Have you recently been in a car crash in Iowa? If you sought medical attention and you are in pain, a doctor typically first checks to see if you have any broken bones. If you don’t have broken bones and your pain persists, the next step is to see whether you have herniated any disks in your spine. If you don’t have any broken bones or herniated disks and you are still in pain, you likely have a soft-tissue injury.
What is a Soft-Tissue Injury?
A soft-tissue injury is an injury that affects muscles, tendons, or other connective tissues in the body. These injuries are often referred to as whiplash, a sprain or a strain.
Soft-tissue injuries can be just as painful as a broken bone or a herniated disk and can be just as long-lasting. Unfortunately, they are much harder to prove to an insurance company. Insurance companies want to see your injuries. A broken bone can be seen on an x-ray and a herniated disk can be seen on an MRI. Whiplash is typically not visible on any type of film or scan.
For that reason, insurance companies are notorious for offering low-ball settlement offers to crash victims with soft-tissue injuries. They won’t pay for what they cannot see. To get a fair settlement after a crash, you have to give the insurance company something to look at.
Take Photos of Visible Signs of Your Injury
Some soft tissue injuries will result in bumps, bruises or swelling. Make sure to take photos that show any signs of an injury after a crash. A description of a bruise in a medical record often does not do justice to a photograph.
Documentation of a Soft-Tissue Injury
The best way to get fair compensation for a soft tissue injury is to get appropriate, consistent medical treatment for your injury until you are healed. The records of that treatment will likely be the most important evidence in your claim.
Every time you see a doctor, chiropractor, or therapist about your injury, they make a record. That record can contain important observations of your injury like muscle spasms or lack of full range of motion. When these professional observations are combined with your truthful reports of pain at a particular appointment, your medical record can become the best proof of your suffering.
That is why you should see a doctor right away after your car crash and as much as you need to until you’ve reached maximum medical improvement (MMI). MMI is the point where your doctor says your injuries are as healed as they’re going to get. You may still be hurting when you reach MMI but medical treatment isn’t going to make your situation any better.
Car accident victims with soft-tissue injuries can receive fair compensation for their injuries but they probably will not if they do not seek appropriate consistent medical treatment. People who suffer in silence will rarely get a fair settlement offer.
If the other driver’s insurance company is offering a low amount of compensation to settle your case, you need an experienced Iowa car accident lawyer to fight for you. Call RSH Legal at 1-319-774-1534 and speak with one of our attorneys today.
