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Frequently Asked Questions
Dr John Raymond Baker,BS,DC
A: A common question, in fact, often the first question one hears after a wreck, is "Are you hurt?". The most truthful and honest answer you can give to that question, whether you are asked by the party in the other vehicle, by the police, or by an insurance person, is "I don't know how badly injured I am yet." That is the truth. Why is that the truth ? Well,
because, determining how badly you are hurt, is not the job of a layperson, but is in fact, the job and determination of the doctor you finally chose to examine and treat you for your injuries. Right after an accident, there are several psychological, physiological, and biochemical things going on.
For one, your body has just received the physical insult of a trauma.
Depending on whether your brain and skull were accelerated at different rates of speed (velocity), and depending on whether your head impacted something inside the vehicle, you may be suffering from a concussion.
It is never a good idea to be answering legal questions when one has just possibly had a concussion, and may be disoriented and dizzy. And, make no mistake, "Are you hurt?" can turn out to be a legal question that may arise in an auto accident lawsuit.
Another thing is that adrenaline is usually pumping in your bloodstream, and adrenaline can mask the severity of injuries. There are reports, that, soldiers in time of war, with the fear and rage increased induced levels of adrenaline in their blood, have lost limbs and not even known it for a time.
You may also be suffering shock due to injuries sustained in a car wreck,
and people in shock often are not aware of how badly they are hurt.
Also, your stress levels can cause release of cortisol into the bloodstream. Cortisol can decrease the proper response of your immune system, and this can lead to you being more vulnerable to infections after an accident.
So, the proper and legal and correct answer is that you don't know how badly you are hurt until you get checked out by the doctor you choose to examine you (and often, this may be a doctor seen after any visit to the ER or emergency room of a local hospital or clinic).
Q: What kinds of injuries can I get in a wreck, and are they serious?
A. Not to be frivolous, but perhaps the most serious injury one can sustain in a wreck is death, and yearly, In 2005. there was an average of 115 people killed in car wrecks, EVERY DAY !
Down from death, are things like paralysis from the neck down, loss of arms and legs, etc.. But, sometimes, people think because they have no blood coming out, no broken bones, they are not hurt.
Blood coagulation time is measured in minutes. Broken bones, in normal health individuals usually heal in six (6) weeks.
Soft tissue injuries like sprains and strains and partial or complete tears of tendons and ligaments or muscles, can take 120 days or more. That's four months as a minimum !
One injury that can occur, especially as a result of being violently thrown forward and backward, is loss of the normal curve of the neck. Normally, there is a curve in the neck that acts like an arch, like shocks and springs do in a car, allowing some "give" and resilience, so that the pressure of gravity is released to some degree, to the front.
When one loses the cervical lordotic curve , then the neck becomes a straight column of small bones that cannot escape the direct, axial loading of gravity and the weight of the skull. There becomes then, a radical change in the way the forces of pressure are handled and this causes excessive and unnatural "wear and tear" sustained at the level of the neck, especially at the C5-C6 level, and can lead to osteoarthritic changes, disc degeneration, and a host of more unpleasant things that, can and often does, ultimately lead to surgery of the neck. 
This bad outcome may be avoided with proper early intervention after an accident, before the serious degeneration of the joints has a chance to occur.
A: One, you want a doctor who has experience in treating problems like yours, preferably, years of experience. Number two, you want someone who works well with attorneys if you have one in your auto accident case. Nothing can be worse than to have a doctor who hates attorneys, and refuses to cooperate with your lawyer or your insurance company.And, you also want one who seems to have your best interest in mind, and one who treats your injuries seriously.
But, that issue is addressed in a video by Dr. John Raymond Baker,DC below ( also found on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com ).
A: Every doctor, every hospital , every Emergency Room, and every patient is unique, as is every doctor-patient interaction. In some ERs, you may not even SEE a doctor, but instead, see a PA or Physician's Assistant who, usually, by law, is working under (and only under) a Doctor's license, and that doctor is supposed to oversee what they do. Whether you see a PA or a Doctor, both of them are humans. Sometimes, you as a patient, and a doctor or PA, just do not "hit it off" and often, if they do not like you, or care much about you as a person, they will be less likely to really do an in depth examination of you including but not limiting to, ordering x-rays,
Doctors who read x-rays in emergency room settings, usually are looking for very obvious, and often, life threatening problems. They look for fractures, cancer, disclocations, and that sort of injury. They often will read a straight neck, a loss of the normal cervical lordotic curve as "normal".
It is NOT normal, and especially is not normal for a ten year old child for example, but often, it gets ready out as "unremarkable".
But, here is a video about this issue...
A: Impossible to say, because the extent of injuries not given in the above question. Obviously, with more serious injuries like death, paralysis, you probably will never recover. Furthermore, folks heal at different rates. Older folks heal more slowly than young, folks with diabetes heal slower than folks who do not have diabetes, and on and on. The length of time is dependent on various things. How badly is one injured, what systems are injured, is the patient getting proper amounts of sleep and rest (healing, for the most part, occurs during sleep), is the patient getting proper nutrition, is their job aggravating or keeping them from healing properly, etc.. Also, an important question is, "Is the patient following doctor's orders faithfully?".
A:That is a decision that each person must make, however, most attorneys will usually give you a free consultation if they do personal injury law, and if that is the case, it certainly will not hurt to discuss your situation with them.
I am NOT an attorney and offer no legal advice on this page, but can make observations based on what I have seen in twenty (20) years.
Firstly, most folks don't like to hassle with the other side's insurance or attorney(s) and if you obtain your own lawyer, you are spared all this.
Also, a lot of times, some insurance companies don't seem to take an injured person very seriously until they obtain legal representation.
As to giving a recorded statement to the other side's insurance, from what I understand from attorneys who do personal injury work professionally,
they advise their clients NOT to give a recorded statement without making them aware of it, and usually, either having them on the phone or in person with you, when you do make a recorded statement, so if they object to a question or line of questioning, they can put a stop to it and protect your interests.
Secondly, there are many laws dealing with car wrecks, insurance companies, and your rights, that laypersons like me and you, don't know about, so it is often best to let someone who knows all the ins and outs, to handle it for you.
Car wrecks often are not just medical issues, but legal issues as well, and often, just as you need a doctor for your medical care, you may need a lawyer to protect your legal rights.
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