A lot of people who are involved in car accidents feel fine after the accidents take place, and because of this, they will not go to the doctor to get checked out. While there might be situations in which this is fine, there are also situations where this is a really bad idea and decision. Any time you get in a car accident, you should seek medical help right away or within 24 hours of your accident occurring, and here are some of the reasons for this.
Some injuries have no instant symptoms
When an accident happens, it is very common for you to feel fine and completely normal, and part of the reason for this is due to adrenaline. Adrenaline is a chemical your body produces when needed, and it tends to cover up pain. Because of this, you might not feel any symptoms from the accident. Instead, you may actually feel fine or even really good, but this does not mean you are not injured. There are plenty of injuries you can incur from a car accident that have no instant symptoms in many cases.
For example, if you have whiplash, you might not feel it right away, but this does not mean you do not have it. Whiplash is the most common soft-tissue injury people incur from car accidents, and it will require treatment. A concussion is another common type of injury you may get from a car accident that will not always show symptoms right away. Even if you do have symptoms of a concussion, you might not recognize them if you have never had one before. There are also other types of injuries you may encounter that will have no instant symptoms.
You cannot get treatment without a diagnosis
The second thing to consider is that if you fail to go to the doctor, you cannot get diagnosed. Without getting diagnosed, you cannot receive treatment. If you wait to visit a doctor and begin having symptoms a few days later, or even weeks later, you will have delayed your diagnosis and treatment. Delaying treatment for whiplash, concussions, or anything else can have negative effects on your prognosis and recovery. Your symptoms might even worsen due to a lack of medical care.
Going to the doctor documents the accident
Finally, you should visit a doctor simply to have the visit documented. You will be able to use this documented visit to prove the correlation between the accident and the health problems you now have. If you do not go to the doctor until months later, it will be a lot harder for you to prove that these injuries were from a car accident that happened months earlier. Proving the correlation between the injuries you have and the car accident you were in is a vital factor in any car accident case. Without the proper proof, you may lose the right to seek compensation from the accident case.
It is always better to play it safe rather than sorry. Visiting a doctor after an accident is not going to hurt you in any way. Instead, though, it will offer a way to find out if you have any health issues, and it will offer a way for you to get the treatment you need. If you were in any type of car accident and have not talked to a lawyer about your situation, you should do so today. You can do this by contacting a law firm in your city and scheduling an appointment to meet with an auto accident attorney. They should be able to help you.
