#7 What should I do if my injuries return after I’ve completed treatment?

QUESTION: What should I do if the pain, discomfort, or mobility issues from the injuries from my car accident return after I’ve completed my medical treatment?

ANSWER: If pain or issues from the injuries from your car accident return after completing treatment, immediately contact your healthcare provider to discuss and document your recurring symptoms. Quick action helps your recovery and supports your personal injury claim. Delaying seeing your medical provider and reporting your pain and issues you’re having may lead the insurance company to question if the returning symptoms are from the injuries from the accident. If you have concerns about your medical treatment being covered and paid for, consult with an experienced personal injury attorney.

What should I do if the pain, discomfort, or mobility issues from the injuries from my car accident return after I’ve completed my medical treatment?

It’s not unusual when you’ve stopped treating, that the pain and physical symptoms from your injuries may return. This doesn’t always happen, but it happens enough of the time that it’s important to know what to do if your pain or discomfort does come back.

If you begin to experience the same type of issues you had before you stopped your medical treatments, call the medical provider you were treating with as soon as possible. It’s important not to delay updating your healthcare professional about how you’re feeling and what you’re experiencing.

If you wait — hoping the symptoms from your injuries will go away, it will slow down your recovery time and may also harm your personal injury claim.

The longer you wait to communicate with your provider and be evaluated, the more likely the insurance company will take the position that you had some other injury or you did something to cause a new injury.

They’re going to say that they shouldn’t have to pay for your additional medical treatment for injuries not related to the auto accident. This is why it’s important to see your medical provider right away if your pain returns so that they can examine you, document your symptoms from your injuries in your patient chart notes, and restart your treatment if that’s what’s needed.

To take the best possible care of yourself so that you can recover from your accident as quickly as possible — and to protect your personal injury claim, talk with your healthcare provider about any returning pain or symptoms you have. They will advise you on how to proceed so you don’t prolong your recovery time and unknowingly negatively impact your claim.

The more time that passes since you were last seen by your medical provider, the greater the likelihood that the PIP carrier may not pay for your follow-up care.

Rather than assuming PIP won’t pay for additional treatment, talk with an experienced personal injury attorney and get their advice on how confident they are that the PIP carrier will pay for your continued medical care.

Whether you’re our client or not, we want to be a bridge of support for you.

We’ve developed a robust library of articles and videos organized into four topics which include our responses to the personal injury claim-related questions we’re asked most often.

• Top 10 Personal Injury Claim Mistakes to Avoid
• What You Need to Know About Your Claim
• How Are My Medical Bills & Wage Loss Paid
• How to Prepare for Your Independent Medical Exam

The articles provide advice and guidelines to help you navigate each phase of the personal injury claims process. Whether we represent you or not, we are passionate about helping you protect your rights, you receiving the medical care you need to recover from your injuries, and having the information you need to avoid mistakes that can harm your personal injury claim.