4 Crucial Steps to Seeking Medical Attention for Car Accident Injuries
There are over 33,000 fatal car crashes a year in the United States. When not fatal, car accident injuries typically need medical treatment. But what’s the best way to seek medical attention after a car accident?
If you’ve been looking for ways to find medical treatment after a car accident, we’re here to help. Read on for four crucial steps when seeking medical attention for your car accident injuries.
1. Consider Urgency
One of the first things you should do is decide how urgent your injuries are. It’s especially important to do this immediately after a car accident. Accidents are stressful, and it’s easy to get caught up in the flurry of everything.
There are also times when you won’t get a choice in the matter, such as during intense car accidents. A paramedic or police officer may insist that you go to an emergency room or hospital.
The severity of the accident shouldn’t be the only thing that helps you decide this. You can easily get whiplash or other injuries even in a slow-moving minor accident. It’s always better to veer on the safe side and get attention immediately rather than waiting.
However, if it’s been a few days since your accident, you should still monitor yourself. If you’re experiencing new, sudden pains or stiffness in your neck, you may have gotten an injury you didn’t notice.
You will never regret getting medical treatment or attention, so don’t hesitate. If it seems urgent, go as soon as you can. If not, you should still get checked out so you can make sure there aren’t any hidden injuries.
2. Find a New Doctor
Another tip that you might not expect is that you shouldn’t go to your general practitioner with your injuries. Instead, these are specific situations in which a car accident doctor or professional can help you with.
Your Primary Care Physician has training in treating internal health conditions and other general ailments. However, in your current situation, you’ll need a doctor that can accurately identify car accident injuries. Ailments like whiplash, concussions, soft tissue damage, and more are all common after an accident.
Finding a doctor that can specifically find these injuries is a much better option for you. Consider looking for a personal injury doctor and explain to them the situation and severity of the accident.
You can also ask your general practitioner for a recommendation to a specialist. Your doctor is fully aware that you need a specialist and will do what they can to help you. However, if your doctor remains insistent that they can treat you, you should still try to find a different doctor instead.
3. Check Insurance
Unfortunately, it’s no secret that finances can often affect our decisions in these matters. It’s far from unheard of for people to not seek medical attention because of money. Maybe it’s an inability to afford medical care, or a hesitance to take on medical debt.
If you can do so, check your insurance and make sure that your chosen doctor is covered. Doing so can also help you see what other doctors might land in your budget.
Specialist care can often prove a bit more expensive, but if your insurance can cover it, it can help immensely. Note what is and isn’t covered so that you know what to expect when it comes time to pay.
Speak to a representative and see what’s covered. Doing so can help you narrow down your search if you’re having difficulty.
You also can seek specialists that focus on making you better before anything else. That way, you can get a diagnosis without funds being at the forefront of everything.
While money can present many complications, you must put your health first. Medical debt is a daunting prospect, but spending months in pain – or worse – trumps debt. Do your best to keep your health at the forefront and try to keep an insurance policy that can properly cover you.
4. Ask Questions and Be Honest
Once you’ve found a doctor, it’s important that you ask questions and stay active during the consultation. Many patients go to a doctor and treat the appointment as something happening to them. Doing so can lead to a lack of communication and many misunderstandings.
Instead of just sitting and waiting while the doctor checks you out, ask them questions. Speak about your symptoms and ask how long you should expect to deal with the injuries you’re carrying.
Having this open communication can help you know what to expect. It’s especially useful if your injuries remain longer than they should. If your doctor tells you that you’ll be better in a week and you’re still in pain a month later, you know you should likely seek another visit.
Just as important as keeping this lane of communication open is your honesty. Your doctor will ask you more than a few questions as they diagnose and inspect you. These questions help them understand the severity of injuries they can’t see, like tissue damage or bruised bones.
Make sure that you’re being completely honest with your doctor when answering their questions. A lack of honesty can lead to a misdiagnosis and a continuation of your injury.
Heal from Car Accident Injuries
Getting medical treatment after sustaining car accident injuries can feel overwhelming, but don’t stress. Put your health first and get treatment as soon as you can, especially for urgent injuries.
For more information on treatment after an accident, contact us. You can also browse our website to learn more.
