Document Your Symptoms

DON’T UNDERESTIMATE YOUR SYMPTOMS!

People involved in accidents almost always underestimate the severity of their injuries shortly after an accident. Those who have suffered knee, back, neck, or joint injuries will tell you that the symptoms of these traumas, which are common following car accidents, did not show up at first. Symptoms may show up hours, days, or weeks later, and even then they might not seem significant. When symptoms do appear, they are often interpreted as being more annoying than sever; therefore, people often fail to document them. So at the scene, don’t jump to the conclusion that you are not injured! You may very well be. Playing the martyr, brushing it off, “keeping a stiff upper lip: or being “tough” will not serve you well if you are in an accident. What you think are minor symptoms now may not go away, and can easily mushroom into $5,000.00 to $10,000.00 or more in medical expenses. Contact the Injury Law Center now if you have been injured.

“I can’t begin to tell you how many times I have met with people months after an accident, who are forced to undergo wrist, knee, shoulder, or back surgery because of an accident from which they initially thought they received either no injury at all, or only minor injuries.” - Hayden I. DuBay, Attorney at Law, Injury Law Center

We have written a book that you can download for free that will provide you with the basic information you need in order to protect your rights if you have been in an accident.

DOCUMENT YOUR SYMPTONS

Keep a detailed, written record of any symptoms that you think may be accident-related. Also make sure that your doctor documents all of your symptoms. If you don’t—and you wait a month or more, expecting the problems to disappear, an insurance adjuster will very likely refuse to acknowledge your injury as accident-related, because you do not have medical records proving that you began to experience the problem shortly after the accident.

Some chronic physical conditions caused by accidents have no symptoms until much later—for example, traumatic arthritis. An accident can also re-aggravate a medical condition that the accident victim suffered from in the past and thought had healed. To be reimbursed for your losses, including your pain, restricted activities, and/or physical limitations, all you must prove is that an accident was the proximate cause of an injury—that the injury or aggravation would not exist, if not for the accident.


Injury Law Center : 4360 Shore Drive : Virginia Beach, Va. 23455 : 757-460-6200