Flu season appears again, now what should you consider for treatment: An urgent care center or an emergency room? Flu is a very common respiratory infection caused by influenza virus that affects organs like the nose, throat, and sometimes the lungs. It can cause a variety of symptoms like high fever, body aches, cough, chills, dizziness, flushed face, etc. It usually gets better on its own, but sometimes it leads to severe complications that can be life-threatening. In this article, you will learn when to seek medical attention from an urgent care center or emergency room for flu symptoms. Log on to www.doralhw.org for a consultation.
How do you determine the severity of your condition?
Determining the severity of the flu is difficult because it causes cold-like symptoms in healthier people. However, when any family member shows any signs of flu, you must visit your primary healthcare provider or an urgent care center to get diagnosed and receive treatment.
It’s good to avoid visiting emergency rooms first unless you have severe flu symptoms and want to avoid further exposure to the flu virus and putting yourself at risk of severe illnesses. Your approach should be staying in touch with your primary care provider at the start of flu season and reporting your symptoms that resemble a cold or flu. Your primary care provider gives you preventive medications and suggests the best course of action if your symptoms worsen or you need to visit urgent care or the emergency room.
It will be helpful if you consider visiting urgent care for general flu symptoms such as high fever, muscle and body aches, congestion, appetite loss, and cough and sore throat. However, if you have flu-related complications, like chest pain, confusion, and trouble breathing, and you’re in a high-risk group, visit the emergency room to get appropriate treatment.
When to go to UC?
Generally, the flu is not an emergency, especially if you’re young and otherwise healthy. Usually, the flu symptoms will range from mild to moderate including:
- Fever
- Muscle or body aches
- Cough
- Sore throat
- Runny or stuffy nose
- Headache
- Fatigue
- Appetite loss
A doctor at an urgent care clinic will test you for the flu to detect if you have the virus and prescribe required medications or suggest ways of self-treatment at home. Many urgent care clinics also offer on-site X-rays, blood, or lab tests, if necessary. Doctors at urgent care centers may prescribe antiviral medications to reduce the time you’re sick, but they’re mostly effective within 1 or 2 days when your symptoms appear. So, don’t delay, you can visit an urgent care clinic as soon as you feel unwell.
When to go to the ER?
As an adult, if you have the following flu symptoms, even if you don’t fall into a high-risk category, you should go to ER:
- Difficulty breathing or shortness of breath
- Pain or pressure in the chest or abdomen
- Sudden dizziness or frequent dizzy effects
- Confusion
- Severe or persistent vomiting
- Flu-like symptoms that appear to get better and then return.
It might be difficult to find flu in infants and children, especially if they’re not yet talking or walking. Here are the symptoms you should look for:
- Skin or lips that take on a bluish tint.
- Fast or troubled breathing.
- Extreme irritability.
- Lack of tears when crying or less wet diapers than usual.
- Not eating or drinking.
- Fever with a rash.
- Flu-like symptoms that get better before returning with a fever and cough.
If you don’t have these symptoms mentioned above and aren’t in a high-risk group, but still want to see a doctor, then an urgent care center might be a better option.
What are the emergency warning signs of the flu?
Typically, most people recover from the flu with self-care at home within a few days or a week. However, some people may develop flu complications. These complications can range from mild side effects like a sinus or ear infection to serious complications like:
- Pneumonia
- Myocarditis
- Encephalitis
- Myositis or rhabdomyolysis
- Multi-organ failure
- Sepsis
- Aggravation of chronic medical problems such as asthma, heart disease, etc.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), if you or a loved one experiencing any of the following signs, you need to seek emergency medical care:
For Children:
- Fast breathing
- Difficulty breathing
- Bluish lips or face
- Ribs pulling in with each breath
- Chest pain
- Severe muscle pain
- Dehydration
- Lethargic
- Seizures
- High fever, above 104 degrees.
- Any fever for babies less than 12 weeks (about 3 months).
- Fever or cough that gets better and then returns or worsens.
- Worsening chronic medical conditions
For Adults
- Difficulty breathing
- Shortness of breath
- Pain or pressure in the chest or abdomen
- Dizziness or confusion
- Seizures
- Dehydration
- Severe muscle pain
- Severe weakness or unsteadiness
- Fever or cough that gets better and then returns or gets worse.
- Worsening chronic medical conditions.
What Do We Suggest When Dealing with Flu?
If you or a loved ones show severe warning signs of flu, including chest pain, confusion, respiratory stress, and challenges in breathing, or if you’re in the high-risk group (which includes the elderly, infants, and people with weak immune systems) you should consider visiting the emergency room rather than visiting an urgent care center.
However, if you or your loved ones experience mild to moderate flu symptoms like the ones mentioned above, you should consider visiting urgent care, or you can schedule an appointment with your primary care doctor and get immediate medical attention. Urgent care centers have the infrastructure and staff to do testing and confirm whether you have the flu or not. Then after diagnosing you, they prescribe medications to start self-treatment at home. They also perform x-rays, IV fluids, and blood work to assess your severe life-threatening symptoms that may need emergency room medical attention. In such cases, they transfer you to an emergency room to ensure you receive the timely treatment care you need to recover from it without wasting time.
For flu, urgent care, or emergency room both are good choices depending on the symptoms you are having. For severe symptoms, you should consider the emergency room for immediate treatment to prevent severe complications. For mild to moderate flu symptoms, an urgent care center is a good choice because they can diagnose your condition immediately and prescribe medication or suggest self-care at home. If urgent care centers notice severe complication signs, they may refer you to the emergency room for the best treatment to allow you to get better soon.
Need help with flu symptoms, visit our urgent care center in Brooklyn to get professional medical help. Call us to book your appointment now!!!
Doral Health and Wellness has several urgent care clinics around New York that can cater to your family’s medical needs. We also have the best medical providers, physicians and staff that are highly trained in their respective specialties. To know more about the locations of our urgent care clinics, you can visit us at Doral Health and Wellness. If you are looking for urgent care near you, you can visit Doral Health and Wellness Urgent Care. We provide urgent care for common illnesses and injuries. Additionally, we also provide comprehensive care for any related injuries and health problems. We also offer other services, such as vaccinations, immunizations, and blood testing. For more info, visit us or call 1-347-384-5690.
