UPDATED 10/1/20
Urgent cares are a special type of medical center that has been growing in popularity during recent years. Urgent care centers offer immediate care, and are designed to be a medium between the emergency room and your doctor’s office. These centers treat a wide variety of illness, injuries, and other services that are normally provided by your primary doctors. Here are a few of the major services that you can seek from your local urgent care center.
Broken Bones
When a bone is fractured, immediate action is required to ensure the proper healing process. Treatment needed for a fracture can vary from a cast, insertion of metal pins, or even surgery. While many may think that a broken bone is considered an emergency, a visit to the emergency room can take hours, and leave you with a heavy bill. Many urgent care centers offer bone injury treatments, and are fully stocked with all the proper equipment, such as x-ray machines.
Cold and Flu
If you’re suffering from a persistent cold or flu, it can be weeks before your doctor can see you for an appointment. This can be devastating to an individual who has commitments such as work or school. Urgent care centers can provide you with the prescription medication you need to kick your cold. Most urgent care facilities allow for walk-in appointments, so you won’t have to wait to get the treatment you need.
STD Testing
If you have an active sex life, it’s important to get tested for STDs. Many couples are uncomfortable with the thought of having the test done by their primary care provider, but aren’t sure where the tests can be done. Urgent care centers can provide fast, confidential STD testing for both partners.
Physicals
Many jobs or schools require a full physical as part of the requirements of acceptance. But what do you do when you don’t have a doctor to perform one on you? Go to an urgent care center! Urgent care facilities have trained, certified doctors on staff at all time. These doctors are able to provide your work or school with accurate medical information, and can also provide screening for drug or alcoholism.
Urgent care centers are the best solution for minor emergencies, but should never be used as a replacement for the emergency room. If you are experiencing a medical emergency, call your local dispatch to have them send an ambulance to your location.
Depending on the situation, visiting the local urgent care Phoenix area residents depend on for emergency services may not be the right choice for eye care. Unless there is an immediate need to address a traumatic eye injury, finding local eye care center doctors could be a better step for addressing eye maintenance and injury.
Urgent care centers are staffed with professionals who can address a wide range of illness and injury. However, they are not specialists. The nearest eye doctor is better equipped to handle my eye care and maintenance. Approximately 12 million people 40 years and over in the United States have vision impairment, making the services of eye care center doctors incredibly important. An urgent care visit can only address an immediate trauma. If you have been experiencing a sustained loss of vision, or even symptoms like frequent headaches and dizziness, searching a local eye doctor directory for the nearest eye doctor near you would be the best course of action.