Imagine this: you’re hurt or sick, but you’re not sure if you need medical attention right away. Should you treat your symptoms at home? Should you make an appointment with your primary care physician? Should you go to the emergency room? Of course, this depends entirely on the severity of your medical condition and the associated pain. Your first thought may be to visit your regular doctor; after all, she knows your medical ...
At the start of every new year, we all make resolutions to improve our health and our daily lives. But often, in the hustle and bustle of the new year, we end up forgetting or neglecting our resolutions, and which makes our goals that much harder to accomplish. This year, why not break from that pattern, and choose resolutions that will have a big impact on your life without taking an enormous effort? Choosing high-impact ...
By December, many people feel like it’s too late to get their flu shot. Flu season has started, and if they didn’t get their flu shot in the fall, they’re certainly not going to find time for it during the busy holiday season. But the truth is, as long as people are still getting sick with the flu, people should still be getting the flu shot. If you haven’t gotten your ...
Coughing, sore throat and fever, oh my! Your child is definitely sick, but with what? The cold and flu viruses can often be tricky for parents to tell apart because many of the symptoms are the same, but there are several signs that your child has more than just a cold. Here’s what to look for: Fever If your child has the flu, it will often be accompanied by a high fever. A child ...
A cough can come on for a number of reasons. Whether signaling irritation or chronic bronchitis, a cough can be your body’s way of getting rid of an irritant or infection. What Symptoms Can Accompany a Cough? When you experience a cough, you might also suffer from a number of other symptoms. That’s because a cough usually occurs as part of a larger illness, such as a cold or the flu. For starters ...
According to the Urology Care Foundation, UTIs lead to around 8.1 million healthcare visits each year. During Bladder Health Month this November, our team at AFC Urgent Care Portland want you to know the signs to look for when it comes to having a UTI, as well as ways you can treat the infection as soon as possible! How Do You Know If You Have a Urinary Tract Infection? There are a number of ...
Although ear infections are most common in children who are age 7 or younger, teens and adults can experience the symptoms of an ear infection, too! No one wants to deal with the sometimes-agonizing pain of an ear infection. That’s why our team at AFC Urgent Care Portland would like to share some tips on how to find relief sooner rather than later. Can I Treat My Earache at Home? Earaches can be the ...
When in an accident or concerned you may be sick, it’s always important to find medical help. It’s not uncommon for conditions to be far worse than people may realize, leading them to avoid seeking help until it is too late. Oftentimes, this is because people believe that receiving medical attention isn’t as easy as it should be. When seeking immediate aid, most people turn directly to the emergency room. Unfortunately, not ...
With Fall beginning this week, a discussion about skin cancer seems a season too late. Yet if there’s one thing to know about skin cancer, it’s that it is always a threat, regardless of the season and regardless of where you live in the country. Nothing illustrates this more than Oregon’s disproportionately high rate of skin cancer. While sunny climates and skin cancer rates have a direct correlation, Oregon’s number of ...
The weather outside is getting frightful, which must mean we’ve entered the winter season. For people with all skin types, it can be a lot more challenging to keep skin healthy and moisturized in the cold, unforgiving air outside and the dry, punishing heat inside. Your skin is your body’s first line of defense when it comes to preventing illness, so keeping it healthy can directly influence how you feel all winter long ...
Winter’s approaching, and with the cold weather, winter’s bringing a host of illnesses with it. Each week, you probably notice more and more people around you sneezing and coughing. Common winter illnesses include influenza, bronchitis, the common cold, strep throat and pneumonia. Because all of these illnesses have similar symptoms, it can be easy to misdiagnose illnesses during this season. To help people avoid mixing up these illnesses, we have prepared a winter ...
You’ve probably have heard that you can get the flu from getting the flu shot, or that it’s just a really bad cold. While getting the flu shot is the best way to protect yourself against influenza, there are some common misconceptions about the flu shot. You can get the flu from the flu shot. No, you can’t actually get the flu from getting the flu shot. The flu vaccination is made ...
It’s the middle of February, which means our New Year’s resolutions are either new habits or fond memories. We at AFC Urgent Care are hoping that one of your resolutions was to maintain a healthy lifestyle, and to help you stay on track, we have compiled a list of things to look out for when you’re evaluating your health. As February is American Heart Month, we’ll go over what could indicate ...
Medicine is probably one of mankind’s biggest accomplishments. It can be listed up there with farming, electricity and the microchip as one of the advances that fundamentally changed how people lived, mainly because it gave us power over our own bodies that we had never had before. It might seem counterintuitive to think that medications could ever hurt us, but the reality is that medication misuse and adverse reactions cause more than 700,000 ...
Now that spring is in full swing, you and your family will likely be spending more time outside taking part in activities and enjoying the beautiful weather. However, there are some dangers unique to the outdoors that you should be aware of, to keep your family healthy all season. Here at AFC Urgent Care, we have some tips on how to avoid a seasonal trip to your urgent care center! Wear sunscreen — even when it ...
It’s early spring, which means it’s time for all young athletes to get ready to join their teams to compete in the spring, summer or fall. According to a report Sports and Fitness Industry Association, about 21.47 million children in the United States participate in organized sports, which comes to about 75 percent of boys and 69 percent of girls. One essential step in your preparation for your sport of choice should ...
For many kids, the summer is a three-month-long outdoor adventure, and they celebrate the warm weather and free time by riding bikes, hiking and playing sports. But as the school year begins, it can become harder for families to carve out the time to be active and stay healthy. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, kids are getting less physical activity and more junk food than ever, which can lead to a ...
Here is the second part of our series on flu season! We hope you took our advice from last week and got your flu shot! We’re going to get a bit more into the nitty-gritty about how the flu spreads and what makes the flu vaccine work. So hang on, we’re diving right in! The influenza virus is a respiratory virus, and it spreads primarily through contact with respiratory droplets. However, these droplets ...
Mosquitoes have always been a source of annoyance and big, itchy, red bites. Usually we only need to worry about them in the summer, but the Zika virus outbreak is causing people to sweat throughout the world. So, what exactly is Zika? We’re here to help you learn everything you need to know about Zika virus. Zika virus disease is caused by a virus transmitted by Aedes mosquitoes. The virus has been known to ...
Mosquitoes have always been a source of annoyance. Usually we only need to worry about them in the summer, but the Zika virus outbreak is causing people to sweat throughout the world. So, what exactly is Zika? We’re here to help you learn everything you need to know about Zika virus. Zika virus disease is caused by a virus transmitted by Aedes mosquitoes. The virus has been known to circulate Africa, the Americas, Asia ...
