Your Job Duties Can Slowly Cause a Debilitating Medical Condition

On-the-job injuries sometimes occur during shocking workplace accidents. A piece of equipment overturns or a worker makes a major mistake, resulting in someone suffering significant injuries.

When a worker suffers a head trauma, broken bone or spinal cord injury on the job, the situation that leads to the injury is often an incident with extensive internal records. However, many people get hurt on the job not because of some unexpected accident but through performing the same tasks daily for years.

Workers can find themselves dealing with pain and functional limitations if they develop a repetitive stress injury.

How Do Repetitive Stress Injuries Occur?

When you grip, lift, twist, bend or otherwise use a body part to perform a physical action, those actions can cause small amounts of damage to the joints, musculature and even nerves nearby. The more frequently you perform an action, the more likely it is to cause small amounts of damage through repetitive stress or repetitive strain.

Over the course of years, those small, recurring injuries will produce more obvious symptoms. Workers may feel more sore or stiff after a long day or may start to notice that job tasks that were once easy now seem painful or difficult.

Workers can develop repetitive stress injuries in many parts of their bodies depending on the work they perform. Someone who types all day in an office may develop carpal tunnel or similar repetitive stress injuries to the hands and forearms. Someone who works in a factory might develop pain in their knees, hips or back.

Repetitive stress injuries will typically get worse if someone continues doing the same work. You may need physical therapy, surgery or a change in career to address a repetitive stress injury.

Workers’ Compensation Can Help

Thankfully, while there is no cure for a repetitive stress injury, workers’ compensation benefits can help you manage its impact on your life. You can connect with appropriate medical treatment with no patient financial responsibilities through workers’ compensation.

You could also receive temporary disability pay if you need to take a leave of absence to recover. Permanent partial disability benefits can also help workers who have to move to a lower pain feels after developing a repetitive stress injury. Learning more about the injuries possible from a long-term career can help someone apply for workers’ compensation when they deserve it.