After a crash, recovery may involve many different tasks. You will need to contact the authorities, make an insurance claim, call a mechanic to assess the damage and more. With so much to do, you may be tempted to brush off minor aches and pains, but skipping a doctor’s visit could come with more risks than you realize. Why should you seek medical attention after a crash?
Your injuries may be more severe than you believe.
Many serious conditions, including traumatic brain injuries or internal bleeding, have symptoms that may not appear for hours, days or even weeks after the initial accident. As a result, you may not immediately identify these injuries, and ignoring those injuries may cause the damage to grow worse. Seeking medical treatment not only allows a doctor to assess your health, but it also ensures that these injuries receive treatment immediately.
In addition to delayed symptoms, the stress you experience during a car crash could change the way that you experience pain. A condition called stress-induced analgesia can reduce your sensitivity to pain in response to a potentially life-threatening event, making it difficult to gauge the severity of your own injuries.
Getting medical attention immediately can support your claim.
Insurance providers can deny your claim for a variety of reasons, including a lack of medical necessity or noncompliance with treatment protocols. Immediate medical attention documents the severity of your injuries, links them to the crash and shows that you took them seriously.
Immediate medical attention can also support your legal case if a negligent driver caused the crash. Documenting your injuries links them to the crash and builds the evidence necessary to hold others responsible for their negligence on the road.
Even if you do not believe that your injuries need treatment, seeking medical attention after a crash is one important way to protect your health and your access to the financial support you need.