Being a parent to a student athlete makes for an exciting, busy and sometimes nerve-racking life. Watching your athlete run past home plate, catch the winning touchdown or spike the ball over the net is exciting—but when it comes to sudden injury, your heart probably skips a beat.

Luckily, the services of an orthopedic walk-in clinic can be a big help in remedying this. Here are four reasons why.

At-the-Moment Convenience

Having kids can fill up a schedule fast, but having student athletes can fill up a schedule even faster—especially when it comes to injury. Luckily, orthopedic walk-in offices are often avaiable to you when injuries occur—after regular clinic hours. Orthopedic Institute's (OI) walk-in hours range from 3 to 7 p.m., weekdays and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., on Saturdays, so you can rest more easily that specialists are ready to care for you student athlete in a timely manner. OI also hosts morning student-athlete clinics on the third floor of its facility Saturdays through Oct. 21, 9-11 a.m. You can check in your student athlete between 8:30 and 10:30 a.m.

Prevent Emergency Room Bills

Having student athletes can get expensive—from paying for equipment to the gas to drive them to practice or attend games—but injuries don’t have to be. Emergency room bills are an expense you can sometimes cut by seeing a walk-in physician for non-emergency situations. Sprains and fractures are not uncommon for student athletes and can be treated by one of OI’s walk-in physicians and can save you the ER visit.

Cut the Middleman

While an ER is always available, moderate or non-severe injuries might not get preferential treatment on being seen when emergency medical situations are present in other patients. If you are not the highest-risk patient in the waiting room, you will likely see a longer wait time. And if your student athlete is referred to a specialist, an appointment may not be available for a few days following your ER visit. OI's walk-in clinic is designed to handle these types of injuries and offer direct contact with an orthopedic specialist when you stop in. 

See a Specialist

Speaking of specialists... Two common injuries athletes suffer from are sprains and knee injuries—physicians at OI are specialized in sport injuries, with physicians that can treat ACL and other knee injuries, as well as foot, ankle, hand, wrist, elbow, back, neck, shoulder and knee injuries. When your athlete gets hurt, go somewhere that offers specialization to ideally see a faster recovery time.