{"id":19291,"date":"2021-10-28T14:19:22","date_gmt":"2021-10-28T19:19:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thepapergown.zocdoc.com\/?p=19291"},"modified":"2026-08-14T10:33:03","modified_gmt":"2026-08-14T15:33:03","slug":"top-3-reasons-to-go-to-urgent-care","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.zocdoc.com\/blog\/guides\/top-3-reasons-to-go-to-urgent-care\/","title":{"rendered":"Top 3 Reasons To Go To Urgent Care"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nowadays, more and more Americans<\/a> are turning to urgent care centers \u2014<\/span> over emergency rooms and primary care offices \u2014 <\/span>to quickly and affordably treat minor injuries and illnesses.<\/p>\n

\u201cAn urgent care center’s chief objective is to address the demand for prompt and convenient care,\u201d says\u00a0 Dr. Franz Ritucci, president of the American Board of Urgent Care Medicine. \u201cThey were designed to manage unplanned visits for low-acuity conditions.”<\/p>\n

Before you go to a clinic, it’s always essential to make sure you’re not experiencing a medical emergency (chest pain, uncontrolled bleeding, major trauma, or other symptoms).<\/p>\n

With their surge in popularity, urgent care providers have established a few common areas where urgent care centers really excel. When in doubt, you can count on urgent care to treat straightforward injuries, upper respiratory conditions and headaches.<\/p>\n

Straightforward injuries<\/h3>\n

When you sprain your ankle running to catch a bus, or trip and twist your arm, there’s usually no need to head to the emergency department. Urgent care centers can treat simple injuries, like ankle sprains, minor burns and even potential fractures.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re playing sports and you think, \u2018My ankle is swollen. I may have a fracture,\u2019 that\u2019s fine to go to an urgent care center,\u201d Ritucci says.<\/p>\n

Most urgent care centers have on-site X-Ray machines to determine whether or not you have a fracture. Many can also give you a cast or splint, if need be.<\/p>\n

People also commonly visit urgent care centers to patch up cuts or gashes that may require stitches. Ritucci says urgent care can address “simple lacerations,” like box-cutter cuts, or kitchen gashes you might get from dicing up veggies.<\/p>\n

If the injury seems extreme, it probably is. Ritucci notes some injuries are too advanced to be treated in urgent care centers.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you find that you have a laceration on the hand, and you\u2019re unable to move the finger at all, then it\u2019s the emergency department,” he says. “But if you\u2019re able to flex and extend your finger, and you can feel your finger, then by all means, urgent care is fine.\u201d<\/p>\n

Upper respiratory infections<\/h3>\n

Urgent care centers frequently diagnose and treat bronchitis<\/a>, colds, the flu and other upper respiratory infections.<\/p>\n

They have a variety of speedy tests for different conditions on-hand. As we enter flu season, if you come down with a case of the sniffles, you can easily rule out COVID-19 and other issues at an urgent care clinic.<\/p>\n

\u201c[People may like] how quickly COVID testing can be done in the urgent care facility,\u201d Ritucci says. \u201cIf they require a chest X-ray because of their severity of symptoms, that can be done too. Depending on their oxygen level, we may have to send them to the hospital, but if they\u2019re ambulatory and stable, they\u2019ll go home.\u201d<\/p>\n

Headaches<\/h3>\n

If you feel sideswiped by a headache and it doesn\u2019t respond to your usual treatment, try urgent care. Researchers have found that many people with chronic migraine<\/a> often head to clinics for some quick relief. This is the case even if a primary care physician typically manages their condition.<\/p>\n

Another disclaimer: Before heading to an urgent care facility with headache pain, be sure that what you\u2019re experiencing shouldn\u2019t be assessed by emergency physicians.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn a scale of one to 10, if your headache is a nine or a 10, then you need to be evaluated in the emergency department,\u201d Ritucci says. \u201cThat might require a CT scan, and urgent care facilities are not designed for that.”<\/p>\n