It's one thing to go to the emergency room or a doctor's office when you have an ache or pain; it's another thing entirely to visit an urgent care clinic. Urgent care clinics distinguish themselves from doctor's offices and emergency rooms in several ways, though they are also staffed with qualified medical professionals, including many doctors. Urgent care clinics typically do not require appoints beforehand (hence the concept) and you will often spend less time waiting to be seen by a provider at an urgent care clinic than you would at the emergency room. Additionally, it's much more affordable to visit an urgent care clinic compared to an emergency room.

More and more often, people are taking advantage of urgent care clinics. The CDC reported that in 2019 alone, one in four children had at least one urgent care visit in the previous 12 months. But the question is, why are people visiting urgent care clinics? Let's look into some of the most common reasons why people are visiting urgent care clinics.

1. The Cold and Flu

Typically, a cold is simple enough to treat at home, and the same can be said of the flu. But the reality is that symptoms can sometimes get out of hand, and you may need a bit of extra help in treating them. If you find yourself with a cold or flu that has continued over several weeks or results in an increasingly high fever, you may want to visit an urgent care clinic to make sure that something more serious isn't occurring, and to nip your symptoms in the bud.

2. Urinary Tract Infections

UTIs are quite painful, and often somewhat embarrassing. People like visiting an urgent care clinic to have UTIs taken care of quickly, and they need to do so without delay. UTIs can get out of hand before you know it, and you should visit an urgent care clinic in a timely manner if you're suffering from one.

3. Ear Infection

Ear infections are also rather nagging, and similarly to UTIs they can quickly become more complicated. In particular, children should have them treated quickly before they result in high fevers. Urgent care clinics can diagnose and treat ear infections efficiently and properly.

Don't suffer from an illness or injury at home. Come to MedFirst Urgent Care and get the relief you need.