Car accident can be an unfortunate part of life. Even if you feel fine after a car accident, you should always see a doctor.
It Can Help Address Your Pain before It Starts
Of course, if you feel pain after an accident then you should seek medical care as soon as you can. However, even if you don’t feel any pain, seeing a doctor needs to still be a priority. While the human body is resilient, it is not meant to withstand the pounds of plastic, glass, and metal that collide during an accident. Even the safest car can’t fully protect you. Your body reacts to the stress by releasing hormones that can temporarily dull pain for a brief period. What feels just like a minor ache after the accident can then progress to debilitating pain hours or sometimes days after the accident. The nature of some injuries means that symptoms don’t show up for months depending on the location, severity, and type of the injury. With a timely exam, a doctor can identify any soft tissue or skeletal damage that may start to cause you pain or worsen pain in the long run.
A Doctor Visit Can Help Speed up an Insurance Claim
An insurance company uses different automated systems in order to adjust the claim based on points of data about the accident and what happens afterward. One piece of data the insurance company uses is whether or not you got medical attention after the accident and how long it took you to do so. Many companies will consider 72 hours reasonable in order to seek medical care. This is why it’s important that you at least get an exam for even minor concerns after an accident. This shows the insurance company that you may have injured during the crash and are being proactive about your care. Delaying medical care longer means that you could be at risk for lowering the compensation you get after the accident for your injuries. Getting an appointment with your primary care physician could be hard since it is a short window. Urgent care centers do have high out-of-pocket costs and may not understand the nature of chronic pain and muscular injuries, but it’s still important for you to seek out care in order to help your claim.
A Doctor Visit Can Help Improve Your Legal Claim
If your accident was someone else’s fault, then you are going to be dealing with an unfamiliar insurance company to get medical bills paid. Just as it would be if you were dealing with your own insurance company, getting timely care for your health is going to be necessary when negotiating with the at-fault driver’s insurance. If you have an attorney to help navigate the complexities of dealing with insurance, then your attorney will also insist on frequent medical exams. The at-fault driver’s insurance company may try to discredit the seriousness of your injuries in order to reduce the settlement amount. One tactic they like to use is claiming that the injuries happened after the accident or were pre-existing. The longer you wait to get medical care then the harder it is to prove that your injuries were due to the crash. Detailed and timely records of any exams and recommended treatment can help you fight this tactic and provide a comprehensive record of what happened after the accident.
How Is It Possible to Miss an Injury?
You may think that it’s hard to miss an injury, but it’s more common than you think. Your back and neck can be vulnerable to injuries that you just can’t see. After the accident, you are still in a state of shock with adrenaline rushing through you so you may not feel pain until later.
What if You Never Feel Any Pain?
Even after a serious accident, it is possible that you may never feel any pain and feel fine. You can experience a car accident without any physical repercussions. However, you may not feel the pain of an injury and soft tissue injuries can become debilitating later on in life. Just for peace of mind, and even if you are feeling much better, be sure to get checked out.
Who Should You See after a Car Accident?
If your injuries require immediate attention, then go to the emergency room. The ER equipped to handle emergency situations, but the professionals aren’t always set up to help you deal with the aftermath of your injuries. The ER isn’t going to be there for follow-ups or to evaluate the severity of the injuries. You can also see your primary care physician, but you will likely have to pay at first since they won’t be able to bill the car insurance company and instead have to bill health insurance. Seeing a doctor is worth the costs.
What to Say to a Doctor after a Car Accident
You should provide the doctor you see with a detailed account of the problems you have because of the accident. The more information you can provide then the more accurate your claim documentation will be and the better care you will get. Be sure to tell your doctor of any previous conditions or injuries you have, even if these happened over 20 years ago. Not doing so can mean that the insurance company can claim that you haven’t been forthcoming or truthful. Those with pre-existing conditions still entitled to compensation after an accident.
After you seek medical attention, you then want to contact a lawyer. Sumwalt Anderson car accident lawyers are here to help you if you have been injured after an accident and can help negotiate your settlement to get the compensation you need for your injuries.