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Telehealth or Urgent Care: Cold Symptoms

Author

Dr. Stella Gandhi

It’s Fall! The time of year when kids go back to school, the leaves change colors and everyone starts getting sick again. It can be hard to tell if those symptoms are due to allergies, a viral infection, or bacterial infection. So where do you go to get help?

A sick looking woman sitting in bed pours some medicine out of a bottle into a spoon

First Step: Is it COVID-19?

In our post pandemic world, the first thing to check when you start developing the dreaded coughing, sneezing, runny nose, and fevers is an at-home covid test.

So you know it’s not covid, great! Now what? Should you go to your primary care doctor? Should you go to urgent care? The emergency room? If you are having trouble breathing or another emergency, then you should go to the ER right away. If not, your first stop to recovery can actually be from your smartphone (who knew our phones would be so helpful?!).

Next Step: Telehealth Visit

So what is a telehealth visit? At Radish, we can evaluate your symptoms through video or secure chat through the Radish app. We can determine what is going on by discussing your symptoms, medical history, and even take a look into the back of your throat with the help of a video connection or a picture sent through chat. Depending on what we find, we can prescribe the best course of treatment. A telehealth visit gets you a medical evaluation, all from the comfort of your home or workplace.

Another Option: Primary Care/Urgent Care

In some cases, depending on the severity of your symptoms, or a lack of response to certain medications, we may recommend in-person evaluation at either an urgent care or primary care doctor. The benefit of an in-person visit includes being able to undergo lab testing, such as a rapid strep test, flu swab, or covid PCR.

Stay Prepared

So as we enter into this season, do your best to stay prepared. Wash your hands often, use hand sanitizers, and get your recommended COVID-19 and flu vaccines. But if you do get sick, feel free to schedule an appointment or chat with us and rest assured knowing that your Radish doctor is ready to see you!

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