Recent Blog Posts

Traveling is an exciting experience that many people spend months planning. From packing to booking flights and hotels, a seamless travel plan isn’t a simple task. A critical aspect of any good travel plan that often gets overlooked is setting aside time to get your travel vaccinations. We know, getting vaccinations before travel isn’t exactly the most glamorous part of the process, but it’s arguably one of the most important. Protecting Yourself ...

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<p><span style="font-weight: 400">A trip to urgent care often offers a cheaper and quicker way to receive the medical attention you need. While urgent care centers are an excellent resource for patients, many people are left wondering when they should use an urgent care center rather than a traditional emergency room. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400">Life-threatening injuries and illnesses should never be treated at urgent care. Trying to visit urgent care for a fatal injury will delay your ability to receive the ...

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Sometimes it’s difficult to tell which injuries can be addressed immediately with first aid or best treated at your local urgent care center. For those injuries that you tend to with first aid skills before going to an urgent care center can go a long way in helping a casualty. It could even mean the difference between life and death if someone experiences a medical emergency that requires emergency room (ER) care.It’s ...

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Vaping and e-cigarette use has grown increasingly popular in the last five years, and especially with young people. Many high school students participate in vaping than cigarette smoking these days. According to a 2018 survey, reported vaping of nicotine almost doubled among high school seniors since 2017, while 10.9% of 8th graders say they vaped nicotine in 2018. The high-tech design and marketing of vaping devices are key reasons teenagers are attracted to vaping ...

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Many adults don’t screen or test for sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) because it may be unclear when, how, and why a person should test for STDs. STDs, sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and other venereal diseases are tricky to self-screen for since many don’t lead to visible symptoms for weeks. An added challenge to determining when to best get an STD test is that the faster you get a screening the more likely a ...

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2018 has passed. Now is the time to start planning your medical appointments for 2019. As a reminder, your annual physical is likely the most important preventive care appointment in the new year. An annual physical allows your provider to determine what your biggest healthcare risks are, what other appointments you may need, and ultimately how to improve your overall health. A patient may also engage in other types of preventive care exams that screen ...

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Christmas time is a time filled with joy and gifts, but for many unlikely individuals each year, it’s filled with trips to the ER as well. Christmas decorations result in roughly 15,000 ER visits from December to January. With the significant increase in patient volume, doctors have noticed a pattern of some of the most common injuries. Back Injury back strains are the most common type of back injury seen this time of ...

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One day you’re perfectly fine…  You go about your daily routine with no indication that you’re coming down with something.  Next thing you know, your nose feels stuffy, you can’t stop coughing, and you can’t seem to get yourself out of bed.  Could you possibly have the flu? Symptoms of the Flu Symptoms of the flu can often be confused with a regular cold.  People with either illness often experience: A ...

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Occupational Health refers to the many disciplines devoted to the safety and well-being of employees in the workplace, often concentrating on injury prevention. Even with solid practices in place, accidents do occur, and having an experienced occupational healthcare provider you trust can make all the difference. Workplace injuries can result in lost time, indemnity costs, and lower productivity for an employer. Studies have shown that the same workplace injury can have catastrophic consequences to the ...

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All too often, we’ll be sidelined by an injury, or suffering from a lingering cough, and not know where to go for care.  When the symptoms aren’t severe enough to visit the emergency room, and your doctor’s office is closed, urgent care might be a better bet for treatment! What is urgent care? Urgent care centers fill in the gap between traditional hospital emergency rooms and doctor’s offices by offering same-day ...

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Did you know that the family is the most important social influence for physical activity? Research shows that children of active parents are 5.8 times more likely to engage in physical activity on a regular basis. Today, most children do not meet the recommended amount of daily exercise, which is crucial to healthy growth and development. To get your kids moving, it’s important that you’re moving too! Here are a few fun ...

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You may start the day off with a filling, healthy breakfast, but your child is bound to get hungry again before lunchtime.  For students, long school days can be a bit of a drag, and short lunch breaks isn’t enough to get through the day.  With hunger leading to fatigue and difficulty focusing, it’s important to stay satisfied throughout the school day.  It may be tempting to grab a bag of chips to ...

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The start of the school year also means the start of the fall sports season.  Back to school means it’s back to sports. Being involved in sports is a great way to learn social and disciplinary skills, but also leaves you at risk to injury during play. Sports injuries are usually due to overuse, direct impact, or the application of force that is greater than the body part can withstand. Two kinds of sports ...

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School is back in session, and we know that can mean (organized) chaos! It may be difficult to get your child fed and out the door in time, but it is crucial for development, both mentally and physically, that children receive proper nutrition throughout the school day. Breakfast keeps your child energized, full and ready to absorb knowledge. Mornings can be a time crunch, but that is no excuse to let your child miss breakfast ...

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Everyone knows the importance of getting proper nutrition and rest, flossing your teeth, and wearing a seatbelt, but do you understand the importance of getting vaccinated? Since vaccinations became available some 50 years ago, they have prevented common diseases such as mumps, measles, Hepatitis A & B, and polio that have once killed millions.  And if you don’t stay up to date with your vaccinations, you’re at risk for catching those diseases. Think you ...

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Summertime brings many opportunities for outdoor activities. From camping and hiking to playing tag in the backyard, kids and adults alike can enjoy the warm weather. Make sure your family takes the following precautions to avoid missing outdoor fun due to mosquito and tick bites. Before you go outside: Use bug repellent on your skin and clothing. The CDC recommends wearing an EPA-registered insect repellent that contains active ingredients such as DEET or picaridin. Wear ...

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Poison ivy is the most common allergy in the United States, affecting about 50 million people every year. The rash from poison ivy is caused by an allergic reaction to urushiol, an oily substance in the leaves, stems and roots of poison ivy, through direct contact. Urushiol is also found in poison oak and poison sumac, which means the rash can be contracted by interacting with any of the three plants. Other than direct contact ...

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When it comes to treating your seasonal allergies with home remedies, there’s usually more fiction than fact. There are healing claims about everything from apple cider vinegar to local bee pollen. The doctors at American Family Care understand that not everyone wants to grab a drug off of the pharmacy counter, but people want to be able to breathe too! So are there any proven natural remedies that the doctors here at AFC can ...

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Life might be easier if kids came with an instruction book. Most parents usually have enough questions to fill one and it can be extra difficult when your child is looking to you for answers and you don’t have any. That is especially true when they don’t feel good. All they want is for you to “fix it and make it better” but that’s hard to do when you aren’t so ...

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Many allergy sufferers feel they are waging a battle with the great outdoors this spring season, trying to keep watery eyes, runny noses and itchy throats from keeping them down. But the truth is, allergies can be triggered just as much by allergens hiding inside your home as they can by the ones outdoors. Before you lock yourself indoors to avoid the spring allergy season, the team at American Family Care wants to make you ...

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