Hurt in a car accident? Start here.
A calm, clear plan for the days after a crash, and a free workbook to keep your injuries, treatment, and claim organized from day one.
✓ Same-day and next-day appointments · Often no out-of-pocket cost with MedPay
Acupuncture & Functional Medicine
Recovery & Claim Workbook
Stay organized through your whole claim
After an accident, the details that protect your health and your claim are easy to lose track of. This workbook gives you one place to keep them.
Download the workbook (PDF) workbook backup linkFree, no sign-up, nothing to fill out first.
Built to be used, not filed away
Eight pages that take you from the day of the crash through the day your claim is resolved.
Quick reference
Every claim number, adjuster, and deadline in one place to recite on phone calls.
NC rules & checklist
The deadlines and rules that matter in North Carolina, plus a step-by-step checklist.
Accident details
Space to record the scene, the other driver, police report, and photos while it's fresh.
Insurance & MedPay
Track both insurers, your MedPay coverage, and every call in a communication log.
Symptom journal
A daily log of pain and limitations, the record that's questioned most and kept least.
Treatment & bills
Log every appointment and bill so gaps and balances never catch you off guard.
The first 72 hours
What you do in the first three days affects both how well you recover and how your claim holds up.
Get checked, even if you feel okay
Adrenaline masks pain at the scene. Soft tissue and disc injuries often don't show on standard ER imaging and can take days to surface.
See a chiropractor who handles auto injuries
Ideally within 24 to 72 hours. Early evaluation catches the injury while it's freshest and starts the record your claim depends on. See how we treat auto accident injuries.
Notify your auto insurer in writing
Your policy requires notice promptly, which in practice means days rather than weeks. Confirm your MedPay coverage and limit while you're on the phone. Note the date you notified them, and keep a copy.
Save everything from the accident
Police report, photos, the other driver's information, and any ER paperwork. The workbook gives you a place for all of it.
Start your symptom journal today
Daily entries early in recovery carry the most weight. Don't wait, the details fade fast. There's a page for it in the workbook.
Why injuries show up days later
The pain is often delayed
In even a low-speed collision, the forces strain soft tissue, shift spinal structures, and trigger inflammation that builds over 24 to 72 hours. That's why you can feel fine at the scene and much worse two days later. More on delayed symptoms after a crash.
Whiplash is the clearest example. The neck is thrown through a range of motion faster than the muscles can protect against, causing microtears that are real and painful but don't appear on X-ray.
Early care protects more than your health
Injuries left untreated tend to become chronic as scar tissue restricts movement. Addressing them early gives the best chance of full recovery.
There's a practical side too. Insurers look at the gap between the accident and the start of treatment. A long delay is used as evidence the injury wasn't serious, justifying denial or limited treatment. Starting early protects both your recovery and your claim.
What we see after a collision
If one of these matches what you're feeling, the page explains how the injury happens, what recovery looks like, and how it's documented.
Two things worth understanding early
Coverage and deadlines shape what happens to your bills and your claim. Both are easier to handle in the first week than in the sixth month.
MedPay coverage in North Carolina
Optional coverage on your own policy that pays accident-related medical bills regardless of who caused the crash. How to find out whether you have it, what it covers, and why using it does not reduce what the at-fault driver owes.
Read about MedPay →North Carolina claim deadlines
Several clocks start on the day of a crash and they run at different speeds. Three years to file suit, days to notify your insurer, and a timeline to work from through the whole claim.
See the deadlines →Care for everything a collision affects
We bring several approaches together under one roof, so the muscles, joints, and nerves a crash strains are all addressed, not just one.
Chiropractic
Restoring motion and alignment to the spine and joints after impact.
Learn more →Spinal decompression
Gentle relief for disc injuries and nerve-related pain.
Learn more →Acupuncture
Support for pain and inflammation as the body heals.
Learn more →Dry needling
A myofascial trigger point technique for muscle tightness and spasm.
Learn more →We document carefully for insurance and legal purposes, and we work with personal injury attorneys throughout the Lake Norman area. If accident records are headed to an attorney or insurer, telling us early means they're prepared the right way from the first visit.
For how each injury is evaluated and treated, see our auto accident injury care page. The rest of the techniques are listed under chiropractic modalities, including myofascial release.
What people ask after an accident
As soon as you can, ideally within 24 to 72 hours, even if you feel okay. Soft tissue and disc injuries often don't show on standard ER imaging, and symptoms can take days to appear. Early care is most effective and establishes the injury record while it's fresh.
In North Carolina, medical payments coverage (MedPay) on your own auto policy covers reasonable and necessary accident-related medical bills up to your limit, regardless of who caused the crash. Many patients have no out-of-pocket cost for covered care. MedPay is optional, so check your declarations page to see whether you carry it. Our page on MedPay coverage in North Carolina walks through how to find it and how to open a claim.
Not every claim needs one, but North Carolina's contributory negligence rule makes good documentation and, in many cases, legal representation valuable. The free workbook helps you keep the records an attorney would need, whether or not you hire one. We also work directly with personal injury attorneys across the Lake Norman area.
North Carolina generally allows three years from the date of the crash to file a personal injury lawsuit. Notifying your own insurer is a separate and far shorter deadline set by your policy, usually worded as prompt notice, meaning days rather than weeks. Our page on North Carolina claim deadlines lays out every clock that starts on the day of a crash.
We take the history of the crash, examine you, measure range of motion and function, and start the record from that first day. Here's what to expect at your first visit.
You don't have to figure this out alone
Download the free workbook, then call when you're ready to be seen. We treat accident patients the same day or next day.
Attorneys: see our referral and documentation page.
