There are unfortunately many different ways that you can be sick nowadays. Viruses and bacteria can cause stubborn infections or conditions, and any sort of imbalance in your body can make you feel under the weather.
While simple illnesses like the common cold or seasonal allergies can be diagnosed at home, others may take a little more investigative work. That’s where we come in!
Our AFC Urgent Care Ballantyne center is equipped with a variety of diagnostic tools, including a lab, that can help us pinpoint your illness faster and more accurately. Read on to learn more.
What Tests Can the Lab Process?
The nice thing about having a lab on site is that we can run our tests right there without having to send them off to another location. This allows us to offer diagnoses much faster! Some of the more common tests we run are rapid tests that can detect illnesses like the flu, COVID-19, strep throat and RSV. We can run urinalysis tests and cultures to check for signs of infection.
We can also draw your blood and process it to diagnose various blood conditions or other imbalances in your body. Your blood can tell a lot about you and your health, so a simple CBC, or complete blood count, can be taken to investigate further. A CBC counts and measures the different blood cells in your body.
Possible Diagnoses After a Complete Blood Count Test
- Anemia
- An infection
- Immune system disorders
- Various blood diseases
How Does It Feel to Have Anemia?
Since your blood has such an important role in your body, any sort of deviation from the normal amount of each type of blood cell can have an impact on how you feel. Anemia develops when your body stops producing the proper level of red blood cells, and a CBC can easily detect this issue.
Anemia can make you feel dizzy, lightheaded, fatigue or you can experience a rapid heartbeat. If your CBC shows a low level of red blood cells, we can discuss next steps together to help you feel better faster! A diet change and incorporating more iron is typically a reliable treatment plan.
Diet Swaps to Treat Anemia
- Eat iron-rich foods like lean meat, fish, eggs and dried beans.
- Consume more folic acid from dark, leafy green vegetables.
- Increase your vitamin D intake.
- Take an iron supplement as prescribed.
Have you been feeling faint or lightheaded? Come see us for a quick CBC test at AFC Urgent Care Ballantyne.
