Urgent Care vs. Emergency Room: Where should you go?

Often you must have come across a health situation where you need to see the doctor but you could not reach him/her immediately and you need medical supervision urgently. Here, you get two choices to select from, march towards either an emergency room or urgent care. It’s a question, how to decide when to move towards an emergency room or an urgent care? Emergency rooms largely serve those health cases that are life-threatening whereas urgent care is given to the patients who needs immediate attention at an affordable cost. The urgent care in Fayetteville NC is well equipped with tools and serves well every urgent care patient.

There are injuries that are hard to tell at that very moment if it requires urgent care of the emergency room. For instance, sometimes while cutting vegetables or fruits, you might accidentally cut your finger and the bleeding continues. There you panic and rush to the emergency room but it can be better served by urgent care at a very little cost. If you had ever visited primary care Fayetteville NC, you get to know how well they distinguish and explain both the terms which help a lot in the future every time.

Emergency room vs Urgent care

All the cases can be treated in the emergency room but urgent care has limitations to serve patients. This often makes us think then why we need to seek urgent care, especially when you have no fund problems. We all have one common belief that emergency treatment is more trustable than urgent care. Well, there is nothing such. Even urgent care provides the best treatment immediately. The best primary care physician Fayetteville NC always suggests to approach urgent care in minor cases rather than getting crazy to get cured in emergency wards paying more than the double cost.

In simple words, depending on the health issues and at moment cases, you need to decide and opt for either an emergency room or urgent care. For instance, a deep cut can be attended better in urgent care but if the patient is diabetic or carrying high blood pressure history, he/she can opt for the emergency room with prior consulting with their doctors.

In minor cases, it is wise to spend less and approach urgent care. For instance, often due to gastric problem, a patient can get severe abdominal pain and it can be handled easily by urgent care. But, on the other hand, if the abdominal pain is the result of stones in the gall bladder, then better opt for the emergency room. In both cases, the pain at times is severe and unbearable.

Down below are listed the different medical cases which can be attended to in urgent care.

General urgent care

Orthopaedic urgent care

• Fever
• Ear pain
• Sore throat
• Cough
• Respiratory illness
• Vomiting
• Diarrhea
• Urinary infection
• Sprains and strains
• Puncture wounds and lacerations
• Minor burns
• Sports injuries
• Sprains, strains, and dislocations
• Suspected fractures
• Ligament tears
• Cast or splint issues
• Cuts and lacerations
• Overuse injuries
• Painful, swollen joints
• Pediatric injuries

Dow below are listed some medical cases that can be treated well in an emergency room.

Emergency Department

• Chest pain
• Stroke
• Head injury
• Abdominal pain
• Loss of consciousness
• Shortness of breath
• Seizure
• Bleeding
• Broken bones
• Major burns

From the above discussion so far, we got fair ideas about the difference between urgent care and an emergency room. Additionally, we came to know from the above list when to approach for which department, urgent care, or an emergency ward. Let us also focus on why to choose urgent care.

Why to opt for urgent care?

1. No need to wait long hours

When we are sick or feel uncomfortable, we are not in a position to stand longer. We wish to get attended quickly and get rid of the pain. There are people who delay getting medical treatment in minor cases just to avoid waiting long hours before getting attended by doctors. Urgent care is meant specifically to look after patients as soon as possible. It merely takes half an hour or sometimes even less to attend you.

2. More affordable

With the passing days, medical treatments are getting costlier. Even a minor treatment cost you good money sometimes. The charges of urgent care are much lesser compared to an emergency room.

3. More convenient

You can find urgent care centers in most of the locations closest to you. As the name defines, it is usually located in public places as well as a few ones can be found in low populated areas. But you cannot find emergency wards in any location. It is few in numbers and situated around or in hospitals. Nowadays, many urgent care centers offer virtual visits to meet patients. It saves your time and you get treatment in a very short time. Some of these centers also offer paediatric urgent care, which is truly helpful to mothers and babies.

Endnote

Though we take many precautions to maintain good health but often we suffer minor or major health problems at a sudden. Emergency rooms are available all the 24/7 but it is costlier. You can easily locate urgent care centres in nearby areas. Health is wealth and we should not avoid taking care even in minor cases. A timely approach to urgent care centres or an emergency ward can end your suffering as well as saves many lives.

Joshua Scott is a Freelance Blogger, writer, and model who lives in Los Angeles. Joshua has been writing online for the past 4 years. He loves to write articles and blogs on a niche like Pets, Animal, Modeling, Traveling.