How Long Should My Treatment Last?
When you’re in an auto accident you are very likely to need some form of medical treatment. That might be some ibuprofen or it might be surgery. For most people, it’s PT and/or chiropractic care. For those folks, they almost always ask me this question: How long should my treatment last?
The short answer is I can’t say how long your treatment should last.
The long answer is that, of course, I’m not that kind of doctor so I really don’t have any business giving opinions as to the length or course of your treatment. Having said that, it is important to understand how the length of your treatment might impact your claim negotiation. On THAT topic I’m imminently qualified to opine.
Generally, if you’re in need of PT and/or chiropractic treatment following an accident, you’ve suffered some sort of soft tissue sprain/strain injury, normally to muscles around your spine. With those sorts of injuries we normally see clients improve within 3 to 6 months of the accident. Is that always the case? Certainly not. But is that the average? It certainly is. So how does that impact your case value?
That could be a very long answer, but I hate long blog posts. For the point of this post, let’s restrict the answer to one issue: Perception. When your treatment extends past the average time, it starts to raise red flags with the at-fault insurance company. Why isn’t this person getting better? There may be some very valid reasons. Or they might just be “malingering,” which is a term that insurance adjusters use to mean “you’re just pretending you’re hurt to make money.” That’s less than ideal. So how do you avoid it?
There really isn’t a way to avoid this scenario, per se. You can hope that your course of treatment will terminate in the average time so that you don’t run afoul of industry perceptions and you’re more likely to get the claim resolved easily. But if you start to linger past that time frame, it’s time to talk to your physician and your attorney to discuss what’s going on. It might be time to seek a second opinion.
All of this stuff is complicated. It’s probably a good idea to have an attorney. You should call one. Call me. 919-929-2992.
Trackback from your site.