If you get in an accident, it is important that you go for a medical evaluation as soon as possible. The first reason you should seek medical attention is to ensure the safety of your health. Even if you do not feel something is wrong, you need to get examined by a doctor. Many injuries do not produce symptoms immediately. They may go unnoticed for days or weeks which could cause you greater harm. But, a doctor’s exam could detect the injury and allow them to prescribe a treatment that could reduce the damage.
Another reason you should see a doctor after being in an accident is to establish medical records detailing how any injury you may have affects your well-being. This information could make a difference in whether you receive a personal injury settlement.
To make sure you have the right information in your records you need to understand what questions you should ask your doctor after an accident. Asking your doctor the following questions after an accident could make a difference in your personal injury claim.
What Exactly Are My Injuries?
You should ask your doctor for a detailed understanding of your injuries and how they affect your body. Knowing this is important to your health recovery. It is also important to any personal injury claim you may file.
Those deciding your claim need to know more from you than you hurt your back, leg, arm, etc. They will want to know the exact extent of your injuries and how each injury affects your body’s function.
Will I Be in Pain and If so How Long?
If you have injuries from an accident, chances are you will experience some level of pain. Depending on the severity of your pain it could greatly impact your daily life. Because of this, you could recover damages for any pain you have suffered or may suffer in the future.
But, since pain is subjective, it would help to have documentation from your doctor about the possible extent of pain your injury can cause and for how long it could last to back up your claim of suffering pain.
Will My Injuries Cause Me Other Problems in the Future?
Many injuries from accidents can cause extended or long-term health problems. The need for treating these future health problems could lead to large medical bills. Compensation for future medical costs is part of the damages you could recover.
You would need your doctor to provide an opinion about what future health problems you may have and the potential treatments you may need. A cost projection could be made from this information.
What Caused My Injuries?
This may seem like an odd question to ask your doctor, but the information could help your personal injury claim. Often the legal team for the responsible party’s insurance company tries claiming that the health problems a claimant is suing for were pre-existing and not caused by the accident.
Presenting your doctor’s claim that your health problems occur because of the injuries you sustained in the accident helps in refuting such a claim.
Can I Return To Work?
You could receive compensation for lost wages since your accident. To get compensation for lost wages, you need written documentation from your doctor stating your inability to return to work. The documentation will need to explain how your injuries affect your ability to work and how long they may keep you from working.
Getting Help with Your Personal Injury Claim
Personal injury claims can be complicated. If you try handling your claim by yourself, you could endure quite a battle. This is largely because the law places the burden of proof upon the injured party. So, as you may work hard to prove the fault of the other party, they will have the help of their Insurance’s legal team to dispute the claims. It would help if you had your own experienced attorney battling for your right to compensation.
Brock & Stout’s personal injury attorneys have over 20 years of experience helping clients get the compensation they deserved. Contact us for a free evaluation of your personal injury claim to see if we can help you too.