Getting ill or injured is a part of life, and today, there are many medical facilities and care systems for anyone who needs them. Aside from hospitals and emergency rooms for serious conditions or injuries, more milk symptoms can instead be treated at a general health clinic, and there are thousands of them across the United States alone. In particular, some clinics specialize in sexually transmitted diseases, or STDs, and sexually active individuals can get fast STD testing if they feel the need. Fast STD testing can also be done with STD testing kits, and aside from that, more general medical attention is available at a family health clinic or walk in clinic.
On Clinics
Although proper doctors are rare at a free walk in clinic, medical staff such as nurse practitioners or physicians and their assistants staff these facilities, and they have the training and equipment for minor injuries and illnesses, as well as dealing with drug prescriptions and offering screening and tests, such as fast STD testing. Serious conditions such as broken arms or legs or severe chest pain call for an ER visit, but for more mild problems such as rashes, allergies, broken fingers and toes, and the flu, a walk in clinic can handle the problem. Often, searching for “24 hour urgent care near me” into a smart phone or computer is enough to find such a care center, and some of them are in fact built into retailers like Target, Wal-Mart, and Walgreens. On average, a patient will wait around 15 minutes for care, and many facilities can see three patients in an hour, although this will vary. A clinic is also much cheaper than a hospital or ER visit. The need for these clinics and their staff may only increase in the future; current data suggests that by 2025, the United States will need 52,000 more primary care physicians to keep up with demand.
Addressing STDs
Some walk in clinics offer services for STD testing, and some other clinics in fact specialize in it. The services here can easily prevent or treat symptoms of the more common STDs, and fast STD testing can prevent more serious illnesses such as HIV from developing.
According to Planned Parenthood, a person can wait until they develop clear symptoms of STDs before getting tested, but even without them, a person who was recently sexually active is advised to err on the side of caution and go in for testing anyway.
Some symptoms are common to STDs, although some of them are also typical of urinary tract infections, or UTIs, so emergence of these symptoms calls for fast STD testing to clarify exactly what the problem is. Sores or bumps around the genitals, buttocks, or thighs are common symptoms, along with strange discharge from the penis or vagina, or burning during urination or flu-like symptoms. Once these symptoms present themselves, a person can visit his or her doctor and describe the recent sexual activity (vaginal, anal, or oral and whether condoms were used) and get recommendations on what kind of testing to undergo.
Some may think that an STD and its cure are frightening, but in fact, most are easily treated with medicine, and the rest can be managed with the right medication, and this can also lower the chances of spreading that STD to other people. And sometimes, a person will contract an STD without any noticeable symptoms at all, so it is advisable to get fast STD testing soon after sexual activity, just to be sure. If the sex was unprotected or if the partner definitely had an STD, then the testing is even more urgent. Getting testing and getting any necessary medication can take a load off the patient’s mind and help them manage their health.