Proper initial medical treatment after an accident

When injured in an accident, seeking medical treatment immediately is critical even if the injuries are minor. Many of the cases I have handled involve people who did not sustain fractures or clear serious physical injuries at the scene itself. These cases often involve injuries, such as ligament and back disc issues, that get worse over time, making it important to receive initial medical treatment near the accident itself as soon as possible. Delaying medical treatment can jeopardize your health and prejudice your case.

Another issue that arises in many of my cases is when people only complain about the body part that hurts the most while ignoring everything else that is injured. For example, they might mention a fractured wrist that is in pain to the attending medical personnel, but neglect the pain they have in their knee. Or, they have to get stitches for their forehead, but they don’t mention that they can’t really move their shoulder. This is natural, as people are concerned with the most painful injuries at that time.

What happens, however, is that, over time, as your forehead begins to heal but you continue to experience substantial pain and lack of movement in your shoulder, you finally go to a doctor three months later to get treatment for your shoulder. Defense attorneys and insurance companies will then argue that you did not complain about your shoulder at the time of the accident and that the injury mysteriously appeared three months later. This will cause many problems for your case. This is why it is important to make complaints about every single part of your body that is in pain and note it to ambulance personnel and treating doctors, as well as to follow-up doctors. Diagnostic tests can be performed to evaluate these injuries and direct you for appropriate follow-up.

If you did not make a complaint about injured body parts immediately after the accident, note to your treating physician that you began feeling pain in that area immediately after the accident. The doctor can then note it as an injury related to the accident if there was no intervening reason to have suffered the injury and the mechanism of the injury is consistent with the accident. This will be helpful for your case.