How Are Sprains and Strains Typically Treated?
Urgent Care Doctors are fully capable of both diagnosing and treating either kind of injury, so you can be confident in their capabilities. The first step is to determine precisely what the issue is, so the doctor will perform a physical evaluation and examine the injured area. He or she will check your range of motion, degree of pain, strength in the area, and stability. If there's a chance of a bone injury, like a fracture, the doctor might recommend an MRI or X-ray. Another one of the great things about urgent care is that it can perform X-rays right on the spot, so you won't have to be referred to a specialist!
Simple, mild Strains and Sprains can be treated pretty easily. After you're diagnosed, the doctor might simply send you home and recommend rest, icing the injury, compression over the area, and elevating the injured body part. However, your injury might be more severe and require professional treatment.
For these more serious injuries, the doctor will provide the proper treatment to immobilize the injured area, and likely offer over-the-counter or prescription painkillers. These two treatments together will both address the pain and help the injury heal over the next two to six weeks. The doctor might also decide you could benefit from short-term physical therapy, so he or she might refer you to a specialist for that. Some especially serious cases of sprains and strains require surgery, but this is uncommon.
