Urgent care can treat an infection but rarely diagnoses a skin condition. Here is what genuinely needs to be seen quickly, what can wait, and how our same-week scheduling works.
Call the clinic at (786) 738-9515 and describe what is happening. We hold slots for urgent skin problems and can often see you the same day or next day at 8364 SW 8th St, Westchester.
Questions about your own situation? Call (786) 738-9515.
Some skin problems are time-sensitive because delay changes the outcome:
Facial swelling with difficulty breathing or swallowing, widespread blistering with mouth or eye involvement, or a rapidly spreading rash with high fever are emergency-room situations, not clinic ones. Go there first.
Most skin concerns are not emergencies, and that is not the same as saying they can be ignored. A mole that has changed shape, colour or size should be examined within weeks — see mole evaluation and skin cancer screening. Persistent acne, hair thinning, chronic dryness, melasma, warts and skin tags are all planned visits.
The reason we make this distinction openly is that many practices have a months-long wait, so patients with urgent problems end up in urgent care and patients with routine problems end up worrying for a long time. Neither is necessary.
Urgent care is built for acute illness and injury. It is good at antibiotics for an obvious infection and at draining an abscess. It is not built to distinguish eczema from a fungal infection from a drug reaction from an early cutaneous lymphoma, and it does not perform biopsies or set up a treatment plan for a chronic condition.
The practical result is a course of steroid cream, temporary improvement, and the same problem three weeks later. If your skin problem has already been treated once without resolving, the next visit should be with dermatology.
Call (786) 738-9515 and describe the problem, when it started, and whether it is spreading. That is enough for us to decide whether you need a slot today, this week, or a planned visit. Walk-ins are accommodated when there is room, but a phone call is faster.
Bring a list of your medications, including anything started in the last month, and photos if the rash looks different from how it looked earlier. If the problem is on a part of the body that is hard to see, a photo taken by someone else helps.
Our primary care practice is on the same block, so if what you have turns out to be systemic rather than dermatologic, the handoff happens in-house. Telehealth is an option for follow-ups and for deciding whether you need to come in.
Medical dermatology visits are billed to insurance. Most major plans are accepted — see insurance accepted. Bring your card and photo ID. If you are self-pay, ask when you call and we will be straight with you about what a visit and any in-office procedure involves.
Cosmetic treatments are not covered by insurance and are not what this page is about, though they are available on the same schedule: aesthetics.
Often yes, when the schedule allows. Calling (786) 738-9515 first is faster because we can tell you whether to come now or take a held slot.
We hold slots for urgent skin problems and can frequently see you the same day or next day.
For an obvious infection or abscess when we have no opening, yes. For a rash or condition that needs a diagnosis, dermatology is the better use of the visit.
Facial swelling with breathing or swallowing difficulty, widespread blistering involving the mouth or eyes, or a fast-spreading rash with high fever. Go to the emergency room.
Yes, when a lesion needs one, it is usually done at the same visit rather than scheduled separately.
