You were injured in a motor vehicle accident. Now what?
After an accident, receiving medical attention should be top priority. A visit to the local urgent care or emergency department is a good way to get fast care. However, it is also important to visit your primary care doctor to be checked over after an accident. Your doctors know your body and should be familiar about any prior problems you may have had. Listening to the treatment they suggest not only helps your personal injury claim, but it also prevents further damage to your body. Talking to your doctor is a great way to determine what exactly happened to your body during the accident and how to set you on a journey to help heal the resulting injuries.
Visit Your Doctor and Avoid Gaps in Treatment
Upon initial treatment, keep the follow-up appointments your doctors make. Each time you visit your doctor, your symptoms, and treatments are recorded which can be used in your personal injury claim to prevent any devaluation. Your doctor can also determine whether you need to seek help with a specialist, if you need additional scans such as an MRI, or if a form of physical therapy or chiropractic treatment would be best for you and your body. Though it can be frustrating and inconvenient to continue going to appointments, it is important to avoid any gaps or pauses in care because it could impact the resolution of your case and your healing process.
What if You Cannot Avoid a Gap in Receiving Treatment?
A common gap can occur if you develop symptoms from injuries that you did not have immediately after the accident. You may feel okay, but you can still develop symptoms over time. It is important to discuss these symptoms with your doctor. Our office also communicates with treating physicians and clients about whether those symptoms are a direct (and proximate) result of the accident.
Other gaps occur if there are preplanned events or unexpected circumstances in your life. If you have gaps in treatment due to these circumstances, talk with our attorneys. It is important that our office is aware of any such gaps so that we can help prevent the insurance adjuster from devaluing your claim.
The COVID-19 pandemic is a perfect example of an unexpected gap in treatment. No one could have foreseen the pandemic and how it would affect everyone. Many doctors’ offices were shut down during the pandemic and as a result, treatment for your pain was not available to you. In addition to telehealth, your doctors may have other options available to you to ensure you are receiving medical treatment, even if you are not physically visiting a doctor’s office. Our attorneys feel that clients who perform home exercises in between office visits can be an effective measure to bridge these gaps in treatment.
Our office is working hard to ensure that the insurance companies do not take advantage of the pandemic to devalue your personal injury claims.
Listen to Your Doctor
While regularly visiting your doctor can help your claim, more importantly it can ensure that you are getting the care that you need to heal. It is important to follow their orders when treating for injuries. If your doctor advises against any physical activity such as sports, be sure to avoid them. If you do not follow your doctor’s suggested treatment, the insurance adjuster can argue your injuries were not severe, or that they did not even happen.
While Regularly Visiting Your Doctor Can Help Your Claim, More Importantly it Can Ensure That You Are Getting Us to Help You
If you were involved in a motor vehicle accident, our tri-state attorneys are committed to fighting for you every step of the way. At Burnside Brankamp Law, we fight like the Underdog to win like the favorite.