Medical Treatment After a Houston Car Accident

In the immediate aftermath of a vehicle crash, the most important thing for you to do is get medical attention. Even before you contact a car accident lawyer, you should go to a hospital, whether someone else drives you or you call for an ambulance. The medical treatment you get after a Houston car accident could have a major impact on your ability to recover financially.

Refusing Medical Treatment

It is ideal to document a person’s injuries as soon as possible after a crash – and that should include every part of the body, even if it does not initially hurt. Insurance companies will look at how soon after the incident a person complained of a particular injury. The longer they wait to document the injury, the less likely they are to believed.

A lot of times, people do not realize they are hurt right away and they wake up the next day and realize they are in a lot of pain. It is not uncommon at the scene of an accident in Houston for a person to refuse medical treatment and only later realize they are significantly injured.

Finding the Right Doctor After a Car Crash

One mistake people make a lot after a vehicle accident is going to a doctor who is not in the business of helping people injured in car crashes. Someone who wants to recover damages from an incident will need to have medical records that adequately document their injury.

In many instances, people might go to their primary care physician and the doctor’s notes may not be as extensive. If they went to a doctor who treats car accident victims regularly, they might have a more in-depth report or conduct a full orthopedic exam that gathered a tremendous amount of information about their complaints, like whether they had pain radiating into their arms or legs, which can indicate a herniated disk. In addition, these doctors could:

• Measure a patient’s range of motion, which would be an indication of the extent of their injuries.
• Measure their pain on a scale, which would help identify how much pain they are actually in.
• Document how the injuries are affecting their ability to live their life and engage in their usual activities.

A Houston lawyer could help find a doctor whom they know will be thorough in documenting these car accident injuries. That can make a big difference in what the insurance company is willing to pay because they rely on the documentation that substantiates the injury.

Failure to Follow a Doctor’s Orders

If a person wants a jury or an insurance company to know how badly they are hurt, it is helpful to follow the recommendations of their doctor to get better. If they are not doing what the doctor tells them to do, that may be an indication to others they are not actually hurt.

Insurance companies use algorithms to value claims. If someone has what is referred to as a “gap in treatment” or a “delay in treatment,” where they wait weeks to go to the doctor for the first time, that could decrease the value of their case in the eyes of an insurance company.

There are lots of reasons people do not go to the doctor after a car crash in Houston, such as the lack of insurance or the belief they will feel better with time or some over-the-counter medication. Unfortunately, insurance companies look at a gap in treatment as an indication the person is not that badly hurt.

Call a Houston Attorney About How to Get Medical Treatment After a Car Crash

Your first task after a crash is to make sure you are safe and your injuries are being addressed. After that, you should hire a personal injury lawyer to represent you and provide keen guidance. Call and learn more about how to navigate medical treatment after a Houston car accident.