Why You Need Medical Treatment After Any Car Accident (Even a Minor One)
Although the majority of the 6 million car crashes that occur in the U.S. each year are minor fender benders, many are not. More than 90 people die every day, and at least 3 million individuals are injured as a result of vehicle collisions.
If you find yourself involved in a car accident, it’s vital for you not to turn down medical care, no matter how you feel.
Five Reasons to Get Immediate Medical Care
Car and truck crashes are never planned, and they certainly aren’t convenient. But don’t let these factors prevent you from obtaining whatever medical care you might need.
Toughing out an injury to avoid the hassle of going to the hospital doesn’t do anyone any favors. Instead, it’s more liable to cause physical, emotional, and financial turmoil for yourself and your family.
Every situation is different, of course, but here are some of the basic reasons why immediate medical care is a necessity after any car accident.
- Adrenaline Rush
After people are involved in a car accident, it’s not uncommon for their body to be flushed with adrenaline and on high alert. Your body will be in fight-or-flight mode and you may not feel any immediate pain or discomfort.
This state could last for a seconds or minutes, or even hours. Only after the adrenaline wears off will you begin to return to your senses and feel the pain. The broken arm, gash above your eye, or bruised rib that you didn’t previously notice will suddenly come screaming to life.
Thus, it’s hard to know whether you’re really okay after a car accident, or adrenaline may be temporarily masking your injuries. That’s why it’s crucial not to trust your mere feelings and get medical attention right away, instead.
- Internal Injuries
“One of the biggest mistakes many people make after they’ve been in a car accident is to tell the other driver, witnesses, or the police that they’re okay and that they don’t need medical attention,” Wilshire Law Firm suggests.
“Even in a minor collision, you need to see a doctor. There may be internal bleeding or other underlying issues that haven’t manifested themselves yet.”
Internal injuries occur often as a result of high-impact collisions. What you may think is simply a bruise or minor ache could actually be something serious, yet invisible to your eye.
A trained medical professional can spot the symptoms and order the correct tests to rule out internal damage.
- Early Treatment
Early medical treatment is crucial to limit the damage and encourage a swift recovery with fewer long-term symptoms and chronic issues. This is certainly true with bone, joint, and tissue injuries.
“On top of the risk of unknown injuries like sprains or strains, it’s most important to find out if you have a head injury,” Armory Urgent Care explains. “Concussions are common with even minor car accidents, and they’re easy to treat. If you don’t catch them, though, they can lead to serious problems.”
- Proper Documentation
While your health is the most important factor, it’s also smart to think about the financial repercussions of your injuries. When you seek immediate medical care, you’re able to establish the proper documentation and obtain expert diagnoses.
Such information will be vital to support any insurance claim or lawsuit you might bring. Without timely medical records, you risk losing most of your leverage, and win little or no financial compensation.
- Covered Medical Bills
You have to accumulate some medical bills in order to get any medical bills properly compensated. Here’s what this means: If you don’t have medical bills on the front end, there will be no documented record to connect any of your future symptoms to the vehicle incident.
As a result, when you eventually do go to the doctor to get treatment, perhaps six months or six years in the future, by that time your bills will become 100 percent your responsibility.
Do you see how this can come back and bite you? The moral of the story is to get treatment now.
Take Care of Yourself
You get only one body and one life. Ignoring medical treatment so you can make it to the office on time or avoid having to sit in the waiting area of an emergency room are not good excuses.
Seek immediate care and worry about the logistical details later. Your health is the number-one priority in a situation like this.