When to Receive Medical Treatment After a Car Accident—it Can Be Free! – Liberty Law

If you’ve been injured in an accident and are in pain, you want to get better as quickly as possible. When is the right time to get treatment? Here are some tips:

If you think you have a serious injury (such as fractures or internal bleeding), first go to the hospital for an examination and/or X-rays. The doctors will make sure that you are stable and will check for life-threatening injuries.

Even if the hospital doctors do not find any life-threatening injuries, this does not mean that you have not been harmed. If you are in pain, a health care specialist should quickly examine you—be it your family physician, doctor of osteopathic medicine, or a chiropractor— to determine the source of the pain. Since the muscles and ligaments that stabilize the spine are particularly vulnerable to injury in a car accident, it is important to quickly establish whether your spine has been damaged or become misaligned. Your health provider will therefore order X-rays of your spine and/or neck.

Serious symptoms can result from spinal injury and/or misalignment, including:

• neck pain
• upper back pain
• lower back pain
• headaches
• whiplash
• pinched nerves
• organ problems
• limited range of motion

It is essential that you receive rapid treatment for an injured spine, particularly if the spinal vertebrae have become misaligned. As the soft tissue around the spine heals in the weeks following the accident, the muscles will again try to stabilize the spine—i.e., lock these joints down into their misaligned position. This can lead to a host of symptoms (some listed above) that may occur months or even years after the accident happened.

Your car insurance will usually pay for the first $3,000 in medical bills related to treatment for your injuries. You can also receive additional medical treatment without paying the bills up front. If you have been in a car accident and suffered an injury, contact an attorney to discuss the financial options available to you.