Urgent care facilities are known for a variety of things including longer hours, shorter wait times, and walk-in treatments. However, many people who use (and even those who don’t) use these care centers are aware of how many problems and what kinds of problems are seen annually. The results may surprise you.

According to the Urgent Care Association of America, approximately 3 million patients are seen at one of these facilities every week. In addition, there are an estimated 20,000 physicians who work with the facilities to make sure that you get the top quality care you need regardless of the treatment.

Colds are an obvious reason to visit an urgent care facility, especially if you need some extra treatment. Most people recover from a cold within 10 days, but if it’s been more than two weeks or your symptoms are more severe than usual, it makes sense to go see someone about it. Your regular doctor probably won’t make an appointment with you about this, especially during cold season, but urgent care is there to help if you ever need them.

One of the most common complaints in these centers is an upper respiratory problem. In fact, this was the most common diagnosis in 2012. These problems are fairly common just like colds but are considered more serious because of how quickly they are supposed to resolve themselves. If the symptoms don’t go away within a few days, there may be a more serious problem. It’s always best to make sure when you think something is wrong.

In 2012, the most common procedure that was needed was wound repair. This may be anything from a cut to a gash, but it is important to get these treated professionally if you can. This will keep you from getting an infection and may even cause you to heal quicker compared to if you just left the problem alone.

Another treatment that is better when treated professionally is fracture care, which is provided by almost 80% of facilities today. These are obviously on the more serious side of treatments, but that makes it all the more important to see someone about it. Fractures are most common among children and the elderly whose bones are not as hard compared to everyone else. In addition, there are numerous types of fractures that will affect the treatment needed. If you have a child or an elderly relative that needs this type of treatment, it might be better to take them to an urgent care and get it resolved faster as opposed to waiting around in the hospital.

You don’t have to suffer in silence if you think that something is wrong. These facilities are more than equipped to help with all types of treatments if you have a serious problem. And even if you don’t, you’ll be glad you didn’t get stuck waiting forever in the hospital just to hear that.