Should I See a Chiropractor for My Personal Injury Case?

If you have been injured in a New Jersey auto accident, animal attack, workplace accident, or other incident, you know that the medical treatment you need can be expensive, time-consuming, and sometimes unpleasant. Chiropractic care can be a convenient, affordable complement to traditional medical treatment as part of your overall recovery plan.

Take Immediate Action If You Are Injured

It’s important to get treatment soon after an injury occurs. Although you may not feel pain immediately or may have other reasons to reject on-the-scene emergency care, you should head to the emergency room or urgent care if you feel discomfort or pain the next day. Waiting more than 72 hours after an injury to seek medical care can negatively impact an insurance claim or legal case. Delays in treatment can lead to questions about the severity of your injuries or disputes about whether a particular event caused those injuries. 

Talk to your primary care provider about adding chiropractic care to your treatment regimen, and get a referral if possible. This increases the likelihood that the care will be viewed as “reasonable and necessary” by the liable party’s insurer when settling a personal injury claim. If you seek chiropractic or other alternative care without a recommendation or referral from a traditional physician, an insurance adjuster may question whether it was medically necessary (and thus compensable under a claim for your injuries). Once you have begun the recommended complementary care, make follow-up appointments every few months with your primary care provider to help create a record of your progress and establish the reasonableness of continued chiropractic treatment.

Follow Your Treatment Plan

One of the most common reasons an insurer will contest whether an injured person’s medical treatment is one or more “gaps” in treatment, e.g., consistent chiropractic visits for three months, six weeks with no treatment, and a subsequent three months’ care. This can lead to questions about whether the later care is reasonable and necessary to treat the original injuries. Work with your primary care physician and alternate care providers to ensure that you maintain a consistent treatment schedule until you are fully recovered from your injuries.

It’s also critical to attend all scheduled appointments and comply with any home exercises your providers prescribe. During your recovery period, keep a journal or diary about your injuries and medical care, including details about each appointment, your daily degree of pain on a scale of 1–10, and any limitations or inconveniences you experience because of your injuries. Note how you feel during and after each appointment.

Injured in an Accident? Contact the Mark Law Firm.

You may be able to recover the cost of your medical care, including chiropractic, along with other compensation for your injuries if they were caused by someone else’s negligence or intentionally harmful actions. An experienced attorney can help you recover the compensation you deserve, but it’s important that you work with your attorney and medical providers to help ensure your legal claim is as strong as possible. Using chiropractic care as part of an overall treatment plan can be a valuable component of your recovery.

In New Jersey, you must file suit for most personal injury and product liability claims within two years of the occurrence, or you will lose out on the right to recover compensation for your injuries.^[1] If you intend to sue a municipality or other public entity, different time limits apply.^[2] You should consult an attorney as soon as practicable following an injury to learn about and protect your rights.

To schedule an appointment with one of the experienced New Jersey personal injury lawyers at the Basking Ridge, Newark, or Jersey City, NJ, law offices of the Mark Law Firm, contact us today.

[1] N.J. Stat. § 2A:14-2(a)

[2] N.J. Stat. § 59:8-8

Image via Wikipedia by Michael Dorausch from Venice - Jim Dubel Chiropractic. Uploaded by SchuminWeb, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=12390085