Car accidents can be fatal or mild depending on the circumstances surrounding the accident. For those with severe injuries, seeing a doctor is mandatory. But for victims with just a small bruise, a minor laceration or even without visible wounds, is getting looked over by a doctor a good thing?
Should you just walk away from the accident and forget about getting a physical just because you think it might eat into your insurance policy or simply because you think it is unnecessary? Well, we think that no matter how fine you feel, at least go get yourself looked over by a doctor. Here’s why:
You’re Risking Your Health
While we cannot fathom a situation in which someone involved in a moderate accident won’t want to see the doctor, the truth is not seeing a doctor is likely to put your health at risk. This is because you may have sustained some injuries that you think will fix heal only to find that they don’t get better.
For instance, there was the case of a teenager who was involved in an accident with a car that was going at just 6 mph. When the car hit his bike, he just simply stood up, dusted himself off and said he was fine. When he told his parents, they rushed him to the hospital. Preliminary x-rays showed that his spine had been partially fractured and he didn’t even know.
According to their GP, if his parents hadn’t insisted, they wouldn’t have caught it early and he’d have been in excruciating pain for the rest of his life.
You Could Negate or Reduce Your Insurance Payout
Insurance adjusters have a checklist that they have to go through before deciding on what your payout or compensation will be. One of these is ensuing that you went to the hospital immediately after you had the accident.
You see, people who don’t are automatically moved to the low value client list while those who do are moved to the high value client list. What this means is that those who didn’t go are automatically considered high risk clients. Therefore, these people are likely to get lower or no payouts and will probably have to pay higher premiums in the future.
Some Injuries Don’t Show Up Immediately
This is true particularly of whiplash and other neck injuries. Sometimes whiplash injuries don’t show up until weeks after the accident. Getting a physical within 72 hours will often help the doctor spot it and start the requisite treatment immediately. Thus, saving you weeks of unexplainable whip lash and acute neck pain.
Treatment is Often Effective Within the 72 Hour Window
You may have heard of instances where accident victims thought they were fine because they felt no pain and then suddenly slumped and died after a few hours or days. These victims probably suffered severe internal bleeds or injury that they didn’t even know they had. Seeing a doctor immediately will help ensure that you get immediate treatment. Besides, treatment within the 72 hour window is usually effective and prevents the injury from getting worse.
A Physical Most likely Won’t Cost Anything Out of Pocket
If you’re worried that it’ll cost you money, you should know that getting a physical probably won’t cost you anything out of pocket, even when you’re at fault.
Adrenaline May have Numbed the Pain
You see, when you’re involved in an accident, your body automatically goes into the fight or flight mode. Therefore, there’s a rush of adrenaline that numbs the body and masks the pain. So, it is possible for you to be “high” on the adrenaline for days. But, once the adrenaline crash sets in and your body returns to the normal state, the pain and severity of the injuries will kick in.
As you can see, getting a physical is crucial to your life and financial remuneration. If you ever get involved in any accident, make sure to get the necessary once-over. It always helps.
Kate Stefanski is a volleyball player at Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida. She is originally from Chicago, Illinois, and she is an English major. When she isn’t writing papers and reading Fitzgerald, she blogs her heart out and FaceTimes her nephew. Kate is currently employed by WorkFlow Employer Services based in Orlando, Florida.