Performing the same motion over and over causes stress on the body. Unfortunately, many jobs require you to use the same muscles in the same way all day, every day. This can lead to repetitive motion or repetitive stress injury (RSI), sometimes also called an overuse injury.
When your work has caused an injury, you have the right to benefits under the workers’ compensation program. An Orlando repetitive motion injury lawyer at The Florida Firm Injury and Accident Lawyers could help you pursue your claim. Our seasoned workers’ comp attorneys have an excellent reputation among former clients and area professionals for our knowledge, compassion, and tenacity in achieving outstanding results.
Repetitive Stress Injuries Can Affect Many Parts of the Body
Although movement is generally good for you, making the same motions repeatedly can cause excessive wear on tendons, ligaments, and joints. Your personal physiology impacts how your body will react to repetitive stress.
People who work at computers all day, musicians, and some laborers may suffer from carpal tunnel syndrome in their hands and wrists. People who must lift heavy objects can suffer repetitive strain injuries in their shoulders and knees. If your job involves bending or twisting, you may develop back problems like muscle strains, lumbar tendonopathy, or lumbar bursitis.
These injuries produce persistent pain and limited range of motion, but they are difficult to prove. Diagnosis relies heavily on your report of symptoms, and your employer’s workers’ compensation insurance company may challenge your claim. An Orlando workplace injury attorney from our firm can help you navigate a system that is sometimes hostile to people with repetitive stress injuries.
How Do You Prove an Overuse Injury?
Repetitive motion injuries are compensated under Florida’s workers’ compensation program, but proving your injury can be difficult. Because the damage to your body accrues over time, there is no sudden accident or incident you can point to as the cause of your symptoms.
Florida law requires you to prove two elements to be eligible to receive benefits for RSIs. You must demonstrate that your work requires you to make repetitive motions over a prolonged period, and that the specific motions are the direct cause of your particular injury. Florida Statutes § 440.09 requires you to show that the major contributing cause of your injury is your work—if your hobbies could produce the same injury, you may have difficulty proving the RSI is work-related.
Proving an RSI to the satisfaction of a workers’ compensation insurer can be challenging. The repetitive stress injury lawyers at Colling Gilbert Wright’s Orlando office have substantial experience handling these claims. Our team can compile and present the evidence you need to prove your RSI is work-related and ensure you receive the benefits you have earned.
Understand the Workers’ Compensation Claims Process
You initiate a workers’ compensation claim by reporting an injury to your employer within 30 days of its occurrence. This can be tricky with RSI claims because the injury develops over time. If you see your private physician about your symptoms and they diagnose a repetitive motion injury, inform your employer within 30 days of the diagnosis. If you are at work and feel that you cannot finish your tasks because of your symptoms, or if you call out of work due to pain or stiffness, that day may start the 30-day clock.
Your employer will require you to see an approved workers’ compensation physician. If you are unhappy with the care you are receiving for your RSI, speak with an Orlando repetitive motion injury attorney at The Florida Firm Injury and Accident Lawyers. We can protest a doctor’s decisions or request that they order specific diagnostic tests.
Rest is often the best treatment for repetitive motion injuries, but sometimes returning to your former job is impossible without accommodations. Sometimes these injuries do not heal completely, and you remain at risk of reinjury. In that case, you may be entitled to permanent impairment or disability benefits.
Consult Our Orlando AttorneysIf You Have a Work-Related Overuse Injury
When you file a workers’ compensation claim for a repetitive stress injury, you face some additional challenges. Your employer’s insurer will scrutinize your claim and may assert that your condition is not work-related.
An Orlando repetitive motion injury lawyer at Colling Gilbert Wright can help you prove your entitlement to benefits. We have an extensive record of obtaining excellent results on behalf of injured workers. Contact our workers’ compensation team today to learn more about how we can help with RSI claims.