Things You'll Need:
- Patience
- Persistence
- Phone
- Doctor
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Step 1
1. VISIT a Doctor or Chiropractor for a Doctor's Note
You need a doctor's recommendation for a massage. It's a medical recommendation, like any other activity or prescription. Schedule a single doctor's visit, and have your doctor recommend massage therapy as treatment. If you are injured on the weekend, visit a 24 hour clinic. Any doctor can prescribe massage therapy if you ask for it. But you must ask for it. -
Step 2
2. TREAT Yourself Immediately
The insurance companies have a policy called having a "Gap in Care." It means that if you are not getting your treatments consistently and immediately after the accident, then you are not really hurt. If you are going to get massage therapy to remedy accident pain, then start immediately. And don't stop getting regular treatments until you are better. Changes to your treatment plan or providers is fine, but do NOT stop getting some sort of treatment, or the insurance companies will claim you have a "gap in care." And they will not accept your claim. -
Step 3
3. BEWARE of Delayed Pain
Whiplash can show up several weeks after accident. What happens is that the body goes into hyper-protection mode, as a safety measure. It pours adreniline, and other chemicals into your body for several weeks to protect you from hurting (so you can escape the dangerous land of other cave people, ya know, with deadly mountain lions and other creatures). Then your body starts repairing weeks later. That repair period is when the pain really start.
Often, you won't seek immediate treatment because you feel fine, then you start feeling really bad weeks later. Continue your massage therapy treatments for at least a month to make sure you prevent serious whiplash from affecting your productivity. The insurance companies understand this too. So continue treatment for at least month. And longer if you are genuinely in pain. -
Step 4
4. ASK Questions of the Insurance Company
Some insurance companies pay as you go. Other insurance companies want to pay out the claim at the end of treatment. Ask them lots of questions on their process. The adjustor is simply following a set of rules. If you can learn the rules, you can make the most of the claim (and save yourself a lot of headaches). Work within the system, not against it. Some great questions include, "How does the claim process work?" "Can I get checks as I submit receipts, or do you pay out all at once towards the end."
Regardless of what happened, everyone involved wants to see you get better fast. So act quickly. And start a consistent treatment, and continue with it, until you are better. Good luck and Feel Better!
