Five Tips for Talking to Your Doctor about Your Car Accident Injuries

After being hurt in a car accident, your doctor and their medical notes and records are among the most important factors in proving your case. When you pursue a personal injury claim, your physician can provide testimony and evidence about the extent of your injuries. They can also testify that your injuries are the direct result of the accident.

To ensure that your doctor becomes an important ally in your case, keep the following tips in mind. They will help you navigate all your interactions with this crucial resource – your treating physician.

Tell Your Doctor That You Were Involved in a Car Accident

When seeing a doctor for the treatment of pain or other symptoms of injury, be sure to inform them that you were in a car accident. If you simply report that you are feeling pain, your doctor might never ask you if you were in a crash. How can they know to connect your injuries to a crash if they don’t even know that one occurred?

Medical records may provide evidence that connects the injuries you’ve experienced to the accident in question. But if your doctor doesn’t know you were involved in an accident, it is unlikely that they will name a car accident in their notes as the cause of your injuries or offer the medical opinion that your injuries are related to an accident.

Make Sure Your Doctor Has Your Full Medical History

After a car accident, it is important that the doctor you see has your full medical history in hand. If you are seeing your primary care physician, this should not be an issue. However, if the doctor you see is not involved with your care on a regular basis, it is imperative that they know your medical history and how it might affect your current situation. The danger here is that the doctor’s credibility might be questioned if they are unaware of any of your pre-existing conditions. This unfortunate situation can be easily avoided by simply providing your complete prior medical records to any doctor who treats you.

Be Detailed and Specific

It is important not to generalize about your symptoms or suspected injuries. While in discussion with your doctor, try to offer specific, detailed descriptions. For example, rather than simply saying that “my neck hurts”, try to give the doctor more details. Tell them what specific part of your neck hurts and what kind of pain it is. Is it a throbbing, burning, or stabbing kind of pain? Is the pain intermittent or constant? Does it hurt when you attempt certain movements?

Details are important when you tell the doctor about the car accident itself. What type of car accident were you involved in? What was the other vehicle? Where were you sitting in the car? Where was the car impacted? Details not only help a doctor arrive at an accurate diagnosis, but they may also help your doctor link your injuries to the crash.

Discuss Your Treatment Plan

It is important that you understand the course of treatment for your injuries and what your prognosis is. This information is especially vital if your doctor believes that you may need months or even years of treatment and rehabilitation.

If your rehabilitation is expected to extend far into the future, any insurance claim you file should include fair and full compensation for this ongoing treatment. Any settlement or verdict should include the cost of future expenses for medical and personal care. Discuss your treatment plan with your physician in detail.

Ask Whether You Can Still Work

Although many workers feel like they should “tough it out” and keep working while they recover from an accident, this might not be wise. Without proper rest, many find that their recovery progress is slowed. It is also possible to worsen your injuries if you continue to work. This is why it is important to seek your doctor’s opinion as to whether you can handle a return to work. Your doctor can provide documentation in support of a medical leave of absence. In these cases, compensation for lost wages may be recovered.

Contact Us If You Have Been Hurt in a Car Accident

It is important that you contact a seasoned car accident attorney if you have been injured in a car accident that wasn’t your fault. Call the Virginia car accident attorneys of CHASENBOSCOLO at (301) 220-0050, and we can go over all your legal rights and options. Our lawyers have a long history of getting results for our clients.

For more information, we invite you to read or watch our answers to frequently asked questions. The, get in touch with us for a free case consultation today.