Any time you have an accident that involves possible injury, especially an accident for which another party might prove liable, you need to seek medical attention immediately. Whether you visit urgent care or head to the emergency room, having a doctor look over your injuries can prove vital, not only to your physical recovery, but to your ability to recover the damages you need following an accident.
Medical Care Determines the Extent of Your Injuries
Sometimes, you may think that you can self-diagnose and treat your injuries. You may not have considerable pain after the accident, so you may assume that you suffered relatively minor injuries. However, pain can take time to set in after injuries ranging from whiplash to broken bones. Often, patients do not feel pain immediately after the accident, or might suffer more serious pain.
Over time, however, more serious symptoms may begin. Patients with traumatic brain injury may suffer from minor disorientation at the scene of the accident, but find themselves dealing with serious headaches and memory loss over the next several days. A patient with a broken bone might walk away from a slip and fall, but later find the injured limb essentially unusable.
A full medical evaluation after the accident, on the other hand, can better determine the full extent of the patient’s injuries. That determination may prove essential to establishing the patient’s right to compensation as part of an injury claim. If you do not have documented injuries from the accident, you may find it much more difficult to fully establish the damages you sustained because of the accident and seek the financial recovery you deserve for those losses.
Immediate Medical Care Allows You to Begin Treatment
The longer you wait to get treatment after any type of accident, the more serious your injuries may grow, and the longer it may take for you to recover from the accident. For example, suppose that you suffer a broken bone. You may have some pain, but you may assume that it just occurred because of bruising and that it will resolve over time. You may limit your activities for a short period of time, but go back to normal activity soon thereafter.
As a result, the broken bone may heal wrong. The damage can cause ongoing pain, weakness, and other limitations. You may require surgery in order to treat it, or your doctor may note that you cannot fully repair that damage, based on how long it took for you to seek medical treatment after your accident.
The same holds true for other injuries. When you suffer any type of injury, the sooner you receive medical treatment, the sooner you can start on the road to recovery, and the better your overall prognosis. When you delay treatment, you may find that it significantly interferes with your recovery. As a result, you may have to spend longer in recovery, or you may have lifelong limitations related to your accident.
Medical Care Establishes When Your Injuries Took Place
When you suffer injuries in an accident, you may assume that the insurance company, from auto insurance to premises liability insurance, will take care of the damages you sustained because of the accident. However, insurance companies often do not want to make it easy for injury victims to recover the compensation they deserve for those damages. In fact, insurance companies may use a variety of tactics to limit or delay the compensation injury victims can recover.
In some cases, that may include trying to prove that you suffered your injuries at a time other than the incident that the insurance company would have to cover.
Suppose, for example, that you suffer a head injury in a car accident. You might have the right to pursue compensation for the losses associated with a brain injury, including the need for medical care or your inability to go back to work because of memory or focus problems, from the insurance company that covers the driver that caused your accident. However, because you did not seek medical care at the time of the accident, the insurance company might try to blame your brain injury on a sporting mishap earlier in the week. If you cannot prove when your injuries took place, the insurance company may refuse to pay for those damages altogether.
A Doctor Can Determine What Activities You Need to Avoid
After an injury, you may have a long list of activities you need to avoid in order to reduce the risk that you will make those injuries worse. If you attempt to self-treat your injuries or do not take special precautions to avoid further injury, you may end up making your injuries worse. Take a head injury, for example: you may need to avoid contact sports or anything that could risk further head trauma for weeks after the injury to avoid making it worse. If you engage in those activities anyway, the insurance company could deny liability for any further damages caused by those actions.
When you see a doctor immediately after your accident, the doctor can provide you with vital insight into what activities you may need to avoid and how you can protect yourself after your accident. If you do not see a doctor, on the other hand, you may inadvertently engage in potentially dangerous activities, from putting too much weight on an injured limb to engaging in activities that could further risk of a head injury. Not only can that mean more serious injuries and limitations for you, it may mean that you cannot recover the full compensation you might need and deserve for those damages.
Did You Suffer Injuries in an Accident?
If you suffered injuries due to another party’s negligence, not only do you need a care team dedicated to your medical care, you need a lawyer who can help guide you through the claim process and provide essential insight into how you can protect yourself. Contact Cambre & Associates today to learn more about your right to compensation.