Did your child recently return to in-person classes? After months of cyber schooling, your student is finally back in class with their teachers and friends. Now that they're in school again, take a look at why you may need to visit the local urgent care center.

Tests for Infectious Illnesses

Does your child have a stuffy nose, sore throat, cough, fever, or other similar symptoms? While you may not have worried about what seems like a minor cold during pre-pandemic times, now you have concerns. 

If you're not sure whether your child has a cold, the flu, strep, COVID-19, or another potentially contagious illness, an urgent health care center can help. Your child won't need to wait days for an appointment. This means your child can get a test, and the results (depending on the test and the illness), almost immediately. 

School and Sports Physicals 

The start of in-person classes and a regular sports season means your child may need a new physical. If your child hasn't participated in sports for months (or longer), it's likely they'll need a medical provider to complete a physical form. Whether the school has a grade-level health check requirement or a club, league, or other athletic organization does, an urgent health center can provide this well-child service.

Injury Diagnosis and Treatment

Injuries typically don't happen in front of a computer screen. A year (or more) spent in cyber school left your child almost accident-free. But now that they're back in school, they may have an increased injury risk. While academic classes don't pose a major physical hazard, recess, physical education, and after-school sports do. 

Whether your child trips and falls on the playground, cuts themselves on the school's climber, is hit with a baseball, or has another school/sports-related injury, they may need immediate medical help. Provided the injury isn't an emergency situation, an urgent health center is an easy option for treatment. Not only will a medical provider examine your child's injury, but the care center may also have imaging equipment (such as x-ray machines) to diagnose a break, sprain, or another similar issue.

After the provider examines your child and images the injury, they can also treat the problem. If your child is in persistent pain, has a deep cut or gash, has significant blood loss, has loss of consciousness, or you feel they need hospital-level care, go to the emergency room as soon as possible. The providers at an urgent care center can typically treat less serious injuries, such as sprains, some types of cuts, and minor breaks.