you if you have an immediate illness or injury, such as the cold or flu, headaches, stomachaches, ear infections, rashes, cuts, scrapes, burns, lacerations, sprains, strains, fractures, and bone bruises. (Do note that anything more severe should be treated at an emergency room.) We also offer various diagnostic services, preventative health services, and physicals for school, sports, or regular annual check-ups. If you have questions or concerns, then do feel free to give us a call at any time. Our team is more than happy to answer your questions and help ensure that you get the care that you need in a timely manner.
Request an appointment here: https://tx-urgentcare.com or call Texas Urgent Care & Imaging Center at (832) 941-1894 for an appointment in our New Caney office.
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