Experiencing an accident at work often causes people to react in different ways. While some people might attempt to walk off the injury to look tough, others may choose to wait to see if their condition worsens. You might also be tempted to delay medical treatment when you’re caring for a family, working overtime or experiencing other stressors that increase the difficulty of visiting a medical clinic.
Although these choices might seem valid at the time, the truth is that delaying medical treatment can have severe consequences for your workplace injury claim. Not only could an insurance company begin to question the severity of your injury, but you might also experience more delays in receiving the compensation you need for your recovery.
Exploring the primary ways that delaying treatment could impact your health and financial security can help you get the motivation you need to schedule an appointment with a medical provider.
Sending False Signals Regarding Your Injury’s Severity
One of the most challenging things about pain is that it is virtually undetectable to other people. While you may know that your back pain from a workplace injury is debilitating, it can be hard for others to tell. Even when the injury shows outward signs such as bruising or swelling, it can still be difficult to demonstrate how it makes it difficult to perform your normal activities.
Workers’ compensation insurance companies often consider how quickly you visited a medical facility when they are investigating a claim. Typically, someone who is in severe pain or unable to move normally will visit a healthcare facility immediately. Severe lacerations that require sutures and broken bones also tend to send people rushing to the emergency room.
But, other injuries may not always generate the worst symptoms right away. Soft tissue injuries, such as whiplash, can sometimes take hours or days to develop severe symptoms. Repetitive stress injuries are also known for slowly creating symptoms that finally reach a peak. Making sure to seek medical treatment as soon as you know that the injury occurred can help you avoid having to prove that it is actually disruptive to your health and lifestyle.
Creating Misleading Gaps In the Timeline
Insurance companies often deny claims based on the premise that the injury was pre-existing. Many times, a workplace accident worsens an existing health condition, but that can still allow you to successfully receive compensation for how the incident impacts your life today.
Workplace accidents are often witnessed by others, and you may be required to file an incident report for safety purposes. But, you need to know that this isn’t always enough to demonstrate causation. Instead, going to a healthcare facility for an exam helps to connect the injury to the accident right away.
Since claiming that your back pain is from an accident that occurred several weeks in the past is suspicious, creating a timeline now protects you in the future. Medical facilities also create records that you can use to document your injury timeline. Having X-rays and other imaging tests can often show that an injury occurred in the internal areas of your body, even if you aren’t feeling pain right away.
Once you receive a diagnosis, you’ll also want to follow through with your treatment plan and save all of the documentation that you receive along the way. Medical bills, appointment dates and test results can all help to support your workplace injury claim.
Contributing to Worsening Symptoms and Outcomes
Waiting too long to see a physician could also leave room for an insurance company to claim that you didn’t do your due diligence to minimize the progression of a work-related injury. If you sustain a serious injury, then continuing with your normal work duties and daily routine could contribute to worsening symptoms. For instance, a spinal injury could begin to increase in severity to the point that you require surgery.
In these types of situations, you could find yourself battling an insurance company that refuses to pay the total amount of compensation you need to recover. Lacking the resources you need to get medical care when your symptoms are severe can have life-altering consequences. It is also important to note that giving the injury time to worsen can also impact your comfort and ability to manage your life outside of the workplace.
Avoiding delays in your medical treatment can help you take advantage of early care strategies that could minimize swelling and poor healing. For instance, a broken bone that heals the wrong way could require surgical intervention later or impact your range of motion. If this happens, then the insurance company might claim that they should only cover the cost of what they would’ve had to pay if you’d sought treatment immediately.
Being able to show that you did your due diligence to promote the best possible outcome for your injury is important for your workers’ compensation case. You’ll also find that doing your best to follow medical guidance demonstrates responsibility to decision-makers if your case must go through the legal system.
Taking immediate action is the best way to safeguard your well-being after an accident occurs at work. Once you know you have an injury, make sure to follow your employer’s procedures for filing an accident report and seeking medical care. Whether you need to visit a general physician or head to the local emergency room depends on the severity of the injury. But, prompt care will provide you with faster relief from the pain you experience.
Seeking medical treatment also establishes a timeline for your injury and recovery early. Being able to connect the incident to your injury is essential for filing a successful claim. Plus, you’ll find it is easier to focus on your recovery once you know that you can provide your work injury lawyer with records that document your medical history. Hiring the right personal injury lawyer like the experienced attorneys at Laffey Bucci D’Andrea Reich & Ryan can grant you the closure you need.
As a final note, remember that reducing the risk of disputes regarding your claim helps you emotionally and financially. Avoiding stressful claim denials and delayed compensation can help you keep your mind and body focused on moving forward with a healthy recovery.
