Premises Injuries · Retail · Workplace · Public Property
Find a Slip and Fall Doctor Near You
The spill gets mopped. The warning cone appears afterwards. The security footage gets recorded over. Your medical record is the one piece of evidence that does not disappear — and the only one you control.
- Seen quickly — because everything else about a fall claim decays with time
- Objective findings — imaging and testing, not just “patient reports pain”
- Fracture and head injury screening — the two most commonly missed after a fall
- Free to search — no cost and no obligation to you
The pattern
Most falls never reach a doctor at all
People get up, apologise to whoever is standing there, and go home. Weeks later the wrist still is not right.
Older adults who fall each year — and less than half tell their doctor about it.
CDC, Facts About FallsOf people who fall report an injury needing medical treatment or restricting activity for at least a day.
CDC, Facts About FallsEmergency department visits a year from older adult falls in the United States.
CDC, Facts About FallsOlder adults hospitalised for hip fractures each year. Falls cause the overwhelming majority.
CDC, Facts About FallsWhy this matters to you specifically: the instinct to brush it off is completely normal and it is also the reason so many fall injuries are diagnosed late. CDC also identifies falls as the most common cause of traumatic brain injury — and a head injury is precisely the kind that can feel like nothing at the time.
Why speed matters here more than anywhere
Everything that proves a fall happened is already disappearing
Premises claims are evidence claims. And unlike a car crash, a fall leaves almost nothing behind.
The spill gets cleaned
Often within minutes of you falling, and reasonably so. Once it is gone, the thing that injured you no longer exists.
A warning sign appears
A cone placed after the fact looks identical in a photograph to one that was there all along. Your own photos, taken immediately, are the counterweight.
People move on
Shoppers are strangers and staff turn over. Names and phone numbers collected on the day are worth more than any memory of a face.
Video gets overwritten
Many systems loop on a short retention cycle. If footage exists, it needs to be requested in writing quickly — waiting is how it is lost innocently.
Your medical record is the exception
It is created on a date, it does not get mopped up or recorded over, and you decide today whether it exists at all. That is the entire argument for being seen now rather than next week.
What actually gets hurt
Falls injure in a pattern — and two of them get missed
People instinctively brace, which is why wrist and forearm fractures are so common. They twist to protect the head, which loads the shoulder and the lower back. And when the head does make contact, the injury that follows is often invisible for hours.
The two that get missed most often are hip fractures and head injuries. A hip fracture does not always stop someone walking, particularly a non-displaced one. And a head injury can present as tiredness, a headache, or feeling slightly “off” — which is easy to attribute to the shock of falling in public.
Both are worth ruling out properly. Both are far more treatable early. And both, documented at the time, become objective findings rather than a description of pain.
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What you are up against
Every premises claim meets the same two arguments
Knowing them in advance tells you what to photograph, what to ask for, and why the medical side matters so much.
“We did not know the hazard was there”
- Turns on whether the owner knew, or should have known, about it
- Answered by evidence of the hazard and how long it had been there
- Photographs taken before clean-up are the strongest form of this
- An incident report filed on the day fixes the date and location
“You were not looking where you were going”
- A comparative fault argument, handled differently in each state
- Often paired with a claim that the injury is minor or exaggerated
- Objective medical findings answer the second half directly
- Consistent treatment records answer it over time
How fault is apportioned is a legal question that varies by state and we do not give legal advice. What is true everywhere: a documented, objectively measured injury is harder to characterise as nothing.
If the person who fell is over 65
Treat it as urgent even if they insist they are fine
This is the group where falls do the most damage and get reported the least.
Falling once doubles the chance of falling again — which makes the first fall worth taking seriously on its own.
CDC, Facts About FallsFall-related hospitalisations among older adults every year in the United States.
CDC, Facts About FallsFalls are the most common cause of traumatic brain injury.
CDC, Facts About FallsOlder adults often play a fall down — out of embarrassment, or a worry about losing independence if family think they are unsteady. Getting checked is the opposite of that: it is what identifies a treatable injury early, and what makes the second fall less likely.
The one piece of evidence that does not disappear
The hazard gets cleaned and the footage gets overwritten whether you act or not. Your medical record only exists if you go. Search our free directory and find a clinic near you.
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Common questions
Slip and fall questions, answered
Should I see a doctor after a slip and fall if I can still walk?
Yes. CDC data shows less than half of older adults who fall tell their doctor about it, and about 37% of people who fall report an injury needing medical treatment or restricting their activity for at least a day. Walking away does not rule out a fracture, a soft-tissue tear, or a head injury — several of these present quietly at first and are far easier to treat early.
How soon should I be seen after a fall?
As soon as you reasonably can, and the same day if you hit your head, felt dizzy, or lost consciousness even briefly. Beyond the medical reasons, a dated medical record created close to the fall is the piece of evidence you control completely — unlike the spill, the video, or the witnesses.
What injuries are most common in slip and fall accidents?
Wrist and forearm fractures from bracing, hip fractures, shoulder and rotator cuff injuries, knee injuries, spine injuries, and head injuries. CDC identifies falls as the most common cause of traumatic brain injury, and reports roughly 319,000 older adults hospitalised for hip fractures each year.
Does it matter that I did not report the fall right away?
It makes things harder but it does not necessarily end anything. Report it now, in writing, and get medical attention now. Late is considerably better than never, and a documented reason for the delay is better than an unexplained gap.
The property owner says I should have seen the hazard. Does that end my claim?
Comparative fault arguments like that are extremely common in premises cases, and how they are handled depends on your state. It is a legal question rather than a medical one and we do not give legal advice — but objective medical findings documenting the severity of a real injury are relevant regardless of how fault is eventually apportioned.
Who pays for treatment after a slip and fall?
Some properties carry medical payments coverage that pays smaller medical bills regardless of fault. Otherwise treatment is generally billed to your health insurance, or a clinic may treat on a lien and be paid from any eventual settlement. The property owner's liability insurer typically pays at the end, not as you go.
What should I do at the scene if I fall?
If you can do it safely: photograph the hazard itself and the surrounding area before anything is cleaned up or a warning sign appears, get the names and numbers of anyone who saw it, ask the business to complete an incident report and request a copy, and note the exact time and location. Then get evaluated.
Do I need a lawyer for a slip and fall?
Many people handle these without one. What premises claims tend to turn on is evidence — proof of the hazard, proof the owner knew or should have known about it, and medical proof of a real injury. FindMyInjuryDoctor.com is a medical directory and does not provide legal advice.
Source: all fall statistics from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Facts About Falls (page last updated May 2024; figures reference 2019–2021). Premises liability is governed by state law and varies. General information only, not medical or legal advice.