Injured in Accident?

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HAVE YOU BEEN INJURED IN AN ACCIDENT?

AUTO INJURY? GIBSON CHIROPRACTIC CENTER IS HERE TO HELP. THE OFFICE IS HIGHLY TRAINED IN THE TREATMENT OF SOFT TISSUE INJURIES RELATED TO AUTO ACCIDENTS.

CALL TODAY FOR AN APPOINTMENT AT 274-2520.

First Things First

      To Do List After an Accident 

1. Immediately address your injuries.

2. Schedule an examination with a health care provider within 24 hours of an accident, or injury. Even if you believe your injuries are minor get checked out. You may have been treated at the ER. But, remember they are designed and focused for treating severe or LIFE threatening injuries such as heart attack, stroke, internal injuries, serious lacerations, head injuries, etc. Once that they have determined that you do not have a massive injury, it is usually medication and out the door. It is up to YOU to take control of the next step towards health.

3. Report an accident to the police and your own insurance company. Get a copy of the police report and check for mistakes. At least 10 % of reports have an error of some kind; some major. Contact the acting police officer to correct the report. If you have an attorney, make them aware of police report errors. Remember, the insurance company is using the same report to determine liability and pay out!

4. Consult with an attorney whether you want to hire one or not.  The decision of hiring an attorney is up to you. Most attorneys will provide an initial consultation at no charge. A free attorney consultation will provide you with added information. This will assist you in making an informed decision about whether or not to hire legal help. Our office can provide a list of attorneys with extensive, ethical experience. Our knowledge of local attorney offices will let you avoid the three common mistakes that people make when selecting an attorney.

5. Give statements about the accident only to the police.

6. Be careful when providing information to insurance adjusters. Your answers and statements are being recorded. But no recording is made of the insurance adjuster’s questions or statements. Sometimes the give and take of casual conversation can be used against you.

7. Do not miss your scheduled health treatment appointments. Repeated gaps in care can create false impressions that your injuries were not serious, that you weren’t making your best effort to get well, or that you made your injuries worse by not following a recommended treatment protocol. The insurance company often looks for any excuse to not cover your expenses. Don’t give them one!

8. Do not sign any documents from the insurance company without consulting with an attorney. Insurance companies often will try to get you to “sign off” on a quick release from further liability by offering money. They often attempt this scheme before it is known how bad your injuries really are. The insurance companies know well what they are doing! Once you sign a release the insurance company is gone! If injuries don’t resolve and tests reveal more extensive damage, you have to pay out of your own pocket. I can’t begin to count the number of injured people who have entered my office that mistake the mistake of releasing the liable auto insurance company.

9. Do not permit the liability insurance company to have access to your personal medical records without consulting with an attorney.

Most Common Critical Mistakes after an Accident

1^st Mistake:  

Failing to seek immediate care for injuries after an accident.  Each and every year, approximately 10% of the U.S. population is involved in an automobile accident. Nearly 20% of all accident leads to significant injury. Only 30% ever receive treatment.                                                 

 2^nd Mistake 

Pain medication and muscle relaxants can cover up an injury. I am not saying, “Do Not Take Medication”. I have a large amount of respect for the advances of health care through science. For one thing, I have an undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering which makes me scientifically based. Also, my beloved son Cameron was diagnosed with a 2 inch diameter brain tumor on the day after Christmas in 2003. He was rushed to Duke Hospital by ambulance and an 8 hour brain surgery was performed to save his life. How couldn’t I be respectful and be grateful for the advances of medicine?

But you see the point is that pain is the way your body tells you something is wrong. For example, chest pain warns you that something is wrong with your heart. Your thumb hurts after you hit with a hammer because tissue has been damaged. In each case, pain is a messenger that there is a problem.

Medication can be an effective tool in managing your care. But do not minimize thinking how much injury you have if you are taking anti-inflammatories, pain medication, or muscle relaxants because your symptoms are being masked. Also, these medications are not the real tool for correction just like taking a massive pain killer is not the way to treat chest pain      ( heart attack )!

3^rd Mistake

 Many accident victims do not know that Auto insurance usually pays for your treatment without up front fees. It is nothing to be embarrassed about. I was in an auto accident myself years ago. I had no clue about the ins and outs of an accident.  

My office works well with  attorneys, insurance adjusters, or private insurance companies. Our experience, knowledge and relationships have proven very beneficial in assisting patients.

4^th Mistake 

Procrastination is a common, critical mistake.Injury victims often delay for two main reasons. First, the ER doctor often tells them that everything is okay and that everything will go away with time. Other patients think pain will just clear up on its own. So the patient waits  .    .    .    .   and waits   .   .   .    . and waits. Finally, they look for care when symptoms don’t go away.

       5^th Mistake  

Accident victims wrongly relate the severity of their injuries to the damage of the car.Studies show that There is NO Relationship to the Amount of Damage to the Vehicle and the Severity of the Occupant Injuries.

 I do not watch NASCAR on any regular basis. But ESPN and the local news often show major crashes. The drivers of those cars almost always just get up and walk away from the wreck.  

I do not mean to be morbid. But I am sure that by now most of you have seen the fatal crash of Dale Earnhart, Sr. That collision was not a spectacular crash at all. He just veered off a little and went into the wall. His car barely even deformed. I have seen NASCAR collisions on the news where there was little left of the vehicle; pieces flying everywhere. But not Dale’s! Yet the impact was hard enough to basically separate his head from his spinal column.

In his case, his car did not deform. Therefore, almost no energy was absorbed into the deformation of metal. Unfortunately, most of the energy impact was absorbed by Dale. 

But back to the point! You cannot judge how bad your injuries are according to the amount of damage to the vehicle. Lots of vehicle damage or not a lot, your injuries are what they are.

6^th Mistake  

As mentioned before, some people delay treatment because the pain of their injuries is not severe. They finally seek treatment when those mild or moderate pains continue to linger.So Mistake #6 is that, 

You Can NOT Judge the Degree of Your Injury By the Level of Pain That You Have. 

Patients usually enter the office with multiple complaints. It is not unusual at all for one of the milder pain level complaints to be the most injured area.

 For example, I have had patients enter with severe neck pain, headaches, and upper back pain. But they had only moderate left shoulder pain. The severe symptoms of their head, neck, and upper back responded well to treatment, but the left shoulder did not. An MRI revealed a bone spur  and a muscle tear.

The muscle tear did not cause severe pain. But it did cause a moderate persistent pain that did not respond to conservative treatment. This patient was referred out and underwent surgery to repair a torn rotator cuff muscle.

Last modified: 03/29/09