Urgent care facilities tend to be a lot busier during the winter. The winter season brings cold temperatures and hazards that you must take precautions to prevent terrible incidents. Roads become slippery, temperatures reach freezing, and a mixed bag of weather conditions can make for some unpleasant winter events. The unfortunate truth is that many people end up in urgent care each winter to treat illnesses and injuries.

Luckily, urgent care facilities are available to provide a range of services for your winter medical needs. Here’s a look at some common treatments that urgent care offers during the winter.

AFC Urgent Care Stoneham is here to provide all patients with high-quality care. Our providers can help get you feeling your best in no time from injuries to illness. Visit our center for care today.

Illness Treatment

The wintertime sees weather changes and festivities, and with that comes an increased risk of certain illnesses. Two common illnesses treated at urgent care during the winter are the flu and food poisoning.

• The flu season comes around every fall and lasts through the winter into spring. Thousands get sick with the flu each year, and some end up in the urgent care, ER, and even the morgue.
• Urgent cares also see many incidents of foodborne illness during the winter when there are festive celebrations with a lot of cooking. The biggest issue is food contamination with dangerous bacteria, such as E.coli and Salmonella.

Burn Treatment

Burns spike during the winter when festivities are in high gear. The kitchen becomes the place to be, and while a lot can go splendid in the kitchen, it’s also the place where things can go wrong instantly.

According to research, between 85%-90% of scald burns are directly related to cooking, drinking, or serving hot liquids. Hot water splashing from straining your potatoes, accidentally touching a hot pot handle, or worse, setting your kitchen on fire by accident can all land you in urgent care.

If it’s not the kitchen where burn accidents happen, it could be a Christmas tree in the living room with fraying strands. Rush, anxiousness, mistakes, and neglect can all lead to you getting burned this winter. People end up with either minor or significant burns.

Injury Treatment

Injuries that urgent cares tend to see more of during the winter are cuts and lacerations and slips and falls. Winter winter holiday feast knows cutting tools to carve meat, chop vegetables, and cut slices of cakes and pies. There’s a lot of cutting action, which amounts to many opportunities for a cutting accident that could send you on a visit to the urgent care for treatment.

Cuts and lacerations can occur because of a lack of focus, incorrect knife technique during usage, and improper storage. Another reason for injuries to urgent care in the winter is slip-and-falls. The cold and sometimes freezing weather conditions create the environment for you to slip and hit the ground hard. Whether you are walking on the sidewalk, decorating the Christmas tree, or buying gifts, slip and falls are plenty during the winter.

If you happen to injure yourself or fall ill this winter, your local urgent care is there to assist you. They provide a range of services that can help you with the medical care that you need. If your primary care provider is unavailable to assist you, trust that your urgent care can get the job done.