Top Tips for Talking to Your Doctor About Your Car Accident

When you receive treatment for your car accident injuries, you may feel overwhelmed about what you should share with your doctor. Below are some of the top tips to help guide your conversations with your doctor to best support your recovery and preserve your right to pursue compensation for your injuries.

Tell Your Doctor All About Your Car Accident Injuries

Don’t be shy or ashamed when speaking to your doctor about your injuries. Tell your doctor exactly what’s hurting and where you’re feeling discomfort or pain. You shouldn’t be concerned about whether you’re giving too much detail when it comes to your car accident-related injuries and how you’re feeling.

Additionally, you want to be sure to let your doctor know that the pain and discomfort you are feeling began after you were involved in a car accident. This can help the doctor in their examination and diagnosis of your symptoms and/or injuries. This will also help your future accident claim. A record showing a direct connection between the car accident and your injuries strengthens your claim.

Provide Your Full Medical History

Be honest with your doctor about your medical history. If you are being treated for your injuries by a doctor who has been involved with your care before the accident, they may already have a record of your medical history. If you were taken to a hospital following the accident, and are alert, or if you visited a new doctor following the accident, you should inform your doctor about your full medical history.

This is imperative for two reasons. First, and most importantly, it’s vital for your health and recovery. Your medical history can aid your doctor in their present treatment of your injuries as well as help them ensure that they aren’t doing anything that could aggravate or conflict with any preexisting conditions you may have.

Second, it allows your doctor to rule out the possibility of your car accident-related injuries being linked to any health issues that may have existed before the car accident. This will support your claim and/or lawsuit, particularly if insurance companies or the responsible party attempt to argue that your injuries or symptoms existed before the car accident.

Speak with Certainty About the Accident

It’s important to let your doctor know that the injuries for which you need treatment were sustained in a car accident. However, you should do your best to stick to providing details that you are certain about. While it’s understandable for you to be unsure about some details regarding a traumatic event, such as a car accident, giving inaccurate details about it to your doctor could come back to hurt your future claim. If you provided inconsistent details about the accident to your doctor and in your claim or lawsuit, those conflicting details may be used to question your veracity and the validity of your claim or lawsuit.

Ask About Your Recovery

You may think it’s premature, but be sure to ask your doctor about the outlook for your recovery from your injuries and your treatment plan. While your doctor may not be able to predict an exact outcome, they can give you their best prognosis for your injuries and what your recovery may look like. Even if the road to recovery is long and it seems challenging already, this can help you prepare for your recovery journey, including being prepared for possible anxiety related to your accident. This information can also help when the time comes for you to file your claim or lawsuit. Having an idea of your treatment plan can help your attorney calculate the value of your claim or lawsuit so that they can try to help you obtain full compensation.

What Are Your Limitations? When Can You Return to Work?

It’s important to take care not to potentially exacerbate your injuries or compromise your claim or lawsuit. You may be tempted to rush back to work after being injured in a car accident. It’s understandable. Treatment costs for your injuries may be racking up and you simply may not be able to afford missing days or weeks from work. But this could be detrimental to both your health and your chances of obtaining the compensation you deserve.

You need to allow time for your injuries to heal as much as possible before returning to your normal day-to-day activities. Because of this, your doctor will inform you of when they believe it would be best for you to return to work and to any other usual activities. Additionally, your doctor can let you know what, if any, limitations you may have due to your injuries and how long they may last.

Rushing back to work against your doctor’s orders or without allowing time for adequate recovery can be used by insurance companies or the person responsible for your accident as evidence that your injuries weren’t as serious as you claimed.

Call Brach Eichler Injury Lawyers

If you have been injured in a car accident that was someone else’s fault, contact the Brach Eichler Injury Lawyers New Jersey car accident attorneys today. Our highly skilled attorneys can help you pursue the compensation you may be owed. Call us at (973) 364-8300 or contact us online for a free initial consultation.