Urgent care gives you a great option for medical care when you can’t wait for the next available appointment but you don’t need (or want) to go to the emergency room.
If you’re not sure whether you need urgent care, call our team at White Lake Family Medicine. After asking you a few questions, we can quickly determine the level of care you need and make sure you get prompt attention. Meanwhile, here’s more detailed information about when you need urgent care.
Choosing urgent care
Urgent care is specifically designed to treat any health problems that need immediate or same-day care but aren’t an emergency. In other words, you’re sick or have a minor injury and can’t wait several days for an appointment, but you don’t have a condition that demands the level of care from a hospital.
The conditions evaluated at the urgent care clinic are quickly diagnosed and treated. Your urgent care provider takes care of your immediate health care needs. Afterward, your follow-up appointment is with your primary care provider or a specialist for ongoing care.
If you don’t have a primary care physician, we can schedule an appointment with our caring providers at White Lake Family Medicine.
Consider your condition
Urgent care is the best choice if you wake up feeling sick, suffer a minor injury, or have a sudden flareup of a chronic health condition.
You should also seek urgent care for conditions like the flu and COVID-19. Medical specialists recommend taking antiviral medications for these conditions within 2-5 days of when symptoms appear. The sooner you get care the better. Your symptoms may have started earlier but were so mild you didn’t pay attention.
At our practice, we schedule testing separately from our urgent care clinic even though urgent care is appropriate for COVID-19 testing. Either way, you can always get in quickly.
Conditions that we often treat through urgent care include:
- Cough that’s persistent or gets worse
- Colds and flu
- Sore throat
- Bronchitis
- Sinus infections
- Earaches
- Skin wounds
- Skin rashes
- Concussions
- Sprains and strains
- Severe headaches and migraines
- Urinary tract infections
- Asthma or COPD flare ups
- Nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea
Nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea need urgent care if you also have a fever or if these symptoms last longer than 12 hours for infants, 24 hours for children, or two days for adults.
Urgent vs emergency care for fevers
Though it’s scary when your child has a fever, fevers alone don’t always need urgent care. As a general guideline, you should seek immediate care for a fever when:
- The fever lasts longer than 48 hours
- A baby younger than three months has a temperature of 100.3°F or higher
- The fever is accompanied by vomiting, diarrhea, or a cough
- A mild fever is accompanied by a sore throat or fatigue
- Older children, teens, or adults have a temperature of 103°F or higher (and medication doesn’t help)
You need emergency treatment when a fever is accompanied by:
- Severe headache
- Neck pain or stiffness
- Confusion
- Skin rash
- Chest pain
- Breathing difficulties
- Stomach or back pain
Typically, a fever indicates that your body is fighting an infection. However, hot weather, exercise, and immunizations can also make your temperature rise.
When to seek emergency care
Emergency care is always the best choice when you or your child have a condition that threatens your health or life. Your local emergency room has the resources to provide the higher level of care you might need, such as surgery, IV medications, and advanced diagnostic imaging.
As a general guideline, you should go to the emergency room for problems such as:
- Fractures
- Seizures
- Heavy bleeding
- Traumatic brain injury
- Sudden or severe abdominal pain
- Loss of consciousness
- Known or suspected poisoning
- Heart attack
- Stroke
The symptoms of a heart attack include difficulty breathing, chest pain or pressure, dizziness, severe heartburn, and pain in your jaw, back, or arms.
The signs of a stroke include difficulty speaking, weakness in one arm, and drooping or numbness on one side of the face.
For most emergencies, it’s best to call 911. They can begin immediate treatment that makes a difference to your long-term recovery.
If you have questions about urgent care or need to schedule an appointment, call White Lake Family Medicine or book online today.
