Urgent care fireworks tips for a safe Fourth of July

Fun and fireworks safety

Urgent care clinics are bracing for the busiest day of the year for medical emergencies… the 4^th of July. Even though backyard fireworks are illegal in Montgomery County, and the penalty for possessing them is a hefty fine, there are always a few residents who think it is worth the risk. Unfortunately, we will see a percentage of these individuals because they have been injured while handling fireworks. The safest and smartest way to enjoy fireworks is to go out and view one of the many public displays in the area. We would like to provide you with some quick tips for having a fun and safe 4^th of July weekend.

1.       Only approved fireworks should be discharged.

2.       Remember that even if fireworks are legal in certain areas, they may be temporarily forbidden because of risk of wild fires.

3.       Never let young children handle or light fireworks.

4.       Sparklers are not as safe as you think; they can reach a temperature of 1800 degrees Fahrenheit.

5.       Only light fireworks that are placed on a stable and flat surface.

6.       Make sure that fireworks will discharge clear of any combustible materials, houses, and buildings.

7.       Never hold fireworks in your hand while lighting them.

8.       Keep a bucket of water and/or a hose ready as a precaution against fire.

9.       Never try to relight fireworks that failed to ignite.

Convenient, walk-in care for Germantown and Montgomery County

We all want the best for our families, especially when it comes to general healthcare and occupational 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.

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. Medical Access one of the select facilities for sports physicals and immigration physicals. Call them today or simply drop in. No appointment is needed to receive timely, quality urgent care for fevers or any non life-threatening health issues.

Annual physicals and sports physicals at your urgent care center

Summer “to do” list

You can get ahead of the game by taking your family to your Germantown urgent care clinics for annual physicals and/or sports physicals. If you have a youngster that plans on participating in football this fall, it would be wise to get his sports physical as early as possible, Most football programs start training camp in August, and you can be sure that many doctor’s offices will be swamped with back to school physicals and vaccinations. Urgent care clinics are ultra convenient because you don’t need an appointment; walk-ins are welcome. Beyond sports physicals, your kids should have a physical every year, regardless of age.

Two birds with one stone

If your child plays a sport, taking him or her to an urgent care clinic for a sport physical can take care of two projects at one time. Sports physicals and regular back-to-school physicals are not the same. However, they can be completed in the same appointment, saving you time, money, and an extra trip to the doctor. Having a sport physical completed earlier will be very wise because it will give your child and his or her doctor the opportunity to address any concerns with regard to injuries, nutrition, training, or other health issues. In the event that injuries or health problems are discovered, it gives your child time to receive treatment and to recuperate before the sports season actually begins.

Convenient, walk-in care for Germantown and Montgomery County

We all want the best for our families, especially when it comes to general healthcare and occupational 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.

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. Medical Access one of the select facilities for sports physicals and immigration physicals. Call them today or simply drop in. No appointment is needed to receive timely, quality urgent care for sport physicals or any non life-threatening health issues.

Urgent care clinics recognize men’s health month

Men’s Health and weight loss

Urgent care clinics join in the recognition of June as Men’s Health Month, and we think it is time to encourage men to make PREVENTION a PRIORITY. Men live shorter lives than their female counterparts, and astonishingly, many health conditions can be prevented or detected early with regular checkups and physical screening. Regular screenings should include: 

• Blood pressure
• Cholesterol level
• Blood glucose level
• Prostate health

Most of these conditions can be reduced or improved just by losing excessive body weight? Perhaps you have been thinking about it for a while, or even have gone on several diets and workout regimens, but those extra pounds just seem to come right back. Consider automotive repair, it is nice to be able to fix your car, but sometimes you must depend upon a professional mechanic because you cannot do it yourself. It is the same with our health. Sometimes we can make the necessary changes ourselves, and sometimes we really need professional help. Drop by our walk-in clinic for a simple health screening, and consider the following tips to help you control weight.

Convenient, walk-in care for Germantown and Montgomery County

We all want the best for our families, especially when it comes to general healthcare and occupational medicine. Medical Access provides convenient walk-in care or urgent 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.

Determining when you need urgent care

Listen to your body

When your body presents with pain or abnormal function, chances are that you need urgent care. We seem to know intuitively when our body is trying to tell us something. Fortunately, our body will give us warning signs in the form of minor symptoms or ailments. However, we need to learn symptoms that are truly red flags that mean we could be suffering from a serious underlying problem. Consider the following symptoms. If you have or are experiencing any, immediate medical care is recommended. The great thing about urgent care centers is that you can just walk in and see a medical care specialist without an appointment. Let’s review the serious symptoms that merit urgent care treatment:

• Abdominal pain
• Acute headache
• Shortness of breath and fever
• Dizziness & fainting
• Joint pain

If you are uncertain about abnormal pain or any other ailment, it is best to play it safe and to visit an Urgent Care Centers for attentive, friendly, medical care.

Convenient, walk-in care for Germantown and Montgomery County

We all want the best for our families, especially when it comes to general healthcare and occupational 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.

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. Medical Access one of the select facilities for sports physicals and immigration physicals. Call them today or simply drop in. No appointment is needed to receive timely, quality urgent care for fevers or any non life-threatening health issues.

Urgent care first aid tips for poison ivy

Urgent care for poison plants

Amongst the countless summer maladies that we experience, urgent care clinics see their fair share of patients who suffer from exposure to poison ivy or poison oak. These plants carry an oil that causes uncomfortable and painful reactions on the skin, and that the body finds particularly harmful. This substance gives the leaves of the plants a sheen that can appear oily or slick with moisture. It is vitally important that you wash your hands, arms, legs and face every time you think you may have been exposed to one of these poisonousplants. Not only can they affect the area of initial contact, if you happen to touch other areas of your body, you might be in a rough spot after a few days.

You can significantly reduce later symptoms by:

• Immediately washing exposed skin with rubbing alcohol or a degreasing liquid.
• Scrub under fingernails with a brush to remove any amounts of the oil that remain.
• Over-the-counter cortisone cream can reduce swelling and itching.
• Calamine lotion can reduce itching and also help to dry out broken skin and blisters.
• Lotions and creams that contain aloe Vera can soothe itching, burning skin.

Convenient, walk-in care for Germantown and Montgomery County

We all want the best for our families, especially when it comes to general healthcare and occupational 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.

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. Medical Access one of the select facilities for sports physicals and immigration physicals. Call them today or simply drop in. No appointment is needed to receive timely, quality urgent care for fevers or any non life-threatening health issues.

Occupational health getting workers back to work

Occupational health planning

Business owners are used to planning everything to the smallest detail, however, some do fail to see the importance of occupational health services for employees in the service industry. There are few events that are more disruptive to your company's productivity than an injury to one or more of your workers. Rather than setting up programs with expensive private clinics or hospitals, urgent care centers offer the quickest and most affordable care to get workers back on their feet in no time at all.

Getting employees back to work

·         It is crucial that you have a plan in place that will get your employees healthy safely and as fast as possible.

·         This means that they can get back to work for you and keep providing for their families.

·         Your company needs to maintain a certain level of productivity regardless of how many employees are on staff.

·         It is overly costly to send employees who have a non life threatening injury to the emergency room for treatment.

·         Treating workers who sustain injuries on the job is a two-tiered process.

·         Treating the condition is the first priority, and getting employees healthy and preventing future injury is the second.

The right urgent care clinic will be staffed with a provider who is skilled enough to treat all manner of injuries, and offers a system in which your workers can go back for follow-up visits to monitor their recovery processes.

Convenient, occupational medicine for Germantown and Montgomery County

Medical Access urgent care centers have the expertise and efficiency to create personalized treatment plans for all of your employees, and to get them back on the job as soon as possible. We all want the best for our employees, 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 is trained to carefully and quickly assess patient needs and provide the appropriate services. Their facilities are fully staffed and equipped in order to meet the demands of their patients and their healthcare needs.

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 for occupational health services or any non life-threatening health issues.

Urgent care: natural versus chemical insect repellents

The importance of insect repellents

In case you have not noticed, biting insects such as fleas, ticks, and mosquitoes are out in full force, sending record numbers of patients into urgent care centers. Symptoms of the mosquito-borne disease range from relatively minor skin irritations, to life-threatening brain inflammation. West Nile Virus can also leave survivors with long-term disabilities including chronic fatigue and even paralysis. This has led to concerns over the best possible insectrepellents. Not only with regard to their effectiveness, but also taking into consideration their possible health hazards.

Natural is not necessarily better

It is completely understandable that many patients associate “natural” products with better health. A great number of patients would rather use mosquitorepellents that are derived from “natural” products such as plant extracts. However, when it comes to mosquito repellents, there is clear evidence that natural repellents may not provide the best outcomes.

·         Field tests and studies have shown that the two most effective repellents are DEET and picaridin.

·         Studies have shown that “natural,” or botanical based repellents are substantially less effective against mosquitoes than DEET or Picaridin.

·         Products that contain citronella, lavender, peppermint and lemon grass oils are often promoted as “DEET-Free” alternatives.

·         Botanical-based repellents do provide effective protection against biting mosquitoes.

·         Botanicals need to be reapplied 3-4 times as often as the lowest dose DEET-based repellent in order to provide comparable protection.

·         Botanical repellents may work just fine for a short stay in the backyard, but not for hours of working in the garden or if you are hiking all day in the woods.

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.

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. Call Medical Access today; or simply drop in as no appointment is needed to receive timely, quality urgent care for any non life-threatening health issues.