Go to Urgent Care or Wait for an Appointment? Here's How to Tell

When you feel under the weather, the good news is that you have options for care. You can visit your doctor’s office, an urgent care center, or even the emergency room. Unfortunately, it can be difficult to tell which office you should head to.

Vijaya Nama, MD, and her team in Mesquite, Texas, want to take one more headache out of your sick day and help you decide which type of care you should seek when you’re feeling poorly. Here’s your ultimate guide on deciding when and where to go when you’re sick. 

When to wait for your regular doctor

Your regular doctor (or primary care physician) should be your first call when dealing with a non-emergency situation, such as a cold, flu, or non-life-threatening allergy. 

In some cases and depending on your provider, you can still manage to see your regular doctor with a same or next-day appointment. Many now offer telehealth appointments to accommodate patients who need to be seen sooner rather than later. 

There are benefits of waiting for your regular doctor if you can. They know your health history well and make treatment recommendations based on your needs. 

However, not every sickness or injury can wait for a break in a doctor’s schedule. When that’s the case, you should head to our urgent care clinic. 

When to go to urgent care

Urgent care is meant for illnesses and injuries that aren’t life-threatening but need prompt care. At our clinic, we offer same-day, telehealth, and walk-in appointments to make sure you get the care you need when you need it. 

Some of the most common symptoms and illnesses we see in our urgent care clinic include:

• High or long-lasting fevers
• Strep throat
• Lacerations, abscesses, and other wounds
• Physical aches and pains
• Nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea
• Minor head injuries
• Minor fractures, strains, or sprains
• Headaches and migraines 
• Pink eye
• Sinus infections
• Asthma attacks and seasonal allergies
• Shortness of breath
• Colds, flu, COVID-19, mono
• Chronic coughing
• Ear infections
• Rashes
• Urinary tract infections (UTIs)
• Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) 
• Animal bites and insect stings

If you’re still unsure if you need urgent care, give us a call. Our experienced, compassionate staff can help you decide if we can help you or if you need to seek another type of care. 

When it’s time to go to the ER

We’d be remiss if we didn’t mention the role of the emergency room. You should go to the emergency room if you have a serious, potentially life-threatening medical problem. 

Call 911 or head to your nearest emergency medical services if you experience any of the following:

• Chest pain or difficulty breathing
• Weakness or numbness on one side of the body
• Slurred speech
• Vision problems, such as double vision or loss of vision
• Severe dizziness
• Broken bones or dislocated joints
• Head injuries, loss of consciousness, fainting, confusion, or seizures
• Severe burns, especially burns with blisters
• Severe abdominal pain
• Uncontrolled bleeding
• Cuts or lacerations that may require stitches
• Fever over 103 degrees or fever with a rash
• Vaginal bleeding during pregnancy
• Poisoning
• Mental health crisis 

When in doubt, you should always seek the most immediate medical attention available rather than wait for an appointment with your doctor. 

If you need same-day care, come see our dedicated team of medical professionals at Vijaya Nama, MD. You can call our office to check our wait times, use our online booking tool, or simply walk into our clinic today.