Many times when I am talking to potential clients they tell me that they did not get any medical care yet because they had no cuts or broken bones, so they must be alright. Then I ask them if there was a police report. When there isn’t, they explain that the person that hit them suggests that they just exchange information and not call the police. Some potential clients tell me that when they called the police they were asked if there were any injuries involving blood or broken bones. If the answer is no, then the police tell them that they don’t need a report and handle the matter between themselves.
While fatality crashes are at their lowest level since 1949, 32,855 in 2010, automobile injuries were about 2.23 million per year per the NHTSA. Just over 10% of the yearly average of automobile injuries, 232,777 occur in California, per the 2009 California Highway Patrol (SWITRS). So 1 out of every 10 people hurt in car accidents in the United States is hurt in California. That makes sense as we are a car based commuter system here in Southern California. We drive more in Southern California and have more injury accidents than any other state in the U.S.
Often, following those car accidents, people wait too long to get medical care. There are a variety of reasons, no health insurance, health insurance but a high co-pay or deductible, but primarily the biggest reason I hear from people is that they did not get medical care because they thought they would get better. When they don’t get better, then they go to to doctor or a chiropractor or they call an attorney like me.
Then when we make the claim to the insurance company for the person who caused the injury accident, they argue that our client must not have been hurt or was not hurt that bad because of the so-called “delay” in treatment. Then they argue that if there is no blood, cuts, bruises or broken bones, the client is just experiencing “soft tissue” injuries.
The vast majority of injuries in automobile accidents don’t involve blood or broken bones. Hyperflexion-hyperextension (whiplash) of the spine is common in automobile accidents. The cervical, thoracic and lumbar spine are really just different levels of the vertebrae that form our neck and back. The tissues in the neck and back, the muscles, ligaments and the discs between the vertebrae are the “soft tissues” that suffer varying degrees of injury. The injury may be mild and will heal to some degree on it own. Physical therapy or chiropractic care will help the healing process and provide relief from the pain and the limitations of the injuries. Other injuries may be more severe and continue many months and result in “chronic” symptoms that don’t completely go away and which have periods of increased pain and other symptoms. Even worse, the structures of the spine, cervical, thoracic or lumbar may have even longer lasting structural injuries. The discs between your vertebrae may suffer protrusions (bulges and herniation) where the outer wall of the disc, the annulus fibrosus, is compromised and pushes out. Those bulges or herniation may impinge or push on nerve roots and the dural sac that protects the spinal cord. The nerves in the back, including the sympathetic nervous system (which controls body temperature and other functions), can be affected. All of these conditions require a proper examination by a specialist such as an orthopedist or neurologist. The specialist then can obtain the necessary testing to determine whether a CT Scan, MRI, EMG and or nerve conduction testing is necessary.
The simple answer is that there is little that is more valuable to you and your family other than your health. Putting off getting the proper medical care for whatever reason may result in your condition worsening and increasing the time you will need to recover from those injuries. Failing to find out what the actual extent of your injuries are may result in you not knowing how badly hurt you are and not getting proper compensation from the person that caused your injuries. So even if you think you are not hurt that bad, it never hurts to make sure.