What you do during recovery can affect your ability to receive compensation for a serious injury
Proving that someone else’s negligence caused you to suffer an injury is just half of the battle in a personal injury claim. In order to secure full and fair compensation, you also need to prove how you have suffered as a result of your injury. Getting an accurate diagnosis from a qualified doctor is very important to this effort, but it is not all you need to do. Here are three simple steps you need to take in order to support a claim for maximum compensation after a serious injury.
Follow Your Doctor’s Orders
It’s important to complete the entire course of treatment assigned to you by your doctor. Why? Because the assumption is that this treatment is necessary for your recovery from the specific injuries you have been diagnosed with. If you do not complete the entire treatment, this could cast doubt on whether or not you really are as injured as you say. In other words, the defense might argue that you stopped treatment because you didn’t need it, not because you were in too much pain, too lazy, or too discouraged to complete it. So be sure to keep all your doctor’s appointments and conscientiously practice any at-home stretches or exercises that may be recommended.
Keep a Personal Injury Diary
Recovering from a serious injury can be a long and stressful process. After several months, you may have forgotten how you felt at the very beginning of the process—unless you have been careful to keep a detailed personal injury diary. In your personal injury diary, you should record how you feel each day—physically and emotionally—as well as note the ways your injury is limiting your daily activities. This documentation will help your attorney prove how much compensation you deserve for pain and suffering.
Photograph Your Injuries
Words often aren’t descriptive enough to really capture the pain and suffering associated with different injuries. For example, if a doctor’s report said you had “severe bruising” after a car accident, people unfamiliar with car accident injuries might picture an ordinary, everyday bruise. If you have photos to show them, you can correct this misconception and make sure the severity of your injuries is not underestimated. When taken at regular intervals, photographs can also be used to document the speed of your recovery—or the lack thereof. All of this is important for establishing the seriousness of an injury and therefore the amount of compensation that would be appropriate.
Need Help Getting Compensation for a Serious Injury?
At The Law Offices of Larry H. Parker, we have decades of experience helping clients just like you maximize their compensation after all kinds of serious injuries, including brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, amputations, burn injuries, and more. To learn more about hiring us for your claim, call us at 800-333-0000 now for a free initial consultation.
