St. Louis Urgent Care Clinics Face an Urgent Problem

[TexasTowelie]

"When it starts to spread across your face and your genitals, that's when you know you need some help."

St. Louisan Amy Whited-Hylton got what she described as a "pretty wicked case of poison ivy" two weeks ago. She'd just bought a house in south city and had been doing some weekend maintenance on her new overgrown yard shortly before she started getting itchy.

By that Tuesday afternoon, the irritation that she'd initially thought was caused by a cluster of mosquito bites had started to rapidly spread and began to take over her most sensitive areas. She knew she had to see a doctor.

Whited-Hylton had been to the Total Access Urgent Care nearby on multiple occasions previously and had always been impressed by the swift, expert care provided, so she stopped in to get what she thought would be a quick exam and a prescription.

Read more: https://www.riverfronttimes.com/stlouis/st-louis-urgent-care-clinics-face-an-urgent-problem/Content?oid=36177337

[Bayard]

1. Yikes!

I thought it was bad having it just around my ankles.

[CrispyQ]

2. Does she read or watch the news?

If I had a non-emergency medical issue, I'd call first, & ask what the facility conditions/requirements are.

[secondwind]

7. She did make calls.

[CrispyQ]

9. I see where she called her doctor's office,

after she went to the clinic, which was already booked for the day.

[jmbar2]

3. Thanks for posting this

People need to be constantly reminded what is happening to the healthcare workers, and other persons needing treatment as a result of unnecessary covid transmission.

It will have a negative effect on our healthcare workforce for many years. We must help them by protecting ourselves and our communities.

[TexasTowelie]

4. You're welcome.

I've been having some aches and pains myself, but I hope that I don't have to go back to the hospital or an ER for a long time.

[jmbar2]

6. hang in there

Had to go to urgent care this week myself after a fall. (Got two black eyes from it, so I am hiding now.) I was impressed at their precautions.

They have a separate unit for Covid testing and symptoms - completely isolated from the rest of the medical center. I still took extreme precautions.

[SWBTATTReg]

5. Yikes. Poison Ivy/Oak/Sumac are things that one doesn't want to get, especially ...

for those w/ somewhat wilder yards, overgrown yards/edges of yards, etc. bordering damp areas. Don't even try to burn out these things either as the smoke from these burning plants will still cause to break out.

When I was growing up, I caught Poison Ivy/Oak/Sumac literally every week, had to take shots and medication to build up my immunity to it (a weekly routine, the shots weren't fun either). Getting it on your face is not fun. Now, I still can catch, but it remains for the most part, localized on my body (e.g., hands/arms) and does not spread (as rapidly). Of course keep the calamine lotion handy too. I've never tried the Cortizone stuff so no advice here...of course the rest of my family could literally wallow in the stuff, and never catch it/the 'itch' (don't do this!).

[jmbar2]

8. I had a severe case of it years ago

Similar to this story, I had just moved into an old house, and spent all day pulling vines and roots out of a garden bed. Turned out to be poison ivy roots and vines. Absolutely miserable experience. The scabs were all over my arms, neck and face, and looked disgusting. I felt embarrassed to go to any stores because people were staring at me, probably wondering what disease I had.

After that, I kept a supply of Ivarest poison ivy soap in the kitchen. Later I learned that just plain soap and water, if applied soon after contact, can wash it off. I became a fanatical hand/arm washing when gardening and managed to avoid any other problems with it.

[SWBTATTReg]

10. Good for you. When I often times caught Poison Ivy/etc., I would go fishing at Bennett Springs ...

state park (in central Missouri), and stand in the spring without a wader, the water would literally drown the rash out, but it sure was awful damn cold! Ha ha!

Keep the baking soda (you know, the yellow box of stuff, Arm and Hammer) handy, pour it into your bathtub when you get poison A, B, or C. Soak in it for a while, it does help w/ the itching and prevents it from spreading to other parts of your body.

I did not know the fact that Ivarest was just soap and water, so thank you for this tidbit of news.

I used to make a paste too, of baking soda and a little water, dab on thickly onto patches of itchy areas/rash-infected areas, let stand/cover w/ a gauze loosely, it seemed to help too.

[jmbar2]

11. I gave wrong info...

Technu is the soap, and it deactivates the poison. Ivarest is for symptom relief.

[SWBTATTReg]

12. Thanks! I'm always looking for new innovative solutions to other than using calamine lotion,...

which sometimes has a little sting to it when you use...