4 Times To Take Your Child To The Urgent Care

When you have a child, you are responsible for monitoring their health. When your child is not feeling well, and you can't get in to see your regular doctor, you have a choice between taking your child to the emergency room or taking your child to the urgent care. Which location you take your child to depends on what symptoms your child is exhibiting. Here are four times you should take your child to the urgent care.

#1 Pink Eye

Pink eye, more formally called infectious conjunctivitis, presents itself as inflammation around your eyes. It is common to have red inflamed eyes with pink eye, and sometimes fluid discharge from the eyes accompanies this as well. If you think your child has pink eye, the urgent care is the best place to head. You can get medication to deal with the pink eye right away, and don't have to wait a few days to get your child into the doctor.

#2 Ear Infection

Another time to head to the urgent care is when you think your child has an ear infection and you can't get into your own doctor right away. An ear infection is not an urgent matter, but it can be painful for your child, which is why getting your child treated right away makes the most sense. If your child is pulling on their ears, letting you know that their ears hurt, or has drainage from their ear, then head on down to your urgent care clinic.

#3 Sore Throat

A sore throat is another time to take your child to the urgent care if the sore throat has persisted for more than a few hours. The urgent care can test your child to see if they have a strep infection. If they have a strep infection, they can prescribe the right medications for your child. The sooner you can stop the infection and the suffering of your child, the better.

#4 Fever & Cold Symptoms

If your child has been having been a fever as well as cold symptoms, such as a runny nose and coughing, you are going to want to head to your urgent care center. The urgent care center will let you know if your child has the flu, and will give you the right medications to the treat the flu.

If your child is sick and you can't get them into the doctor within the next day or two, and your child is still able to interact and play, you should head to the urgent care. If your child has no energy to walk, talk, or play, has a large or deep cut or burn, experienced a head injury, or other serious condition that could threaten their life, you should take them to the emergency room.