Warm air and vaccinations can help control winter asthma

Dealing with asthma in winter

If you have a family member that suffers from asthma, it is a good idea to visit an urgent vaccination clinic during the winter. It seems that as the winter season deepens, so do instances of colds and flu. For those with asthma, the winter is an especially stressful time because even a simple cold can trigger a major asthma episode. This often happens faster and easier than many people realize.

The effect of cold air

Even without the effect of a respiratory infection or virus, just the cold air is often directly responsible for the onset of asthma symptoms. Although your grandmother may have suggested it, cold air in itself does not cause colds or flu. However, modern science reveals that cold air does affect the respiratory system negatively in several ways. Fortunately, you can reduce your risk of problems by having a winter asthma action plan, based on the following tips.

Indoor heating

• Indoor heating dries the air, which makes asthma symptoms worse.
• It is advisable that you use a humidifier during the winter months.
• Keep the humidity level around 30 to 45 percent in order to prevent mold, and mildew.
• Clean the humidifier frequently, replacing the water every day.
• Use de-mineralized or distilled water to reduce the possibility of bacterial growth.

Flu vaccinations

• It is especially important for asthmatics to get vaccinated for flu every year.
• If you do get the flu, visit your Germantown urgent care facility antiviral treatment.
• Proper care can reduce the severity of your illness and the possibility of complications.

Walk-in care for asthma in Germantown, MD

We all want the best for our families, especially when it comes to healthcare and preventive medicine. Medical Access provides convenient walk-in care as an alternative to long waits in the emergency room. Their friendly staff will carefully and quickly assess your needs and provide the appropriate services, from preventive medicine to x-ray and lab services. Their facilities are fully staffed and equipped in order to meet the demands of their patients and their healthcare needs. Medical Access also presents the most complete Occupational Health Services to serve the needs of the business community. The goal is to help minimize lost work time and keep your employees healthy and working.

Dr. Manbir Takhar is the Chief Medical Officer, and has been associated with Medical Access since 1999. She is qualified to treat almost any type of injury or illness that may present itself. In addition to these qualifications, she is also a Civil Surgeon and Medical Review Officer. This designation is granted by the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service, making Medical Access one of the select facilities for immigration physicals. Call them today or simply drop in, as no appointment is needed to receive timely, quality urgent care.

Urgent care vaccinations to avoid getting sick at work

Urgent care walk-in clinic

Most healthcare insurance plans have prudently expanded their coverage to include treatment at urgent care clinics. One of the drawbacks of this demand for increased productivity in the workplace, is that many employees show up to work when they are sick. Gone are the days when people called an understanding boss because they had a head cold. Sickness at work is a common occurrence, even when there are rampant cases of the flu and viruses. It is almost impossible to stay healthy when you are surrounded by co-workers who are sneezing and coughing. However, we want to offer some tips that can drastically reduce your risk of catching a cold or flu, regardless of your work environment.

Get vaccinated

Getting a seasonal flu vaccine and a pneumonia vaccine can save you from days of missed work time. Ask your urgent care physician if you are in a risk group for pneumonia. These vaccines cause our immune systems to create antibodies that will help fight the disease.

Convenient, walk-in care for Germantown, MD

We all want the best for our families, especially when it comes to healthcare and preventive medicine. Medical Access provides convenient walk-in care as an alternative to long waits in the emergency room. Their friendly staff will carefully and quickly assess your needs and provide the appropriate services, from preventive medicine to x-ray and lab services. Their facilities are fully staffed and equipped in order to meet the demands of their patients and their healthcare needs. Medical Access also presents the most complete Occupational Health Services to serve the needs of the business community. The goal is to help minimize lost work time and keep your employees healthy and working.

Dr. Manbir Takhar is the Chief Medical Officer, and has been associated with Medical Access since 1999. She is qualified to treat almost any type of injury or illness that may present itself. In addition to these qualifications, she is also a Civil Surgeon and Medical Review Officer. This designation is granted by the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service, making Medical Access one of the select facilities for immigration physicals. Call them today or simply drop in, as no appointment is needed to receive timely, quality urgent care.

Urgent care STD testing center screens for Hepatitis B

Hepatitis B and STDs

It may sound confusing to receive Hepatitis B screening at an STD testing center. Although it is technically not classified as an STD, hepatitis B is commonly transmitted during sexual contact. Hepatitis B has two main classifications, it can be either acute, meaning that symptoms last only for a short time, or it can be chronic, which means the symptoms persist for an indefinite period. 5 percent of all adults who contract the disease will go on to a chronic infection with the virus. In cases of chronic hepatitis B, the virus continues to live in the liver, ultimately causing complications such as cancer of the liver or cirrhosis. Hepatitis B can be terminal, but the circumstances are rare. Most people’s immune system can destroy the virus and prevent chronic infection.

Hepatitis B symptoms include the following:

• Nausea and vomiting
• Weakness and fatigue
• Dark urine
• Low grade fever
• Joint pain
• Loss of appetite
• Abdominal pain
• Jaundiced skin and eyes

STD screening and health services

With more than 27years of experience and expert clinicians on staff, Medical Access is focused on helping keep your privacy in secure hands. In addition, we provide a wide range of healthcare services through our convenient, walk-in location in Germantown, MD. Whether it is drug screenings or wellness programs, our STD testing center at Medical Access can help you maintain a healthy, safe lifestyle.

Winter related injury treatment

Winter sports and activities

Winter-sports have heightened in popularity over the last decade, and as people begin to hit the ski slopes over the winter season, they could end up needing minor injury treatment. The top three types of injuries caused by these activities are fractures, concussions, and frostbite. More specifically, the following are the injuries most typically seen at urgent care centers during the winter season:

• Broken wrists or fractured tailbones after slipping and falling on ice.
• Concussions or traumatic brain injury during ice skating, or more commonly from skiing.
• Wrist and elbow injuries from snowboarding accidents.
• Skier’s thumb as the result of a fall while ice-skating, skiing, and snowboarding.
• Ankle fracture is the most common fracture that occurs with twisting injuries during winter months.
• Fractures and broken bones from “skitching,” an activity where a person grabs a car bumper and slides on the soles of his or shoes. Many are also injured while being pulled by ropes on inner tubes or sleds.
• Fractures and concussions associated with sledding.

• Frostbite from prolonged exposure to the cold weather. Frostbite is very serious, and victims need to be treated immediately.
• Back and neck pain related to falls and snow shoveling.

Convenient, walk-in care for Germantown, MD

We all want the best for our families, especially when it comes to healthcare and preventive medicine. Medical Access provides convenient walk-in care as an alternative to long waits in the emergency room. Their friendly staff will carefully and quickly assess your needs and provide the appropriate services, from preventive medicine to x-ray and lab services. Their facilities are fully staffed and equipped in order to meet the demands of their patients and their healthcare needs. Make Medical Access a part of your preparations for those little holiday emergencies from digestive problems to slips and falls. Call them today or simply drop in; no appointment is needed to receive timely, quality injury treatment.

Urgent Care for heartburn

Heart attack or heartburn

If you are feeling severe heartburn; you need to visit an urgent care center for evaluation. Medically speaking, heartburn is not associated with your heart, but the pain is in your upper chest, which is alarming and confusing for many people. Heartburn actually takes place in your esophagus. It is a non medical term for acid reflux.

Explaining heartburn

Heartburn is a common condition that occurs when stomach acids rise up into the esophagus. The stomach acids burn the soft tissues of the esophagus, causing pain that begins in your chest; sometimes radiating to your neck, throat or jaw. The lining of our stomach is designed to tolerate digestive acid, but our esophagus is not.

Convenient, walk-in care for Germantown, MD

We all want the best for our families, especially when it comes to healthcare and preventive medicine. Medical Access provides convenient walk-in care as an alternative to long waits in the emergency room. Their friendly staff will carefully and quickly assess your needs and provide the appropriate services, from preventive medicine to x-ray and lab services. Their facilities are fully staffed and equipped in order to meet the demands of their patients and their healthcare needs. Medical Access also presents comprehensive Occupational Health Services to serve the needs of the business community. The goal is to help minimize lost work time and keep your employees healthy and working.  Call them today or simply drop in, as no appointment is needed to receive timely, quality urgent care.

Employment health services and physical at urgent care centers

Physicals of every type

Did you know that urgent care clinics provide a variety of employment and health services physicals for individuals and families? You can get physicals as part of your own wellness program, or other needs common to the family such as:

• Sports physicals
• School physicals
• pre-employment
• Department of Transportation physicals
• immigration physicals

You may need a physical for a specific reason, but the best urgent care clinics will view your physical as a chance to make your health and well-being their priority. They see the physical as the perfect opportunity to assess an individual’s health status, because no matter why you visit an urgent care center, their goal is to provide preventative health care. In that case of nearly every type of physical, in addition to the general exam, this typically includes a complete blood count, a chemistry panel, and a urine analysis.

Physical exams and Occupational Health Services in Germantown, MD

With more than 27years of experience and expert clinicians in occupational health, Medical Access is focused on helping keep your family and your workforce healthy and productive. They provide services through their highly convenient, walk-in location in Germantown, MD. From drug screenings to wellness programs, Medical Access offers a wide range of employment health services to support employers in maintaining a healthy, safe workforce, while reducing the costs of work injury treatment for your company and your employees. Call them today or just walk-in for sports, school, and camp physicals in addition to employment health services.

Measles outbreak shows need for vaccinations

Measles spread beyond California

High-school students in California are being dismissed from school if they have not had vaccinations or proper record of immunization. This is taking place as schools deal with a measles outbreak that originated at Disneyland over the holidays. In 2014, 644 cases of measles were reported in 27 states as the measles outbreak in pushes beyond California into other states and Mexico.

Return of measles

Measles is highly infectious, and was thought to be eradicated in the U.S. in 2000, thanks to widespread vaccination. But it has made a considerable comeback in the last decade as unvaccinated residents brought the virus back to the U.S. after catching it in other countries. Adding to the problem is the actuality that not enough people are getting vaccinated.

You do not need to be an epidemiologist or healthcare specialist to realize that theme parks like Disneyland are perfect places to spread highly contagious diseases. All it takes is for a few people to be reasonably near someone with a contagious disease, or breathe in close proximity, and you can become infected.

Convenient and affordable vaccinations in Germantown

We all want the best for our families, especially when it comes to healthcare and preventive medicine. Medical Access provides convenient walk-in care as an alternative to long waits in the emergency room. Their friendly staff will carefully and quickly assess your needs and provide the appropriate services, from preventive medicine to x-ray and lab services. Their facilities are fully staffed and equipped in order to meet the demands of their patients and their healthcare needs. Call them today or simply drop in, as no appointment is needed to receive flu shots and vaccinations.

Urgent care for tummy aches in children

When is a tummy ache serious?

While it is very common for children to complain of a tummy ache, we must be mindful that there is always the possibility that urgent care will be needed if a child complains of severe abdominal pain. Most common cases of pediatric abdominal pain can usually be eased with rest. However, bring your child to the nearest emergency care facility if he or she experiences any of the following symptoms:

• A fever
• Pain in just one side of the abdomen
• Pain when you press on the belly
• Testicle pain
• Continued pain after a recent injury to the abdomen
• Bloody diarrhea or vomit
• Green vomit
• Swelling or bloating in the abdomen
• Increasing pain
• Malaise, weakness, or drowsiness
• Inability to walk

Convenient, walk-in care for Germantown, MD

We all want the best for our families, especially when it comes to healthcare and preventive medicine. Medical Access provides convenient walk-in care as an alternative to long waits in the emergency room. Their friendly staff will carefully and quickly assess your needs and provide the appropriate services, from preventive medicine to x-ray and lab services. Their facilities are fully staffed and equipped in order to meet the demands of their patients and their healthcare needs. Medical Access also presents comprehensive Occupational Health Services to serve the needs of the business community. The goal is to help minimize lost work time and keep your employees healthy and working.  Call them today or simply drop in, as no appointment is needed to receive timely, quality urgent care.