What Medical Conditions Cause Breathing Problems?

Having difficulty breathing is a serious condition that affects many people each year. Many things that cause someone to have breathing difficulties including flu, asthma, and heart attacks. However, there are varying levels of breathing difficulties that people experience. For instance, light breathing difficulty often happens as the result of the flu or common cold. Emergency situations can cause someone to stop breathing entirely. It’s important to know where to seek treatment when breathing difficulties arise. Here are the differences between seeking urgent and emergency treatment while having trouble breathing.

Slight Breathing Difficulties

Many respiratory conditions can cause slight breathing problems. Someone with a cold or flu may have too much congestion and coughing occurring to take deep breaths. It’s wise to have any sickness looked at by a medical professional. Statistics show that there are over 20,000 physicians who practice in the field of Urgent Care Medicine. Urgent care clinics are best to visit if you’re experiencing breathing difficulty that isn’t immediately life threatening. Certain people are more likely to develop serious complications from a sickness including the young and elderly. If you wait too long to seek medical treatment, small problems often become worse. If your slight breathing difficulties don’t begin to clear up after a week, it’s best to seek medical care.

Serious Breathing Problems

Certain breathing problems will require immediate medical care. Statistics show that people now make about 110 million visits to the emergency room each year. An emergency room is where someone needs to go if they’re experiencing severe breathing problems. Serious breathing difficulties occur often when someone is experiencing a heart attack. Emergency care is needed when breathing is impossible or hard to do properly.

Skip the Confusion by Seeking Out Convenient Care

If you’re looking for the most convenient medical treatment, it’s best to seek out convenient care. A convenient care facility combines both urgent and emergency services within the same building. It’s understandable that you can’t always think critically in times of emergency. A study by Milliman finds that nearly 44-65% of all ER situations could have been taken care of at urgent care facilities. Visiting a convenient care facility ensures you have access to both urgent and emergency care facilities. The staff at a convenient care facility will know which type of treatment you need, taking the confusion out of medical care.

In summary, breathing difficulties affect many people each day. You’ll find that less serious breathing problems are able to be treated at urgent care clinics. People can experience slight difficulties with normal breathing when fighting a respiratory illness. It’s common for less serious breathing difficulties to be more of an annoyance than anything else. It’s imperative you seek emergency treatment when serious breathing problems take place. Many patients prefer seeling treatment through a convenient care facility. Convenient care combines both urgent and emergency treatment into one facility.