4 Tips for Medical Appointments Following a Car Accident

Have you recently been hurt in a car accident? Getting medical attention as soon as possible is critical for protecting your health and putting you on the path to recovery. If you have a car insurance claim and are planning to file a personal injury lawsuit, you need to keep these tips in mind with your medical appointments.

Take Notes

While it’s true that your doctor will record things in your medical record, keeping your own notes is recommended. After an accident, you may have a slew of new medical appointments and it’s hard to keep track of who said what. With your own notes on board, you can bring relevant information to other doctors and specialists and have a clear record of what’s already been ruled out or tried in your case.

For example, if your primary care doctor has sent you to physical therapy but also referred you to an orthopedic surgeon for a consult, you’ll want to have all your notes about all appointments and treatments so far to keep things straight.

Your notes also serve as a timeline of what you’ve had to deal with after an accident, which showcases how your life has been disrupted by taking new medications, attending medical appointments, and taking off work.

Follow the Doctor’s Advice

In addition to taking notes in your doctor’s appointments, make note of what you tried that gave you relief or healing, too. This will help you keep things straight when you go back to the doctor to remember what was most effective. For example, if your doctor gives you pain medications but you’re still having trouble sleeping or walking around throughout the day, they may switch your treatment plan as a result.

Since each car accident is unique, it can take some time to get to the treatment plan that works best for you. In catastrophic injury cases, this becomes even more complex as you likely have numerous medical appointments with many different doctors that can stretch over months.

Some people find it helpful to give each day a “score” to they can see what treatment options were most effective for them. You can score from 1-10 or using letter grades to help you remember. Again, this information informs your doctor’s plans, but may also be used in your personal injury claim.

Report Any New Symptoms

Some injuries, including shoulder, neck, and back injuries, may not be easily noticed immediately after the accident. It’s quite common for issues such as whiplash to develop in the days after an accident. For this reason, continue to stay on top of your medical appointments and share any new symptoms with your doctor.

Similarly, if you notice any other issues with how your injuries affect your life, take note of these in a journal. For example, if you start to notice that your knee pain makes it hard to climb stairs or participate in sports you enjoyed before, keep track of this. This information may be important for your personal injury claim to tell the story of how the accident has affected your life. Your doctor might also recommend different treatments based on the way the injury affects your day to day.

Don’t Be Afraid of Second Opinions

An accident can lead to many different outcomes, including for people in the same vehicle. Additionally, there’s no one way to treat injuries or a specific timeline in terms of what your recovery looks like. It varies based on the severity of your injuries, any compounding injuries, and many other factors. If you don’t feel confident with the diagnosis or treatment plan you received from your doctor, you can get a second opinion.

Your personal injury lawyer may even recommend getting a second opinion after your initial medical appointments. Ultimately, the most important thing is your ability to heal and recover. If a treatment option isn’t working for you or is making things worse, speak up.

Final Thoughts

If you’re dealing with the fallout of a preventable car accident, you’re not alone. Plenty of Californians suffer the consequences of a car accident and end up navigating the medical appointment process on their own. If you have a claim against an at-fault driver, contact our law firm for support with your claim.