Do I Need to Consult an Orthopedist After My California Car Accident?

After you are involved in a car or truck accident in California, you may face serious injuries. The physical forces that are released in collisions can seriously injure any part of your body. After a serious accident, the victims will normally be transported to the hospital for immediate treatment. When accidents are more minor, the injuries may take several days to become apparent. This is common when people suffer neck or back injuries in an accident, making it important to see a doctor after an accident even if you do not immediately notice symptoms. In many cases, a medical evaluation after a car accident will include being evaluated by an orthopedic specialist.

What Orthopedic Specialists do

A type of medical doctor, orthopedic specialists focus on the body’s musculoskeletal system and treat injuries to the joints, bones, and back. They frequently treat people who have suffered injuries in car or truck accidents to help them with wrist, ankle, shoulder, hip, knee, or back pain.

To diagnose people, orthopedic specialists may perform physical examinations and order diagnostic tests, including MRIs and x-rays. Once a patient’s injuries have been diagnosed, the treatment that they might receive from an orthopedic specialist might include physical therapy and pain management. If surgery is required, the patient will be referred for orthopedic surgery.

Types of Orthopedic Injuries in Car or Truck Accidents

Some of the most common types of orthopedic injuries that the attorneys at the Steven M. Sweat Personal Injury Lawyers see after their clients have been injured in car, truck, or fall accidents include the following:

• Clavicle fractures
• Wrist fractures in falls
• Facial fractures
• Trauma to the shoulders
• Shoulder impingement syndrome
• Amputations
• Back injuries, including ruptured discs

These types of injuries may require treatment from an orthopedic specialist or surgery by an orthopedic surgeon. Some of the most common types of orthopedic surgeries that people might undergo after an accident include the following:

• Bone fusion surgery
• Debridement
• Joint replacement
• Joint revision
• Internal fixation of bones
• Osteotomy
• Soft tissue repair
• Spinal fusion surgery

Orthopedic surgery is commonly needed for injuries to the wrists, ankles, knees, hips, spine, and shoulders. The surgeries might be performed using traditional or arthroscopic surgical methods.

Why it is Important to see an Orthopedic Specialist After an Accident

Whenever you suffer from medical problems, it is a good idea to see a doctor for a diagnosis and treatment. This is also true after you have been involved in an accident. Car, truck, and fall accidents can cause serious injuries to your body. Your joints may be injured when they are twisted or jerked, causing them to hyperextend or causing ligament tears. Accidents can also cause injuries to your vertebral column and the discs of your spine as well as bone fractures to bones that suffer blows during the accident.

In some accidents, people may suffer multiple injuries simultaneously. This means that an initial medical examination might not discover all of the injuries. Doctors who are not orthopedic specialists may focus on obvious injuries and fail to discover hidden damage. If there is a delay in diagnosing an orthopedic injury, the victim’s condition can worsen.

Some types of orthopedic injuries do not show symptoms for several hours or days. If you are injured in an accident, you should ask your doctor for a referral to an orthopedic specialist as soon as possible. A specialist can identify and diagnose any orthopedic injuries that you might have suffered and so that you can start treatment quickly. This can help to provide you with a better prognosis and a faster recovery time. Getting prompt treatment from an orthopedic specialist can also help to show a clear link between your injuries and your accident, which is important for your personal injury claim.

Receiving medical treatment for all of the injuries that you suffered in your accident helps to develop your medical record. If you do not receive a prompt diagnosis and treatment for some of your injuries, the insurance company will likely blame them on an intervening cause to limit the compensation amount that it might have to pay you. It is much more difficult to show a connection between your injury and the accident when you wait to get treatment. After you receive a diagnosis and a treatment plan, you should make sure to listen to your doctor and follow his or her recommendations. This helps to show that you are doing everything that you can to recover.

If you suffer an injury in an accident that is not quickly discovered, the insurance company will claim that your injury happened in a different incident. The company might make this argument to claim that it is not responsible for that injury so that it will not have to pay damages for the related medical costs. If you do not follow your doctor’s recommendations, the company might blame your condition on you.

Paying for the Cost of Seeing an Orthopedic Specialist

Initially, when you see an orthopedic specialist, you will likely use your medical insurance policy, Medicaid, or Medicare. If you are uninsured, some doctors will agree to wait for payment in exchange for placing a lien on your future personal injury claim recovery. If you prevail in your claim after your accident, you will receive compensation for your medical expenses, including the appointments, rehabilitation, examinations, and treatment. In most cases, the orthopedic specialist’s evaluation will also be covered. Your medical expense damages will include compensation for both your past medical bills and the expected costs of any future treatment that you might need.

Other damages that might be available to you in a personal injury lawsuit include the following types:

• Past lost wages
• Reduction in your future earnings capacity
• Property losses
• Physical pain and suffering
• Mental anguish
• Scarring and disfigurement
• Disability
• Reduction in your ability to enjoy life

The value of your claim will depend on several factors, including the accident’s cause and the extent and severity of your injuries. Your attorney can evaluate your claim and advise you about what it might be worth. Get help from an experienced accident attorney in Los Angeles

If you have suffered serious injuries in an accident that was caused by someone else, you might need to see several doctors to get the treatment that you need. A personal injury attorney at the Steven M. Sweat Personal Injury Lawyers might help you to recover damages to compensate you for all of your losses. Contact us today to learn about the legal merits of your claim and the rights that you might have by calling us at 866.966.5240.