Blog Archive

Your physical, mental, and social well-being are vital to maintaining your overall health and essential to living a quality life for a long time. We’re built to be active, and physical activity is key to staying on the path to a healthy life by reducing your risk of disease. Physical...

The term vaccination dates back to the end of the 1700s with Edward Jenner’s experiments that led to the smallpox vaccine, but the history of the methodology goes back much further. Inoculations can be traced to oral traditions as far back as 1000 AD, and that practice traveled around the...

Everybody has a scratch, cut, welt, scrape, or tweak at some point. In many cases, these are minor injuries, and you mend them and go on with your day. But sometimes, damage to your body is more than just something you brush off. With 3.5 million sports injuries among children...

Injuries are commonplace, whether you’re doing a lot of heavy lifting or sitting behind an office desk, and this has contributed to almost 3 million incidents as recently as 2022 in the private industry alone. Injuries can come from a variety of things, like freak accidents, bodily harm due to...

As one of the top 10 reasons for illness visits to primary care offices and urgent care clinics across the nation, acute bronchitis — also known as a chest cold — can leave you hacking non-stop. Luckily, it also typically resolves on its own within a few weeks.  Here, our...

Up to 10 million people visit their primary care physician or local urgent care clinic every year in the United States to seek care for a suspected urinary tract infection (UTI). Unlike the average upper respiratory infection, a UTI won’t eventually go away on its own—instead, it requires prompt antibiotic...

Virtually everyone gets a stuffy nose from time to time. Whether it’s due to allergies, illness, or something else, nasal congestion can make breathing hard, disrupt sleep, and leave you lousy. Even if you expect it to resolve within a few days, you want fast relief from its relentless irritation...

Body temperature is influenced by many factors, including the time of day, physical activity and fluid consumption, environmental temperature and humidity, stress, and the female menstrual cycle.  Despite these varying influences, normal body temperature falls within a relatively tight range, measured in degrees Fahrenheit (°F): The average body temperature is...

What began as a slightly itchy or raspy sensation at the back of your throat has transformed into an intense, burning pain that makes it uncomfortable to swallow and talk. You have a bad sore throat, and its presence makes itself known every second of the day.   Throat pain is...

Healthcare providers typically recommend getting your annual flu shot in September when possible or by the end of October at the latest. Why? Fall is when seasonal influenza viruses start to spread, and getting your flu vaccine early gives your immune system enough time to strengthen its response — before...

The very first antibiotic, salvarsan, was used in 1910. But the discovery of penicillin in 1928 started the “golden age” of antibiotic breakthroughs, a game-changing period that continued through the mid-1950s. Without a doubt, the emergence of infection-squashing antibiotics transformed modern medicine and added 23 years to the average human...

What started out as mild throat irritation and a minor cough has turned into something else entirely. Your worsening cough is suddenly accompanied by fever, phlegm, wheezing, or other symptoms — or your otherwise routine cough has simply persisted far longer than you thought it would.  So, when should you...

Between 1900 and 1999, ongoing important health improvements gave the average person in the United States a lifespan increase of more than three decades. Experts attribute 25 of these additional years of life to 10 great public health achievements of the 20th century.   At the very top of that list?...

As a full-service family medicine and urgent care practice with a walk-in clinic, on-site lab, and in-house diagnostic imaging services, American River Urgent Care in Orangevale, California, is well-equipped to provide prompt medical care for patients in the Sacramento County area with pressing health concerns — every day of the...

Your shoulders may have a wider range of motion than any other joint in your body, but this impressive functionality comes with a cost: Your most mobile joint is also your least stable joint, and this mobility-instability interchange leaves your shoulder more vulnerable to injury.  One of the most common...

Whether you’re seeing our team for a scheduled physical exam or seeking treatment for an acute illness or injury at our walk-in clinic, every visit to American River Urgent Care begins in much the same way: with a measurement of your vital signs.  Your vital signs — which include your body temperature, blood pressure, pulse, and respiratory rate — are the...

At American River Urgent Care in Orangevale, California, our skilled team offers a full scope of physical exam services for patients of all ages in the Sacramento County area. Every week, our family medicine experts conduct: Pediatric wellness exams Men’s health checkups  Well-woman physicals  Sports and camp exams Pre-employment physicals ...

At American River Urgent Care in Orangevale, California, our skilled team provides prompt medical care for pressing health issues every day of the week. But we couldn’t deliver the comprehensive, high-quality care we’re known for without a full scope of in-house diagnostic imaging services, including digital X-rays.  When you arrive at our walk-in clinic with specific injuries or symptoms, X-rays can...

When you need immediate care for a pressing medical concern, you usually can’t wait a few hours — let alone a few days — for a standard appointment with your primary care provider. Whether you’re experiencing worrisome symptoms of an acute illness, or you’ve sustained a painful, non-life-threatening injury, the...

Each year in the United States, up to 10 million people visit their primary care provider or local walk-in urgent care clinic to seek treatment for a urinary tract infection (UTI). These painful and disruptive infections are exceptionally common, particularly among women — as many as three in five (60%)...

It’s Saturday morning, and the upper respiratory illness you’ve been nursing for the past week seems to be taking a turn for the worse. You vomited in the middle of the night, woke up with a high fever, and are feeling slightly out of breath. Should you head to our urgent...

If you live in the Sacramento County area, you can consider American River Urgent Care your one-stop medical practice for all your family’s physical exam needs. Located in in Orangevale, California, our experienced team of family medicine experts routinely conduct: Annual pediatric wellness exams Annual men’s health checkups  Annual well-woman physicals  Sports, camp, and school exams...

Tetanus is an infectious disease that affects your nervous system, causing painful muscle contractions, progressive muscle rigidity, and seizure-like muscle spasms. Commonly known as lockjaw, tetanus can be fatal if it affects your respiratory muscles and stops your breathing. Given that the bacterium that causes tetanus is widespread in the environment,...

There’s a lot you can learn about your health from a small blood sample — that’s why blood testing is a basic component of annual wellness exams and pre-work physicals; it’s also a key diagnostic tool for many common health concerns and symptoms.    Here at American River Urgent Care in...

Coughing is a spontaneous reflex to foreign matter from your throat and airway. Like sneezing, blinking, and other involuntary reflexes, it’s one of your body’s key protective mechanisms against both irritants and foreign invaders. While most coughs clear up in a couple of weeks without treatment, a cough that doesn’t...

Vaccination preempts infection, stops the spread of disease, and saves countless lives every year. Also known as immunization or inoculation, this invaluable preventive healthcare tool has effectively eradicated one deadly contagious disease (smallpox) and taken another (polio) to the verge of eradication. It has also brought many other serious illnesses under...

It may be hard to believe, but summer is nearly over. As the northern hemisphere begins tilting away from the sun, shifting toward shorter days and cooler autumn weather, it’s a good time to remind you that the next flu season is right around the corner.  At American River Urgent Care in Orangevale, California, our...

Here in the Sacramento area and across the United States, mask mandates have mostly gone away, COVID-19 case counts aren’t a top news story, major events are happening as scheduled, and people are enjoying their summer vacations to the fullest.  While all of that may be true, it’s also true...

Drinking plenty of water every day is a simple yet vital part of staying healthy — your body requires adequate hydration to regulate its temperature, deliver nutrients to cells, maintain organ function, digest food, and keep joints lubricated. Being well-hydrated also boosts your cognitive function and enhances your mood. Getting...

Your urine can reveal a lot of valuable information about your health — from just one small sample, a health care provider can diagnose a urinary tract infection (UTI), detect early signs of chronic disease, or find important clues about the nature of worrisome symptoms.  When you visit American River...

Every year in the United States, tens of millions of people sustain a broken bone, or fracture. While many broken bones happen on the sports field, in a car accident, or during a traumatic fall, a significant number of fractures are caused by osteoporosis, a progressive condition that weakens bones...

A dislocated joint occurs when something — usually a traumatic impact — forces the ends of the bones within your joint out of position. A dislocation injury can affect any joint in your body, but shoulder and finger joints are more vulnerable to this painful problem. Whether it’s the result...

When you’re experiencing the early symptoms of an acute infection, you want to know what’s ailing you — and you also want to feel better fast. Whether you’ve caught a contagious illness or some other type of infection, you need prompt, expert care that puts you on the path to...

Sports physicals, also known as preparticipation physical exams (PPEs), evaluate a young athlete’s health history, current health status, and physical readiness to confirm whether they can safely participate in a specific team sport or school-sponsored athletic activity.  The state of California requires all student athletes who are enrolling in a...

With the abrupt arrival of the highly contagious Omicron variant just before the holiday season, the world is heading into 2022 — and the third year of the coronavirus pandemic — in the midst of a record-breaking wave of COVID-19 cases.  Given that Omicron appears to be causing a rapid...

The feeling that something isn’t right with your stomach is a common complaint shared by virtually everyone. Sometimes, you know the cause of your discomfort, such as overindulgence in a holiday meal or a reaction to medication. Occasionally, the source of pain is a mystery, but the symptoms pass quickly. ...

Here at American River Urgent Care in Orangevale, California, we treat acute injuries on a regular basis. Some are caused by a simple misstep or an accidental fall, while others are sports related or a result of repeated musculoskeletal (muscle, bone, or joint) stress.   For many people who arrive at...

You began feeling tired and achy late in the day. By bedtime, you were nursing a sore throat, a persistent cough, and a low-grade fever. You wondered whether you had caught a bad cold or the flu — or if you were coming down with something else altogether.  As infectious...

If you’ve ever developed an irritating rash, sustained a painful ankle sprain, or come down with a severe sinus infection, you’re probably familiar with urgent health care services.  Urgent care and walk-in clinics facilitate approximately 89 million patient visits every year in the United States. These visits account for nearly...

Stepping on a rusty nail is one way you can get tetanus, but it’s not the only way. The bacteria that causes this serious, incurable disease is widespread in the environment, and any cut, burn, or puncture wound that exposes you to it can be problematic.  Luckily, there are only...

Every year around 70% of Americans have medical (or dental) X-rays, so there’s a pretty good chance you will need one eventually. Despite being such a commonly used diagnostic tool, X-rays aren’t fully understood, and many people are surprised when their healthcare provider orders an X-ray. We offer in-office X-rays...

COVID-19 took the world by storm in late 2019. And, by January 2020, the first reported cases in the United States began appearing. At the time, the best way to protect yourself from exposure was through social distancing, frequent hand washing, and avoiding crowds and poorly ventilated areas. While these...

Over 30.7 million Americans have had COVID-19, the novel coronavirus that has swept across the globe. In California alone, an estimated 1.1 million people are tested every day. If you’re one of the fortunate people who haven’t yet been exposed to the virus or been tested, you might be curious...

There are many differing opinions about how often you and your family need to have physical exams. Some say the frequency depends on your age and health risks. Others go so far as to say that annual exams aren’t necessary as they don’t make you healthier and lead to unnecessary...

It's been approximately a year since COVID-19 changed our world and made us all think twice about going into public places unnecessarily. While you might have delayed your annual physical, there have no doubt been times that you've needed urgent medical care.  Here at American River Urgent Care in Orangevale,...

Ankles sprains are often associated with sports injuries, but you can just as easily sprain your ankle or any other joint while walking on uneven ground. This is probably how 25,000 Americans sprain their ankles every day.  Here at American River Urgent Care in Orangevale, California, our team provides walk-in...

In many cases, you have sudden and unexpected healthcare needs that require medical attention. Millions of Americans use walk-in clinics and urgent care when they get sick or injured.  Here at American River Urgent Care in Orangevale, California, our team provides walk-in services for patients of all ages. We want...

Many employers require pre-employment medical testing, such as drug screening, vision tests, or even full physicals. These services and more are part of occupational medicine — the specialty area that focuses on employees’ health and productivity, their families, and communities. Our team at American River Urgent Care in Orangevale, California,...

Every year, health care providers across the United States order X-rays to diagnose illness and injury in millions of Americans. Despite their prevalence, X-rays are misunderstood and often perceived as dangerous because of the radiation used to create the images. It doesn’t help that you also have to wear a...

Every year, health care providers across the United States diagnose around 20 million new STD cases. People of all ages, genders, and sexual orientations can get — and spread — STDs. Many STDs don’t cause symptoms in their early stages, making getting tested critical to protecting your sexual and overall...

It’s probably not a surprise that stress levels in the United States are increasing. A report issued by Harvard Medical School and the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill revealed that 55% of respondents felt more stress in May than in January.  Here at American River Urgent Care in Orangevale,...

In 1952, over 60,000 children contracted polio, more than 3,000 died, and thousands more ended up paralyzed. The polio vaccine was introduced in 1955, and by 1979, the disease had been eliminated across the country, saving the lives of thousands of children. It still exists in other parts of the...

Even if you warm-up and cool down before and after every workout, you can still experience tight, sore muscles from time to time. You might also be familiar with the pain and frustration of an injury. After all, millions of athletes injure themselves every year. You probably know that if...

Landing a new job is exciting, a new opportunity is open to you. However, before your first day, your employer might want you to have a pre-employment physical. After a lengthy interview process, this can feel like one more hoop to jump through. Still, for many roles, it's critical to...

American work-related injury statistics are staggering. Every day 12,600 people are injured at work, which adds up to 4.6 million work-related injuries every year. While safety should always come first, accidents happen. If you end up getting injured at work, staying calm and following the correct protocols can help get...

Whether it’s baseball, lacrosse, or tennis, lots of sports start in the spring. And with the milder months just around the corner, many parents are getting excited to sign their little ones up for different youth organizations that offer all the fun and exhilaration of competitive sports.    Most sports...

Maybe you collided with an opponent in your weekend soccer league or were involved in an automobile accident. You might have fallen down the stairs or had an accident at work. Whatever caused your injury, you should get checked out by a doctor. If they recommend an X-ray, you should...

Maybe your little one has woken up with a sore throat and a fever, or perhaps you sliced your thumb open while preparing dinner — in situations like these, you head out for medical care. But how do you choose between urgent care and the emergency room?  Here at American...