Recent Blog Posts

Urgent care providers offer convenient, time-saving alternatives to visiting an emergency room for minor, non-life-threatening medical conditions. These healthcare centers typically have shorter wait times and offer services like X-rays, urgent treatment of colds and flu, sprains, strains, and fractures, on-site lab tests, and physicals. Urgent care centers provide efficient diagnoses of various health problems, ranging from minor to severe. Some are also equipped with on-site lab testing capabilities so that patients can get results ...

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A sinus infection, or sinusitis, is a frustrating ailment that causes a runny nose, congestion, swollen and/or itching eyes, a sore throat, headaches, and other symptoms. While there isn’t necessarily a quick sinus infection cure, there are certainly ways that you can ease your discomfort and speed up your recovery.  If you’re suffering from sinusitis, know that you aren’t alone; approximately 90% of patients with colds have an element of viral ...

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Local urgent care centers in Swampscott, or family walk-in clinics, offer patients convenient and affordable urgent healthcare services. When you visit a family walk-in clinic, you can expect quick, quality care at a fraction of the cost of your local emergency room.  Emergency rooms tend to be very busy and crowded and are associated with longer waiting times and higher fees. By going to a walk-in doctor’s office for a non-life-threatening illness or injury ...

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What is an urgent care clinic? And how does it differ from the emergency room? When should you go to the emergency room, and when should you go to an urgent care center? Whatever questions you may have, AFC has the answers.    What Is An Urgent Care Clinic? Urgent care is the level of healthcare that lies between your primary care physician (PCP) and the emergency room. When you go to urgent care, you can ...

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" Winter is often a time when your health is most vulnerable. Whether it is the winter weight gain or the relentless winter flu, it is incredibly difficult to maintain good health in the winters. Normally, everyone wants to cozy up in the winter and snack up on their favorite meals. However, this is not the ideal thing to do in the winters. The shorter days and longer nights make it even harder to prevent winter ...

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" Thanksgiving is a happy time filled with friends, family, and great food. Unfortunately, it’s also a time filled with seasonal illnesses! 2020 poses an even more unique threat with COVID-19 still on the rise and no vaccine available to the public yet. Seasonal illnesses are never pleasant, but luckily, there’s plenty you can do to avoid them this thanksgiving. Food Safety Food poisoning isn’t usually thought of as a seasonal illness, but ...

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" 2020 has been an interesting year to say the least. As the year comes to a close, holiday season is quickly approaching. Thanksgiving celebrations will have to be much smaller than normal this year to meet covid-19 safety guidelines, but that doesn’t mean that injuries are less likely. Follow these tips to reduce the risk of injury in your home this thanksgiving and make the most out of the holiday! Fire Safety Did you ...

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" Fall is a wonderful time to travel and enjoy relaxing activities after a busy summer. The weather is perfect, the scenery is gorgeous, and travel destinations aren’t usually too crowded. It’s no surprise that travel during the fall season of 2020 will look a little different compared to previous years. Afterall, has anything about 2020 been the same as previous years? What to Expect from Travel in 2020 Popular fall travel destinations are ...

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" Flu season is right around the corner and year after year health experts urge people to get their flu vaccine. Unfortunately, not everyone gets vaccinated. If you’re somebody who hasn’t gotten vaccinated in the past or if you’re on the fence about getting vaccinated, it’s important to know the facts surrounding the vaccine. The CDC has a full breakdown of the vaccine here, but let’s discuss some of the key ...

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" 2020 is a year unlike any other and saying we’ve all struggled to adjust is an understatement. Things are far from normal right now but finding the “new normal” as we head into fall is important to maintaining both mental and physical health. There’s no quick fix to get back to the normal we once knew, but there’s plenty that you can do to get a little bit closer to it!  Managing ...

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" The temperatures are getting lower, leaves are falling, and pumpkins are being sold – all of this can only mean one thing: fall is here! This is a wonderful time of year filled with family fun and beautiful scenery. Despite how great the fall season is, it also presents a new set of health risks. Follow these tips to keep your family safe and healthy through all of the fall fun!  Driving Safety During the fall ...

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" Fall is a tricky time of year every year as the number of cold and flu cases start to surge. Unfortunately, 2020 has brought a new set of challenges as the number of COVID cases doesn’t seem to be slowing down anytime soon. Luckily, there are steps you can take to prevent the flu and lower your risk of getting COVID-19. It’s best to educate yourself on prevention before flu season is actually ...

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" Fall is known to be a time when illnesses start to spread more rapidly. This can be partially attributed to cooler weather, but mainly attributed to people spending more time indoors and in close proximity to one another. 2020 has already been a challenging year for the medical community, but cold and flu season is just beginning. Knowing how to manage and identify seasonal illnesses in 2020 is vital to protecting your own health and ...

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" Deferring medical care can put your life at risk both for financially and healthcare reasons. If you feel like your symptoms and current conditions are getting out of hand, and you can no longer treat them without provider care, then you need to visit a doctor ASAP. Don’t delay a visit as it may make it difficult for you to return to your healthy state.  COVID-19 is causing more people to stay at home ...

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" The COVID-19 pandemic is a brutal one. However, you cannot put off your urgent care appointment that help manage and treat other illnesses and diseases. In these times, you must maintain all your conditions effectively.  You not keeping up with your other healthcare needs will affect your overall health, lead to more expensive healthcare conditions, and make it that much harder to keep your healthcare in check. Are Urgent Care Centers Safe in these Times ...

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" Many hospitals are the battlegrounds of the raging COVID-19 and in the face of this pandemic, a shortage of personnel, hospital beds and  medical equipment, healthcare systems are forced to adapt. This means improvisation and innovation at a rapid pace to meet the demand that COVID-19 has thrust in healthcare systems. There is no dancing around the need to mobilize resources so that hospitals and healthcare workers can have the  necessary tools to combat COVID-19 ...

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" The resounding recommendation by healthcare officials is to stay home if you are feeling unwell. With the present and lingering COVID-19, many people are concerned that any sort of symptoms they experience that is COVID-like is cause for alarm. With asymptomatic cases being another concern, some people would rather get tested to rule out having the coronavirus altogether. Peace of mind is a good thing to have during this coronavirus pandemic and COVID-19 testing can ...

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" Telemedicine is the virtual delivery of medical care for patients through a smartphone, computer, or other internet connected device. Telemedicine, or “telehealth,” allows our urgent care providers to connect directly to patients in their home and deliver care on-demand; patients just need their phone to see a doctor and get immediate medical consultation. The need for telemedicine has surged in recent weeks as COVID-19 cases across the United States now eclipse 1,000,000 cases ...

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" COVID-19 has been the topic of discussion on news platforms, social media, TV, and radio alike. Since the World Health Organization declared this virus a pandemic, fears are on the rise for American citizens. There is plenty of misinformation being spread around to create panic, but these are some real facts to put your mind at ease and help lower your risk of the virus.  And always make sure to follow national updates from the ...

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" Heart health is something we’ve all heard of before, but many of us fail to implement heart healthy skills into our daily lives. February is American Heart Month and there’s no better time to start making healthy changes! Improving your diet and nutrition is the best way to keep your heart healthy. Use these simple tips to start living your healthier life today!  Monitor Portion Sizes Americans notoriously struggle with our portion sizes ...

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