Your health comes first. Here’s how to protect it with an Auto Injury Doctor.
If you are seriously injured in a car accident, emergency services will probably come to the scene and take you to the closest ER, where you will receive an thorough examination. But what about seemingly minor car accidents, where there is no immediate pain or noticeable discomfort? You need an auto injury doctor.
Often times, people who have car accidents don’t even know they have been injured. The reason for this is that your body responds to pain and stress by producing morphine-like hormones called endorphins. Endorphins (and adrenaline) can mask the pain until your body and mind have had time to recover from the stress of the accident.
Let’s talk about why it’s important to get a thorough medical exam after a car accident even if you don’t immediately feel hurt. There are really two reasons to do this: 1) early diagnosis will often prevent a greater injury for occurring, and 2) you will want to preserve your rights to healthcare if you experience pain down the road.
If You Are Hurt, See An Injury Doctor
Everyone has heard a story from a friend who said they had an accident and didn’t feel any sort of pain – until three days later – then BAM! It hits and it hits hard. It’s not uncommon for your insurance company to want to take a recorded statement as soon as possible after the accident. Please keep delayed pain in mind when you give your statement. We’re not talking about a healthy person who suddenly sees a cash settlement, we’re talking about people who may experience long term pain that didn’t show up until a ffew days or even a week later.
Those who are experienced in auto injury will tell you this: whenever you feel symptoms of injury after a car accident — pain, numbness, dizziness, feeling out of sorts, whatever it is — you should get medical care. Don’t assume that your pain will clear up on it’s own, or even with over the counter medications. Do the safe thing and have a medical doctor check it out.
Get Treatment Until Your Doctor Releases You
Once you are diagnosed with an auto injury, you doctor will put you on a course of treatment. You may feel worse before you feel better. Most of the time, that is because the doctor will work the muscles surrounding the injured area. The idea is to build up the area to take the stress off the injury. Always remember to follow the course of treatment until your doctor tells you to stop. Following the treatment protocol is well established and will provide long range improvement.
Your auto injury doctor is in the best position to know how seriously you are injured, and to prescribe the best treatment. Always keep in mind that the more you do in the early days of treatment, the more aggressively you will heal during recovery. It’s not always easy to make the time to have a treatment, but it will pay off in the long run. to help you recover more quickly, and to make you as comfortable as possible while you are recovering. Your doctor will record your progress, so if there is ever a questions from your insurance company about how your recovery is going, it will be well documented.
Talk With Your Doctor
Always make sure that your doctor understands how you are feeling. It’s not uncommon for people to get in front of their doctor and just “freeze”. He asks how you are feeling, and you answer with “OK”, when in reality you don’t feel like your situation is improving. It’s fine to remind him that you are not sleeping well, have trouble sitting for long periods, or even have an uncommon and unrelenting headache. Those are all triggers that will cause him to rethink his treatment and add additional care.
Also make sure that your medical records accurately state your symptoms. If you are unsure that the notes reflect the amount of pain you are in – ask to go over the notes with your doctor. The primary goal is to get you well. The secondary goal, but just as important, is to make sure that your chart is properly documented in case you need additional care. If you make an injury claim, the defense always looks at your medical history to find something (such as a pre-existing condition) that they can point to as the “real” cause of your current symptoms. So, make sure that your medical history is accurate, especially when it comes to pre-existing conditions.
