INITIAL EVALUATION:

Figuring out what is wrong after your accident

First, understand you will receive a FREE evaluation to determine your state of injury. During your initial evaluation, you will want to be prepared to tell the doctor about any injuries you may have and how they occurred. You will also want to discuss any past medical procedures and your current health condition. It helps to have thought this through before, even to write it down so you have specifics and won’t forget. You will be given a thorough examination to diagnose the specific cause of your pain. In order to determine any areas of restricted movement our doctors will look at how you walk as well as your overall posture and spinal alignment – the idea is to understand your body’s mechanics. In addition to the physical exam, you may also take an x-ray or an MRI to help diagnose the exact cause of your pain.

FIRST CHIROPRACTIC ADJUSTMENT:

Treating the pain for your accident injury

During your first adjustment, the chiropractor will place you in a specific position in order to treat the affected areas. You are often positioned lying face down on a specially designed chiropractic table to assist with the adjustment. The chiropractor uses his or her hands to apply a controlled force to a joint by pushing it beyond its usual range of motion. You may hear a cracking or popping sound while your chiropractor moves your joints during treatment. Don’t worry! This is just the release of gas from the joint and is nothing to be concerned about.

ONGOING TREATMENT:  

Chiropractic and physical therapy for your accident injury

Many patients will feel some effect of the chiropractic adjustment immediately as it may be the first time in years that normal nerve energy is able to reach certain areas of the body. Some people say they feel more relaxed, limber or energetic directly following the adjustment. For some people, they report feeling relief from their pain symptoms. Although many of the immediate changes feel great, you may also feel minor discomfort, such as slight soreness in the area that was adjusted. Some soreness is expected and is usually quite mild and temporary – think of it like feeling sore after working out to get your body to heal faster. Consult your doctor if you have specific questions on this. Bear in mind that the full healing of the body will take time and multiple visits. It is a process, not an immediate event.

Maximizing the Value of an Injury Claim The Right Way.

Both the nature and duration of the medical treatment you receive will play a large role in how the insurance company values your claim. A key component of most injury cases is “medical special damages,” which is just a fancy way of saying the amount of your medical bills while having your injuries diagnosed and treated. This is all part of the formula that insurance adjusters use to figure out how much you should be paid. There are a number of key factors in the formula, especially the type of medical treatment you receive, and the kind of medical providers from whom you give you treatment.

Types of Medical Treatment for your accident injury:

According to insurance adjusters, the type and amount of time of a medical service can affect how insurance companies treat it. Also, the type of medical personell or facility providing the service can have a big impact.

Diagnosis:

Before you can be treated for an injury, medical personnel have to diagnose it. In many cases, the diagnostic process is relatively quick, and the charge for it amounts to a small part of your medical bills, as compared with the cost of treatment. In such cases, insurance companies do not usually bother to make any distinction between diagnosis and treatment. They lump all your medical bills together into one medical specials amount. There are times that doctors will put a person through many tests and examinations, simply trying to diagnose what is wrong, and running up large medical bills in the process. If most of the medical bills are for diagnosis only, and the injury winds up requiring little treatment, an insurance adjuster might feel the bills don’t reflect the actual treatment. Consequently, the adjuster might offer to pay out less for the damages. This is why it is important to work with specialists like Georgia Injury Centers to get diagnosed – we see thousands of cases, and are normally able to diagnose very quickly.

Physical therapy for your accident injury:

In accidental injury claims, physical therapy is a common treatment, yet it is generally considered to be lower in the pecking order than other kinds of medical treatment. If you receive a few weeks of physical therapy prescribed, an insurance adjuster may be fine with it and compensate you for it completely. But if you have physical therapy for months and the therapy accounts for the largest part of your medical bills by far, the insurance adjuster is likely to compensate far less for it. Also, where you receive physical therapy may affect how the insurance company views it. If you receive the actual treatment outside the doctor’s office, the insurance adjuster might discount the physical therapy bills by a lot. The insurance companies believe that when left to their own devices, physical therapists tend to treat patients in excess of what is necessary. And if you seek physical therapy independently, without it having been recommended or prescribed by your physician, an insurance adjuster may not even compensate you for it at all. This is why it is important to work with specialists like Georgia Injury Centers to get treatment.

Duration of Treatment:

Many lawyers argue that if an injury receives a long period of medical treatment, the injury requires a long period to heal, and that means a higher degree of pain and suffering. So, if you undergo a long period of treatment, you can argue to an insurance adjuster that the long treatment was evidence of the seriousness of the injury. That said, most insurance adjusters are suspicious of physical therapists and chiropractors, believing that they often give treatment longer than necessary to keep their money rolling in. So, if you have had a long period of physical therapy or chiropractic treatments, an insurance adjuster is less likely to consider that as good evidence of the seriousness of your injury than if you had received a long period of treatment from a physician or medical clinic. This is why it is important to work with well-respected experts like Georgia Injury Centers: not only can we find the most efficient and effective ways to treat your injuries, we also are trusted by the insurance adjusters to not over charge or over-treat patients.