The most devastating mistake you can make after being injured in a car wreck is delaying medical treatment. This post is about how you can avoid it.

If you are injured in an automobile collision, truck wreck, motorcycle accident, or any other type of collision, you should seek medical treatment as soon as possible.

Far too many people try and “tough it out.” They assume the pain will go away. Then, when it doesn’t go away (or when it gets worse) they finally go to the doctor days or even weeks after the wreck. At that time, it is often too late. Their decision to delay medical treatment has compromised their health and their path to fair compensation.

Whether it is an emergency room physician, urgent care provider, or your primary care physician, seeking medical care in the first forty-eight (48) hours after your collision is essential to identifying and documenting your injuries.

Identifying your injuries is the first step in securing the medical care you need. Have you ever heard the saying, “if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it?” Well, after a car wreck the only way to truly know whether something IS broke is to go to the doctor. Period. Full-Stop. You need to be evaluated. You need to be diagnosed. You need a treatment plan. Sometimes, you need direct or even emergent referrals to other medical specialties for immediate treatment and care. The only way to know is to GO.

Documenting your injuries is the first step in securing the justice you deserve. The same medical care and treatment that is going to identify and treat your injuries is also going to become the most important evidence in your personal injury claim. The medical record, the pain ratings, the assessments, the nursing notes, the physical therapy evaluations, the subjective findings, the objective findings, the imaging, the medications, all of it is evidence. The medical chart records your pain and tells the story of your suffering.

When you delay or fail to identify and document your injuries, you play right into the insurance company’s hand. Remember all that time you were trying to “tough it out?” Insurance adjusters call that a “gap in treatment.” Hurt people go to the doctor. So, why didn’t you? You must not have been in pain… Now, the time you spent suffering without medical treatment is being used against you.

If you’ve been injured in a car crash, truck wreck, motorcycle accident, or any other type of collision, don’t make the mistake of delaying your medical treatment. Go to the emergency room, set up an appointment with your primary care physician, or visit the urgent care down the street – whichever makes the most sense for you – but don’t wait.

If you live in Bay Village, Beachwood, Bedford, Bedford Heights, Berea, Brecksville, Broadview Heights, Brook Park, Brooklyn, Cleveland, Cleveland Heights, East Cleveland, Euclid, Fairview Park, Garfield Heights, Highland Heights, Lyndhurst, Maple Heights, Mayfield Heights, North Olmsted, North Royalton, Olmsted Falls, Parma, Parma Heights, Pepper Pike, Richmond Heights, Rocky River, Seven Hills, Shaker Heights, Solon, South Euclid, Strongsville, University Heights, Warrensville Heights, Westlake, or any other part of the Cleveland Metro Area, the Cleveland Clinic and University Hospitals have literally hundreds of service locations near you. Don’t make the mistake of delaying your treatment another moment. Go today.