When Should You Visit the ER Instead of Urgent Care?

Trying to decide between an urgent care appointment or trip to the ER can be confusing. After all, you can often find many of the same services through urgent care and emergency providers. So how do you know when to head to the ER instead of urgent care?

Fortunately, some essential distinctions exist between urgent care and emergency room services that can help you make the right choice when you need prompt treatment.

At Temecula Medical Group, our team provides comprehensive preventive, general health, and same-day urgent care services to adults and families living in Temecula, California, and throughout Riverside County. Our convenient location has advanced equipment on site, allowing us to handle numerous urgent medical issues so you can avoid a costly trip to the ER.

Here are some important distinctions between these services and information about which symptoms warrant emergency attention.

Urgent care basics

Generally speaking, urgent care ensures you get professional medical treatment when you need it, even the same day. These appointments can usually resolve minor but not life-threatening injuries and illnesses, along with existing conditions or new symptoms.

Urgent care issues our team at Temecula Medical Group can treat include:

• Common colds and the seasonal flu
• Coughs and sore throats
• Mild or moderate asthma
• Vomiting, nausea, and diarrhea
• Urinary tract infections
• Eye irritation and redness
• Cuts or lacerations requiring stitches
• Minor back problems
• Sports injuries, like ligament tears or sprains
• Minor fractures 
• Accidents and falls

In many cases, urgent care appointments provide a quicker, more affordable solution than a trip to the emergency room. At our facility, we see people as part of our concierge medicine program, but we also accept individuals with certain PPO insurance plans. 

If your health problem requires a higher level of care than we can provide, our team can direct you toward an emergency room for specialized services.

How emergency services differ

While urgent care visits can address several health conditions and injuries, an emergency room provides: 

• Medical services 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year
• Treatment for life- and limb-threatening situations
• Staffing and equipment to handle the most complex or critical of needs

These factors make the ER the better option if you have an illness that affects your entire body, severe symptoms that come on suddenly, or something that doesn’t work right, like being unable to move a limb or breathe properly.

When your health problem is life-threatening, call 911 or get to the ER right away.

Situations that require the ER

Our urgent care services can treat many serious problems. However, you can usually assume the emergency room is better suited for specific symptoms, such as:

• Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
• Loss of balance or vision, slurred speech, or facial droop
• Weakness, numbness, or loss of movement on one side of the body
• Fevers with rash
• Compound or open fractures
• Eye, face, or head injuries
• Chest pain
• Loss of consciousness
• Changes in mental state
• Vaginal bleeding or pelvic pain during pregnancy
• Seizures

We also recommend trusting your instincts. So play it safe — if you believe something requires medical attention immediately, go to the ER or call 911. 

You can count on the quality care at Temecula Medical Group whether you need primary care or more urgent medical attention. Contact us by calling 951-292-7171 or requesting a clinic appointment online today.