Category: Seeking Treatment After a Wreck

If I Start Feeling Better Should I Discontinue Medical Treatment?

FORWARD: You should always follow your doctor’s orders and the following advice is just that, advice, and not to be considered over any doctor recommendation.

Let me put it in short words, NO!

If you abruptly discontinue medical treatment because you think you are better, you could be wrong. The thing with soft-tissue injuries or whiplash is that they are very misleading. You feel okay one day and then all of the sudden your symptoms can come back. And they can come back worst than before with symptoms of migraines and/or circulation problems that you would never imagine.

Now, of course you can re-seek treatment; however if you want your insurance to pay, your chances have gone down because they will argue that your injuries related to the auto accident are healed and what you are seeking treatment for now is different and not related to the wreck.

It is my opinion that the best thing to do is gradually discontinue treatment so you can make sure you are restore. Yet, Uunfortunately after any type of injury this restoration will not be complete.

Importance of Going to Reputable Doctors After a Car Wreck

A few of the main reasons it is crucial to get an honest reputable doctor when dealing with getting compensation for medical bills after a wreck is that a doctor who is dishonest might:

Falsify Reports: For instance, your doctor might put in his daily report on your treatment that you are getting better to make him look like he is actually treating you successfully. I personally encountered this where I told the doctor I was experiencing a pain level of 7 and he reported that I said a 5. This could come back to haunt you when attempting to reach a settlement, because if an official doctor’s report says you are better, your word that you are still in pain is not taken seriously.

TIP: ALWAYS CHECK WHAT THE DOCTOR’S REPORT SAYS. ASK FOR A COPY EVERY NOW AND THEN. IT IS YOUR RIGHT!

Rack-up Medical Bills: Simply because a doctor knows that you are not self-pay and an insurance company is paying, they will try to get the most out of the situation. This may include charging for services never rendered or giving you too much treatment that is not really beneficial to your health like seeing you five times a week instead of three.

TIP: BE THE CONCERNED PATIENT & ASK WHY YOU ARE RECEIVING A CERTAIN COURSE OF TREATMENT.

If something like this were to happen your insurance company may refuse to pay and stick you will the bills or they make attempt to call the doctor behind your back to negotiate you bill which makes for a very uncomfortable situation when you to go back and see this doctor.

If the doctor is unethical he/she may be passive aggressive about the occurrence which could lead to mistreatment or loss of medical records as in my case. So even though you are not paying your bills, it is a good idea to keep up-to-date on what services and products your doctor is charging you.

Won Treat Need Properly: When all you might need is a few minor services or medications your doctor may order un-needed expensive tests which are not conducive to your health.

Waist of Time and Money: If your doctor is not concerned about your health and doesn’t listen to your pain, then you are loosing out on a small window of opportunity in which you are more susceptible to achieving a full recovery. This is something no amount of money can compensate for. Only go to a doctor who listens to you and is willing to treat your need and not his/her needs.

TIP: IF SOMETHING IS FISHY ABOUT THE WAY DOCTOR IS TREATING YOU, MAKE SURE YOU ASK FOR ALL MEDICAL RECORDS BEFORE ACTUALLY DISCONTINUING SERVICE, BECAUSE AFTER YOU ARE NO LONGER A PATIENT THEY WILL NOT BE AS WILLING TO WORK WITH YOU.

How Do I Make Sure a Doctor is NOT a QUACK?

So if you are not quite certain which doctor to go to, make sure you check them out before you trust your wellbeing to just anybody. There is a LOT OF QUACKS out there unfortunately.

ASK A FRIEND or someone who has gone to the doctor you are looking into seeing if they had a good experience with their treatment.

CHECK out their HISTORY on Better Business Bureau or do a quick web search. Make sure you check if your doctor is legit having a current license to practice and board certification. Where to find this info depends on what state you are in, but you could probably find this info on your state’s department of health website. It is public record if a doctor has any pending lawsuits against their practices.

However, it is quit unfortunately that even after you have done all of these preventative measures you still may find yourself in a non-working doctor-patient relationship. My advise to you is the quicker you get out, the better.

Is Lexapro a Drug of Choice for Whiplash Injuries?

Shortly after the auto accident and meanwhile being treated for whiplash, loss of curve in neck, bulging disk in back, lower back problems, headaches, you name it, I began to notice numbness and was referred for treatment with a neurologist. This doctor recommended I take Lexapro; a antidepressant none the less. Continue reading Is Lexapro a Drug of Choice for Whiplash Injuries?

Tips If You Think You Are Being Treated By a Fishy Doctor

1. CHECK IF THIS PERSON IS ACTUALLY LICENSED AND/OR BOARD CERTIFIED.

2. BE THE CONCERNED PATIENT & ASK WHY YOU ARE RECEIVING A CERTAIN COURSE OF TREATMENT OR A CERTAIN MEDICATION.

3. ALWAYS CHECK WHAT YOUR DOCTOR’S REPORT SAYS. ASK FOR A COPY EVERY NOW AND THEN. IT IS YOUR RIGHT! IF IT DOESN’T MAKE UP WITH WHAT YOU HAVE BEEN REPORTING, THEN SOMETHING IS OFF.

4. MAKE SURE YOU ASK FOR ALL MEDICAL RECORDS BEFORE ACTUALLY DISCONTINUING SERVICE, BECAUSE AFTER YOU ARE NO LONGER A PATIENT, THEY WILL NOT BE AS WILLING TO WORK WITH YOU.

Why Do ER Doctors Overlook Injuries Associated with Car Accidents?

Most of the time, when an ER doctor knows you have been in an automobile accident they seem to keep their distance. They quickly refer back to your personal doctor (even if you tell them you don’t have one) in order to not get involved in your case. If they do not see anything majorly wrong with you such as broken bones, concussion, or obvious trauma they probably won’t even order x-rays. (TIP: ASK FOR THEM)

If they are the first doctor which is aware of your post-trauma condition, then they may be subject to being deposed or even called in to court as an expert witness of your injuries.

The easy thing is to have plausible deniability and put in their report “No obvious trauma present, minor soft tissue damage, if any pain presents past 3 days patient should contact their personal physician. Gave patient a minor pain medication.” See, the trick here for the ER doctor is to say everything is minor and sometimes they will not even report your actual words referring to any major trauma.

So if an ER doctor can refer you, then they are referring a potential problem or potential lawsuit. Because there are so many scam artists who will claim an injury when there is not, doctors are becoming very wary as to say that a wreck is a direct cause to a current condition. And if your injury is only a short-tissue injury or whiplash type one, then they will more than likely chose to stay away from direct treatment or any recommendations.

Even though you are probably right that an ER doctor is going to be a waist of time and money, you still need to go see them to be on the safe side as well as for documentation purposes.

3 Reasons not to Take Medication after an Auto Accident?

FORWARD: You should always follow your doctor’s orders and the following advice is just that, advice, and not to be considered over any doctor recommendation.

If you go to the ER after a car wreck, they will probably give you some type of minor anti-inflammatory/pain reliever such as an IB Profen or Aleve. They will also send you home with some if you say you do not have any at home (of course they will charge you about $10 per pill). The reason why it is so important to take this initial medication is to relax your muscles so that your body can properly heal. (This is direct advice from ER physician). Since your body is in stress mode after the shock of an auto accident, then your muscles are tense and this tension interferes with the proper recovery of soft-tissue damage.

If your pain persists and you seek further treatment then the attending doctor will more than likely prescribe a stronger pain medication. However the following are some very important facts to be aware of concerning taking or not taking these:

1.Be advised that simply because your doctor says they are giving you a “PAIN” medication, they may   perhaps be giving you an “ANTIDEPRESSENT”. Today, it is common practice to use anti-depressants as a pain medication; however this is dangerous because of the associated side effects.

2.If you do not follow your doctor’s orders and refuse to take stronger medications, then your doctor will put in his/her report that “patient refused to follow doctor’s recommendation.” They could even label you as hostile or defiant and this could be used against you when seeking a settlement offer.

3. If you chose not to take pain medications with a reasonable explanation and have sought alternatives treatments provided by your doctor, the insurance company may make the argument that you were not really in pain if you were not taking pain medication.

Antidepressant Drugs Used For Pain Management After a Car Wreck

In my personal experience, after my auto accident, the neurologist I began seeing quickly wanted to prescribe me medication. He told me they were for pain management ONLY and would NOT assist in healing my injury. What he did not tell me was that what he prescribed me was an antidepressant drug. I was prescribed Lexapro and I believe Norpramin. Yes, I do understand that these antidepressant drugs tend to work best for pain associated with nerve damage, but he lead me to believe they were something they were not. This was scary for me. Antidepressants play a dual role and they can be very tricky to use.

I now a friend who was prescribe Elavil for the exact same symptoms and she began to experience serious side-effects including major weight gain. Now, your doctor will tell you that one drug might not be right for you and you will have to find this via trial and error and then you will have to determine the dose works best for your body with an experiment of taking more and then less of a drug.

I don’t know about you, but this seems very dangerous to me. If your own doctor does not know who, if, when, a drug will work and you have to be a Guinea pig to the drug, I am a bit skeptical of taking something that will NOT even help your pain, but ONLY manage it – per Dr. orders.

3 Sure Ways to Negotiate Your Medical Bills

If you have a full coverage policy, you will probably have somewhere in the range of $5,000 for medical coverage.  Yup you guest it, after this money runs out you are stuck with the bills if you do not have any other health insurance like most of us commoners.  What many people don’t know is that you can negotiation your medical costs, because most of the time they are jacked up because they are assuming to be covered by an insurance company of some sort either health or automotive.

The system is made in such a strange way.  It is almost like if you do not know how to play, you get the short end of the stick. So, if you are stuck with bills, here is what to do in a nut shell.

HOW TO NEGOTIATE YOUR MEDICAL BILLS