As a Seattle personal injury lawyer, I have seen many things that can help or hurt a car accident injury case. Here are some of the top mistakes or misconceptions that clients have that I have seen that hurt Seattle car accident injury cases. A misconception is that doctors, chiropractors, massage therapists, and others will only write in your records what helps
What you say to your doctor, massage therapist, chiropractor, or any medical personnel will be put in your medical records and potentially used against you. You may think that because your doctor has treated many people injured in car accidents before that they know what will hurt your case and what will help your car accident injury case. However, most doctors and other medical personnel have no clue about what will help your case and what will hurt your case. They are simply a recording device and focused on you getting better.
Doctors, massage therapists, and other medical personnel want to see you get better. In fact, it is their number one goal to get you better from the injuries you suffered in the car accident. Their goal is to get you better as fast as possible. When they see that you state that you are feeling good, they write it down. When you say you are no longer feeling pain in a certain area, they write it down. They often will not differentiate between how you are feeling right now and how you felt last night after work or how you felt as you drove home from work yesterday. However, the good ones will.
It’s important to understand that you are not lying and they are not lying when they put down this information, only that it is not the complete truth. A lot of time doctors will ask how you feel right now, which is fine but you need to be honest with them and tell them how you felt last night, how you felt driving here in the car, and how you feel when you do something that causes you pain too. This will allow them to put this into their notes as well.
It’s not a lie to tell them you are feeling ok right now because you are just sitting here. Additionally, a lot of people are anticipating feeling good because of past experiences and comfortability with your doctor, massage therapist, chiropractor, etc. who have made you feel good in the past. This can dull the senses in some ways and make you think of the future instead of the past.
What can you do to make sure that you are not hurting your case when you talk to your doctor, massage therapist, physical therapists, or chiropractor? When the doctor asks you how you are feeling right now, always think of they are asking how you have been doing since they last saw you. Think of the time you had a lot of pain with your car accident injuries since you last saw this doctor. It’s important to report both the good and the bad.
A lot of times doctors will focus on the good because they want to see you improving so they feel satisfaction with their being a part of your healing, which is great but give them the whole story.