Migraine

What To Expect From A Walk-In Clinic

It’s understandable to be concerned when you suddenly get sick or develop pain and cannot get an appointment with your primary care provider immediately. A common alternative is visiting a hospital emergency room for medical care, but the costs will be astronomical, along with the wait times. Fortunately, you have another option: walk-in clinics.

Walk-in clinics accept patients without previously scheduled appointments and provide urgent medical care for a variety of common and non-life-threatening conditions.

What Can I Expect From A Walk-In Clinic?

You can receive multiple services from a walk-in clinic. You will be assigned to an attending family medicine provider who will assist and provide you medical care. Here are things you can expect from your visit:

Treatment For Common Conditions

Walk-in clinics are the place to go if you’re experiencing common health problems. These conditions are usually mild but can cause you concern and discomfort – especially if you can’t get medical care from your primary care provider for several days. The following are common issues that can be treated during your visit:

Imaging And Laboratory Tests

Some walk-in clinics are also able to perform imaging and lab tests to aid in diagnosis. Your attending family medicine provider will recommend these based on your signs and symptoms. Common tests that may be conducted are urine and blood analysis, x-rays, electrocardiography (ECG), and ultrasounds.

Depending on your results, the attending provider will decide if you can be treated in-house, need prescription medication, or need a specialist. Your family medicine provider may also recommend more tests for a definitive diagnosis.

Urgent Care

Walk-in clinics can address numerous non-life-threatening problems that need urgent medical attention. These include injuries from small accidents like minor fractures, sprains, and burns. With walk-in clinics, you can expect quality and timely medical care without worrying about steep expenses.

However, you should also be aware of when to seek emergency care. Trouble breathing, chest pain, continuously high fever, and severe pain after an accident are things to look out for. If you are experiencing a life-threatening situation, you are advised to call emergency services or go to your local ER.

Convenience

Going to a walk-in clinic has several advantages, including convenient hours, short waiting times, and cost-efficient medical care.

If you don’t have time during the day to consult with a family medicine provider, some walk-in clinics are open after work hours or accept calls 24 hours a day. Medical costs are also reasonably lower for consultations, tests, and treatments. Services such as physical tests for school or work and pregnancy ultrasounds are also available in most walk-in clinics.

Walk-In Clinic In Wellington And Royal Palm Beach, FL

If you need urgent medical attention, Advanced Medical will ensure you get the proper care you deserve. Our compassionate primary care providers also accept same-day walk-in appointments to address conditions and concerns you may have.

To learn more about our services, call our office at (561) 434-1935 or request an appointment online. We have clinics in Wellington and Royal Palm Beach that are ready to provide you with quality healthcare. We look forward to serving you!

How to Know If It’s a Migraine

There are headaches and then there are migraines. Determining which one of the two you have might be difficult, but there’s a clear difference between the two.

A migraine is more than a just a headache. According to the American Migraine Foundation (AMF), a migraine is a neurological disease that causes severe and painful headaches on a recurring basis.

Let’s look at what makes migraines different from other headaches and how it is best treated.

What Does a Migraine Feel Like?

There are clear signs that can distinguish whether you have a headache or migraine at any given time.

Migraines tend to give warning signs prior to coming on. A lot of people who get migraines report that they see auras or sensory disturbances on one side of the head before a migraine headache sets in. An example of this is seeing a blurry light in one eye that prevents you from seeing clearly. A lot of people report that when they act on the warning sign quickly, it helps prevent full-on migraines.

Unlike a regular headache, which can happen for a variety of reasons, migraines can be traced back to a set of triggers. Triggers are specific things that can cause the body to react a certain way. Migraine triggers are similar to allergic reactions in the sense that when a person with a peanut allergy is exposed to a peanut, it will trigger an allergic reaction. A trigger has a similar affect and can lead to a migraine. This may be difficult to pinpoint until you have had at least a few migraines to assess if there is a correlation between what you were doing or feeling prior to the migraine setting in.

Triggers

Not everyone has the same triggers when it comes to migraines. However, like allergic reactions, there are groups of triggers that tend to affect people who suffer from migraines. Here are some examples of common migraine triggers. 

  • Hormonal Changes – Some women experience migraines during menstruation due to changes in hormone levels.
  • Dietary Triggers – Some people experience migraines after consuming certain foods or drinks. Examples include caffeine, chocolate, citrus foods, or foods with additives.
  • Environmental Triggers – There are some environmental triggers, such as strong smells, second-hand smoke, and loud noises, that can cause migraines.
  • Physical Triggers – Migraines can be triggered if you are jet-lagged, have low blood sugar, or suffering from neck tension.

Treatment

Most migraines can be control by actively avoiding triggers. Other things you can do to prevent migraines is getting enough sleep, reducing your stress, drinking enough water, and exercising regularly.

If you have chronic migraines (migraines that happen more than 15 days a month), you may need to get prescription medication to treat your migraines. In some cases, injections may be able to help control chronic migraines. This treatment involves injecting Botox into the spinal nerves responsible for triggering migraines.

If you’re experiencing any of the symptoms that come with migraines or if you’re having trouble differentiating between a bad headache and a migraine, we can help. Call (561) 434-1935 to request an appointment with one of the Advanced Medical Clinic providers. You can also request an appointment online. We will diagnose you and recommend effective treatments to help you find relief.

Is Your Gut to Blame for Your Migraine?

Have you ever experienced a migraine? Not just a headache – but a full blown thunderclap inside your head, with terrible nausea and hypersensitivity to light and sound to boot? Chances are that if you have experienced a migraine in the past, then you have already assessed the need to seek relief with board-certified internist Dr. Ishan Gunawardene. If not, it’s important to do so as soon as possible to make sure that the issue is not something more serious, and so that we can provide you with the relief you seek so your quality of life no longer suffers.

While medications and therapies can definitely help to stave off extremely painful migraines, it’s also important to recognize potential triggers in order to either avoid or prepare for them. Certain triggers are obvious, such as stress, changes in barometric pressure, physical exertion, and sleep imbalance. Less obvious are certain foods and medications that may overreact during digestion due to some very helpful and naturally occurring bacteria that we all carry around in our guts.

Studies show that there is a correlation between migraines and a higher than normal volume of a certain bacteria found in your gut and mouth. The bacteria break down nitrates into nitric oxide (NO), which regulates blood flow and oxygen release to the blood cells and aids the immune system by fighting off parasitic organisms.

However, people who suffer from migraines contain a much higher amount of these nitrate-modifying bacteria in their bodies, which means that more NO is produced than normal. As a result, the higher volume of NO could be what causes these migraines to occur.

Since the bacteria break down nitrates into NO, avoiding certain foods and medications that have a high nitrate content may help to prevent the triggering of a migraine. Nitrates can be found in processed meats like bacon, leafy vegetables like arugula and spinach, wine, and chocolate.

Medications that contain nitrates are nitroglycerin (Nitrostat and Rectiv), isosorbide dinitrate (Dilatrate-SR), and nitroprusside (Nipride). These are all vasodilators whose purpose is to lower blood pressure through widening your blood vessels. Too much nitric oxide could cause your blood pressure to drop too much, leading to a higher risk of stroke or heart attack, and potentially to a migraine based on new research.

Do you suffer from chronic migraines? Get the relief you need as soon as you need it. Our two convenient locations in Wellington and Royal Palm Beach are open Monday – Thursday, 9 am – 5 pm and Fridays, 9 am – 12:30 pm. Schedule an appointment with Dr. Gunawardene online or by calling (561) 434-1935.

Do you suffer from migraines?  What triggers have you faced before?  What do you do to prevent or cope with a migraine?