There are numerous reasons that people may not want to see a doctor after a car crash. Perhaps they don’t currently have health insurance, or the policy they carry has a high deductible. Maybe they don’t notice any signs of injury and don’t want to spend any more time dealing with the aftermath of the collision.
While there are many reasons that people may delay or avoid seeing a doctor after a wreck, they might put themselves at a significant disadvantage by giving in to that initial impulse to bypass medical evaluation. The following are some very compelling reasons to consider seeing a physician after a motor vehicle collision.
A risk of invisible injuries
Internal injuries are often hard for people to self-diagnose. Someone with a traumatic brain injury or internal bleeding in the abdomen may not notice instantaneous symptoms. Without a doctor’s expertise and specialty medical equipment, it may not be possible to accurately diagnose internal injuries after a car crash. Even people with a degree of medical training can easily overlook the early warning signs of internal injuries after a car crash.
Injuries can worsen without care
Internal bleeding and brain injuries can slowly develop more severe symptoms or new symptoms if people don’t receive treatment. In fact, people may have stable fractures or even incomplete spinal cord injuries that become worse suddenly several days after the initial collision. Internal bleeding and swelling inside the skull can continue unchecked without treatment. Stable fractures and injuries to the spine can worsen abruptly due to physically-demanding jobs, exercise or mild secondary traumas, like falling out of a chair.
Getting compensation can be harder with a diagnostic delay
If someone waits several days or a week to see a doctor after a car crash, they open themselves up to skepticism regarding the origins of their injuries. Insurance professionals and lawyers representing the party at fault for the crash could potentially claim that the injuries occurred after the collision. The sooner someone sees a doctor, the easier it is to connect their condition to the traffic collision they experience. Without the right treatment and diagnosis, people’s conditions can worsen, and their right to compensation could be vulnerable.
Seeing a doctor after a car crash is often a smart decision. A failure to do so could lead to truly regrettable consequences.The post 3 reasons to see a doctor after a car crash first appeared on Martinez & Schill LLP.
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