If you or a loved one is injured as a result of another party’s negligence, you may need to file a personal injury lawsuit. A personal injury attorney can work to ensure you receive the proper compensation for your injury, including the funds required to cover your resulting medical expenses and regain or maintain your quality of life.
To receive the most favorable settlement, your personal injury lawyer can help you accurately demonstrate and explain the impact the injury has made on your life. Beyond physical pain and suffering, you may need to provide understanding and quantification of how the injury has impacted your life. A physical therapist (PT) can help with this.
What Is a Physical Therapist?
PTs do not necessarily address a personal injury victim’s occupation. Instead, they help them restore function and participation in all aspects of their lives. A physical therapist is a credentialed healthcare practitioner whose primary focus is on helping injured or disabled clients reach functional goals and improve their quality of life. They can work directly with occupational therapists and other treating healthcare practitioners when necessary.
PTs can perform a comprehensive assessment of a victim’s life before the injury or disability, and the difficulties they are now having after an accident or traumatic event. They can develop programs to help the victim increase, restore, and maintain their ability to care for themselves and engage in their regular activities of living, such as:
- Work
- School
- Home life
- Leisure and social activities
- Mobility
- Sports
- Hobbies
PT’s aim to get the personal injury victim’s life as much back to “normal” as possible. They can suggest modifications for the home, work, or school environment to accommodate the injury or disability better.
Damages a Physical Therapist Can Help Quantify
A PT’s insight can help to quantify the impact a personal injury has had on your life, including:
- Economic Loss
A PT can determine if the personal injury victim can continue working with their injury and whether or not it has affected their ability to work as effectively or for an extended time.
- Attendant Care
A PT can determine if the victim requires the assistance of others, such as personal support aides, family members, or friends, to assist with personal care and other home safety issues.
- Medication Costs
If the victim takes medication to cope with their injury, costs for medication — whether prescribed or over-the-counter — may need to be quantified.
- Housekeeping
A PT can determine if the victim can perform housekeeping activities in the same manner as before, or if they will need to hire a housekeeper to take care of home maintenance tasks.
- Other Losses
Costs for the small things and incidentals begin to add up in personal injury cases, and these costs may need to be quantified if they are expenses that would not have been incurred had they not been injured.
As you can see, there are various damages to consider when quantifying what should be involved in a settlement. Speak with a therapist who does physical therapy, like physical therapy from Mid-Atlantic Spinal Rehab & Chiropractic, to get further help with a personal injury.
