Why Should I Get a Medical Exam After My Accident?
https://youtu.be/NCE4PwbBeo4
Car accidents often result in injuries that have immediate symptoms. You may feel a sudden pain in your neck from whiplash, or you could suffer from another injury with immediate side effects.
If you suffer from a wreck in which you don’t experience pain or symptoms of an injury, you may think that you don’t need to seek medical attention, but you should always receive a medical examination after suffering from a wreck. Even if you don’t have immediate pain, you could have suffered from delayed injuries that don’t become present until days or even weeks later. Additionally, receiving an immediate medical examination is critical for filing an insurance claim and a personal injury claim.
The Impact of Shock
After suffering from a car accident, you might go into shock, which will impact your ability to feel pain. Shock occurs when your body undergoes a traumatic experience. Your body has a natural defense mechanism that releases adrenaline to deal with sudden physical trauma. Going into shock often means that you won’t be able to tell the extent of your injuries because it impacts your ability to feel pain.
When you experience a traffic accident, you need to seek medical attention even if you’re not suffering from pain because of your body’s adrenaline release. You could even suffer from life-threatening injuries that you don’t feel because you’re in shock. An injury that may only feel like a minor ache could become progressively more painful hours or days after the accident, and failing to receive immediate treatment could negatively impact your recovery.
Addressing Delayed Onset Injuries
In addition to shock, you may be unaware of the full extent of your injuries because symptoms may not be apparent yet. Many different types of injuries can come with delayed symptoms including concussions, soft tissue injuries, spinal injuries, and other serious or even life-threatening injuries. You could even experience injuries that don’t become apparent for weeks or months after your accident, and these injuries can become more serious over time.
When you receive a medical examination after your accident, medical professionals will check for common injuries people sustain from car accidents. This is especially important for concussions and spinal cord injuries because both can be fatal if left untreated.
Filing an Insurance Claim
Receiving an immediate medical examination after your wreck is critical for both your health and for receiving compensation for your bills. Insurance companies keep track of how long it takes car accident victims to seek medical attention, and failing to receive immediate medical attention can negatively impact your insurance claim.
Insurance companies typically give victims 72 hours to seek medical attention after a wreck to consider it serious. If you wait longer than 72 hours, insurance companies may try to make the case that your injuries are not severe, and they’ll attempt to deny or undervalue your claim. They’ll use your delay as evidence against you even if you hadn’t yet experienced symptoms of an injury.
Visiting a doctor after your accident also signals to the insurance company that you performed your due diligence when it comes to protecting your health after an accident. If you experience an injury with delayed symptoms, you’ll have a harder time recovering compensation if you didn’t receive an initial medical examination.
Filing a Personal Injury Claim
If your accident was caused by someone else’s negligence, you need to receive a medical examination for your personal injury claim. Timeliness is incredibly important for filing a claim because if you delay, the at-fault party or their insurance company will try to make the case that your injury isn’t severe or that the wreck didn’t cause your injury. Receiving an immediate medical examination will lead to a faster diagnosis of your injuries, which helps you prove that the wreck directly caused your affliction.
You also need to make sure to keep track of all of your medical documentation as you receive treatment. Additionally, you should write down the conversations that you have with your doctor, and you need to keep a journal detailing your pain from day to day. You can use these different documents to prove your personal injury claim because they draw a direct link between the accident and your condition.
Contact a Mississippi Car Accident Attorney
Filing a personal injury claim is often a challenging process, especially if the at-fault party’s insurance company attempts to underpay or outright deny your claim. You can increase the likelihood that you’ll either win or settle with the negligent party and their insurance company by hiring a seasoned personal injury attorney. Personal injury attorneys can help you recover damages for medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering, loss of future earnings, and more.
For expert legal counsel you can count on in Mississippi, contact Lunsford, Baskin, & Priebe, PLLC. We’ve helped numerous Mississippi and residents receive the money they deserved for their wrecks and personal injuries. Call our Jackson office at 601-983-2667. You can also schedule a free case evaluation here.
Video Transcript
If you’ve been involved in an accident, it’s always a good idea to go ahead and get checked out by a medical professional. If you call 9 1 1 and the ambulance will come to the scene, or if you or a family member can get yourself to the emergency room, it’s always a good idea to get checked out. Sometimes a person will be in shock after an accident, won’t realize they’re hurt until later that day or even the next day or the day after. So it’s always a good idea to just go ahead and get checked out, give yourself the peace of mind that you’re okay. Or if you have an injury, go ahead and put a treatment plan in place.
