Pulled Muscles, UTIs, Sore Throats: When Urgent Care is the Answer

You cut your finger while making dinner. You think you have a urinary tract infection (UTI) and your doctor can’t see you for a week. You feel feverish, weak, or sick and you don’t know why. 

These are all scenarios in which urgent care may be your best option, a service that West Hills Urgent Care is proud to provide to patients in the San Francisco area. Our providers have expertise in treating various urgent medical needs, from bacterial infections to serious injuries. 

When should you go to urgent care?

The general rule of thumb is that you should go to urgent care when you have a pressing situation but not a life-threatening one. If you have a life-threatening injury or illness, such as serious head trauma, a heart attack, stroke, or excessive bleeding, you should go to an emergency room. 

But, if you’re in pain or ill ― and your primary care doctor can’t see you right away ― urgent care is the place to go. West Hills Urgent Care’s facility is staffed with medical experts and has the necessary equipment and supplies to treat most urgent care conditions. 

What can be treated at urgent care?

When you need quick, dependable care, the urgent care providers at Downtown Medical Group have your back. Our team can treat: 

• Bug bites and stings
• Allergic reactions (if you’re experiencing anaphylactic shock, go to an emergency room)
• Cuts and wounds that aren’t bleeding life-threatening amounts of blood
• Sprains and strains
• Minor broken bones
• Fevers and colds
• Nausea
• UTIs, ear infections, or other bacterial infections
• Diarrhea 
• Dehydration
• Burns
• Cysts
• Faintness, dizziness, mild shortness of breath (If you’re struggling to breathe or can’t breathe at all, get emergency treatment.)

Depending on the problem, you may receive wound dressing, pain or allergy medications, antibiotics, or doctor guidelines for rest, diet, hydration, and exercise. 

Why not the emergency room?

The emergency room has its place. It’s where you should go for life-threatening emergencies. But emergency rooms work on a triage system, meaning they take the most pressing cases first, regardless of when you arrive there. 

So if you go to the emergency room with an ankle sprain, you won’t receive care until the staff has first dealt with the cases of severe chest pain, bleeding, head trauma, and other serious conditions. You may wait for hours, and you’ll probably receive quite a hefty bill. Your insurance may cover an emergency room bill, but not always. At urgent care, you’ll usually only pay a reasonable copay, if anything at all. 

If you’re experiencing an urgent health situation, visit West Hills Urgent Care right away to receive care. You can walk in, call ahead.