When you’ve been injured in a car accident, it would be nice if you could just focus on getting treatment and your recovery process. Instead, a car accident can often bring stress and other problems into your life, from worrying about getting your car fixed to how your injury may impact your ability to do your job. An accident doctor can help prioritize you and your health through this stressful time and also help you prepare to go back to work after the car accident. Sometimes car accident injuries can keep people from getting back to work as fast as they’d prefer, so it helps to have a solid understanding of what to expect when you’ve been injured.
Document Your Experience
It is helpful to begin documenting your entire experience after a car accident as soon as possible. Write down how you are feeling physically and mentally after the car accident, and bring this list with you to your accident doctor appointment. Keeping a detailed log of how the car accident has affected you will help your doctor determine a proper diagnosis and informed treatment plan. As you move through the treatment and recovery process, you should continue to retain documentation of all your appointments, any complications you might experience, and how your injury may be affecting your ability to complete regular, daily tasks. Documentation of your entire experience is also extremely helpful if you end up filing an insurance or personal injury claim. Keeping this type of information on file is also helpful to reference when speaking with your employer.
Plan Your Return with Your Doctor
It’s important to know how to find a doctor after an accident. Your accident doctor has been with you since the beginning, so it’s only fitting that they be there to support you as you plan to return to work. Your treatment plan may include continued care, follow-up appointments, and rehabilitation that still need to continue once you return back to work. You can talk to your doctor about what that might look like and how going back to work might positively or negatively impact your recovery. Some car accident injuries make missing work unavoidable while you recover. The healing process takes time and can’t be rushed, so talk to your accident doctor about a realistic time frame for returning to work along with your treatment plan.
Avoid Going Back to Work Too Soon
One of the worst things you can do for your injury and your recovery process is to go back to work too soon. If you don’t have a deadline to return to work then you will have the flexibility to make sure you are healing properly before jumping into previous activities too soon. While you might very well be concerned about your job or losing income, you also want to prioritize your physical health and well-being. If you go back to work too soon, it can potentially keep you from healing fully and you may even risk re-injure yourself. You should follow your doctor’s advice about the best time to return to work and try not to rush the healing process.
Continue Going to Your Appointments
Follow-up appointments are key to getting the most out of your treatment plan and fully recovering from your car accident injury. Treating an injury takes time and the healing process may require multiple follow-up appointments with your accident doctor. You should make every effort to complete all recommended appointments as part of your treatment plan. This shows your commitment and dedication to your health and well-being, both for yourself and for potential insurance or claims reasons. Additionally, skipping appointments may cause complications or your injury might get worse. Appointments for continued care and treatment are a great chance to talk to your doctor about potential complications and symptoms that might develop as you heal. If you skip out on appointments, you not only risk aggravating your injury, it may also delay your return to work and can even affect your ability to receive compensation for a claim.
You might follow your entire treatment plan from start to finish and still somehow aggravate or re-injure yourself when you get back on the job. In this case, you should talk to your employer as well as your accident doctor right away to determine your next steps. Our team of car accident doctors at ProCare understands the complex, stressful situation you are in when you’ve been injured in a car accident, and will always put you and your recovery first. Call or visit us online to schedule an appointment with one of our accident doctors and learn more about how we can help you through your recovery process.
