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In the United States alone, about 4.5 million people are victims of dog bites. Several of these injuries would require reconstructive surgery. Aside from treating the injury itself, victims are also at risk of tetanus or rabies infection.
A dog’s jaw can put a significant amount of pressure when it attacks. The pressure can cause considerable damage to your tissues and can even reach your bones.
Here are some of the tips to recover from a dog attack:
- Ask Assistance From A Lawyer
Medical treatment is incredibly expensive. Recovering from an attack will also require you to take some time off from work. Bottom line is, treatment and recovery, even for people who have insurance, can put anyone financial stress. Thus, if you were attacked by a dog that’s not yours, you might need a dog bite lawyer. However, before you work on filing a lawsuit, you should first focus on recovering from the attack.
This is the best time to contact an experienced dog bite lawyer. Many lawyers offer a free consultation regarding these cases, and they can help you address this issue by filing a personal injury claim if the dog is not under your care.
Liabilities for dog attack injuries differ from every state. Talking to a lawyer will give you the idea of how you can attack the case and get compensation. Even if the owner of the dog covers dog bites, a good lawyer can still win you a reasonable settlement amount.
- Make Sure To Address The injury Adequately
Properly addressing the trauma will ensure that you’ll have a speedy recovery. Here are crucial points that you need to look out for after the attack.
- Assess if there’s muscle or tissue damage under the skin. When a dog attacks you, it’s easy to see the injury to the skin. However, a practitioner will assess if there are underlying structures also damaged from the attack. You might think that the skin is the only damage you need to be concerned about, but doctors are always concerned about injuries that can impair any bodily function.
For example, you were bitten on the hand. Doctors will have to check if muscles or tendons are lacerated under the skin. If they find critical injuries, they’ll address this first.
With that, it’s crucial that you immediately seek help if you feel that the wound is deep. Seeking urgent medical attention will help you recover from the attack faster.
- Watch out for possible infection. To recover quickly from a dog attack injury, you need to clean the wound immediately to avoid spreading any disease. The potential for contamination to spread is exceptionally high as dog bites tend to inject bacteria into the muscle tissue.
Common bacteria found on dog bites are Streptococcus, Staphylococcus, and Pasteurella. Another critical issue you should be concerned about is if whether or not the dog was immunized for rabies. Given this information, doctors will then make their plan of action.
- Ask Professional Help in Case of PTSD
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is prevalent in dog attack victims. If a dog attacks you viciously, your body will suffer severe trauma. Some victims have very critical injuries to the extent that they’ll require physical therapy during the healing process.
Not many people realize, but a person’s mental health is affected during a dog attack, as well. If you need physical therapy to recover from the injuries, it’s most likely that you’ll need to address PTSD, or mental recovery in general, as well. Thus, if you’re feeling anxious or showing signs of PTSD, you need to address this issue and consult with a mental health professional as soon as possible.
- Have Follow-up Appointments
While you work on your injury case, never forget to attend the doctor’s scheduled follow-up meetings. Attending the follow-up appointments is the critical thing you need to do to help your recovery.
Take note that doctors should know if you’re taking all medications as directed and any side effects that you may be experiencing. Being in open communication with your doctor is crucial in the recovery process.
Summary
A dog attack is a grave incident that can affect you, physically, mentally, emotionally, and financially. After the attack, you need to get urgent medical care after assessing the severity of your injury. Addressing the damage as early as possible will give you a better chance of faster recovery as well. Recovering from animal attack entails open communication with your doctor and consult a lawyer for a personal injury case.
Last Updated on by Icy Tales Team