Slip and fall injuries are much more common than you think. Over one million people go to the ER each year after a fall. If you experience one, then you must take the right steps to speed up your recovery.
Slips and Falls Are No Joke
Life sometimes throws us for a loop. And though it’s easy to simply say that “accidents happen,” the recovery process isn’t always the easiest to deal with.
One of the most common injuries in the workplace and in many others is a slip and fall. Additionally, these injuries are also a part of many scams. But they also happen abruptly and without warning. And unfortunately, when you slip and fall, you could injure yourself significantly. However, the recovery process after a slip and fall is critical if you hope to get back on your feet and back to normal life.
A slip and fall can occur in a variety of settings. But perhaps the most common involves a wet or slick floor. This is also usually not the fault of the injured party. And when this is the case, you have actions that you can take in order to seek compensation.
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If you’ve recently been the victim of a slip and fall, the following will detail what you need to do in order to speed through your recovery.
Report Your Injury Immediately
The most important thing that you can do immediately after a slip and fall, no matter where it occurs, is to report your injury to an authority party. And depending on where the slip and fall happened, you’ll have a few different options.
For example, if you slipped and fell in a department or grocery store, reporting this to the manager on duty, and then to the authorities who arrive on scene is your first step. Your next step is to receive medical attention and obtain documentation of your injury in case you need to file a claim if the business is found negligent.
Further, if you slipped and fell at work, you should immediately report the accident to your supervisor, then to any security personnel or the HR department of where you work. After this, you should seek medical attention as in the previous example.
Seek Medical Attention
Once you’ve reported your injuries, you’ll then need to seek medical attention. You probably know that you should always see a doctor after a car accident. Slip and falls aren’t much different. Seeing a doctor is the most critical step because without a proper medical diagnosis, you won’t have the necessary documentation to receive financial assistance for your injuries.
Above all, don’t try to “tough it out” because sometimes you may feel like you can cope with the injury, but you could eventually develop other medical problems down the road.
For example, many times a slip and fall might not feel too painful. However, you could have seriously injured yourself such as with fracturing your hip, slipping a disc, developing an impinged nerve, and the like. And these injuries may not alarm you at first or even be noticeable. But later on they could manifest as painful reminders that you should have sought out medical attention.
Seeking medical attention can’t be stressed enough after a slip and fall. Because even in the event that you’ve bumped your head, this could turn out to be a huge medical emergency days or even months later.
Concentrate on Recovery
Another main point to emphasize is that you should always take the necessary and recommended time to recover from your injury and support your own wellness. And depending on the severity of your slip and fall, this could take days or even months to fully recover.
For example, if you’ve slipped and fell but you managed to catch yourself, you may have a sore arm or leg, a swollen hand or elbow, or something similar. And these types of injuries may not take long to recover from. But if you’ve slipped and dislocated your shoulder or a disc in your back, this type of injury may require significant down-time.
The main thing to remember is to follow your doctor’s recommendations to the letter. And this means that if you’ve been instructed to rest for 6 weeks, you need to do so even if you “feel fine” in a week or two.
Above all, you want to trust the recovery process. What you don’t want to do is attempt to speed through it or attempt any movements that may injure you further. Because then you may be in a position where you’re out of work for an extended period of time.
Recovering from a slip and fall may take some time. But if you follow the steps listed here and adhere to the advice of your doctor, you’ll be able to make the recovery process easier and you’ll likely be back on your feet before you even know it.
