Medical Treatment After the Car Accident
If you have been involved in a car accident, the question ultimately is raised, “Should I hire a car accident attorney”. The answer to this question is a resounding “Yes.” The very basic premise behind this answer involves protecting your legal rights and the legal rights of your loved ones when you or someone you love has been involved in a car accident. This article will briefly address why it is imperative to hire a St. Petersburg Car Accident Attorney immediately after a car accident to help you receive the medical attention you need.
If you or a loved one has been involved in a car accident, one of the first things we tell our clients to do is to immediately seek medical treatment. Sometimes this takes the form of a trip to the Emergency Room or an appointment at a walk-in clinic. Unfortunately, Emergency Rooms and walk-in clinics are not always set up to provide the best medical service to car accident victims. A story we hear a lot in our practice is that our client was discharged from the Emergency Room and told to follow up with their primary care provider. The problem with this advice is that many primary care providers are not set up to treat auto accident injuries and our clients are faced with potentially foregoing additional necessary medical care because their primary care doctor does not treat auto accident injuries. We see this scenario oftentimes occurring with spinal injuries such as herniated discs.
Car accidents can cause disc herniation, which then leads to radiating pain throughout the affected part of the body. This pain can be debilitating which impacts our clients’ ability to work, earn money, take care of family and many other activities of daily living. Getting our clients in touch with medical professionals who specialize in treating injuries resulting from car accidents is an important function of a car accident attorney. By helping our car accident clients get in touch with a medical provider who understands the nuances of car accident injuries, we are able to help our clients increase the likelihood of a successful car accident injury claim. These medical providers range from Chiropractic Physicians to Board Certified Neurosurgeons and every discipline in between.
Our car accident clients will generally begin treating their injuries with a conservative approach. In other words, medical services which are the least invasive given the presenting diagnosis. For example, if a car accident has caused a cervical disc herniation, the most immediate conservative care often times comes from a Chiropractic Physician. Throughout the course of conservative chiropractic treatments such as spinal adjustments and physical therapy, the chiropractor is able to develop a clearer picture of the injury and what the necessary future steps need to be. A chiropractor will order MRI’s for car accident patients so there is a clear and objective picture of the mechanism of pain and injury. Once the doctor is armed with the MRI, a plan of attack is developed.
If conservative care does not satisfactorily address the injury, the client may be referred out for interventional treatment such as injections. The key takeaway from this progression in the treatment plan is that conservative care has been completed and not fully effective before taking the next step involving more invasive procedures. If our car accident clients continue to be symptomatic after injections or other invasive types of procedures, the medical providers may refer our clients out to a surgeon for a surgical consultation. Surgery is sometimes the last resort for injuries resulting from car accidents. Many car accident victims are understandably wary of surgery. However, surgery is oftentimes only viable and remaining option after a full injury work up for clients continuing to suffer from debilitating pain.
Focus Recovery After an Auto Accident
After a car accident, you will need to focus on your physical recovery. Hiring a St. Petersburg Car Accident Attorney to help you find the medical specialists to help you treat and recover from your car accident injuries is critical. If you or anyone you know has been involved in a car accident, do not wait – contact St. Petersburg Personal Injury Attorneys McQuaid & Douglas for a free consultation.
