Americans of all ages will need medical treatment sometime in their lives, whether due to illnesses, allergies, injuries, or mental conditions or trauma, and knowing the right place to go to will help a person find just the care they need, for the right price. Local doctors in one’s town or city can be found at different medical facilities, and some local doctors may be more specialized than others, and a private physician will require an appointment first. Local doctors who treat children and babies are in fact pediatricians, and specialize in those younger patients. An emergency room physician, or a doctor who specializes in bones or blood or the immune system, can handle nearly any medical issue.

Where to Get Urgent Care or Emergency Care

Patients suffering different maladies will need care at different facilities, and going to the wrong one can either incur very high costs or result in being referred somewhere else. For patient suffering major broken bones, chest pain or difficulty breathing, or serious injuries such as bullet or stab wounds, going to a hospital’s ER is critical, since many of those conditions are life-threatening, and the ER is designed for just such a thing. Injuries that serious cannot be easily handled at a walk in clinic, but a hospital’s staff will be trained for these conditions, and care such as the ICU (intensive care unit) and life-support equipment will be at the ready. It has been determined that many patients who go to the ER do not even need that level of care, and this means that they take up space other patients need, and instead such patients can visit an urgent care clinic instead.

An urgent care clinic is staffed with nurse practitioners and physicians who can handle non life-threatening conditions, such as allergies, rashes, broken fingers, shallow cuts and scrapes, and the common cold and flu. Such clinics can also fill out or refill drug prescriptions, and they can often see three patients in just one hour, and the average patient’s waiting time is merely 15 minutes. Some urgent care clinics are actually retail clinics, meaning that they are built into major retailers like Wal-Mart, Target, and Walgreens, and since these major retailers are easy to find and have ample parking, they can be a convenient option for someone getting flu medicine or refilling their prescriptions. Ankle sprains are another condition that urgent care clinics treat; reports show that around 25,000 Americans suffer an ankle sprain per day, and 80% of ankle sprains happen when inward rolling of the ankle occurs, stressing the bones and tissue there.

Local doctors may also specialize in certain bodily functions or types of patients based on age. Some doctors may be pediatricians, who can handle common diseases, mental issues, and injuries common in children and babies, such as ear infections. Pediatricians may even diagnose mental disorders more associated with adults, such as anxiety or depression, and these pediatricians are familiar with a child or baby’s anatomy. On the other hand, many Baby Boomers, those citizens born between 1945-1963, are managing chronic conditions or need extensive care; in fact, by the year 2030, it is estimated that 6 out of 10 Baby Boomers will be living with a chronic condition, and back pain and obesity may be common culprits. In fact, one out of 10 Baby Boomers reports getting sufficient exercise only a few days out of the month, and sedentary lifestyles come with their own health risks such as disrupted sleep patterns, obesity, and increased risk of clots, as well as increased risk of heart disease. Sedentary or elderly citizens are urged to find local doctors to address developing health issues early and learn how to live a better lifestyle for their health. Medications, increased exercise, and better diets in various forms may be common recommendations. And in the case of back pain, local doctors are ready and willing to help, but not all Americans suffering back pain even visit them; data shows that 40% of Americans who are dealing with lower back pain do not even visit a doctor or other specialist to treat this condition, but doing so can relieve the person of that pain and put them on track for better daily health and happiness.