I had a nice long back-story filled post that somehow disappeared.
So, the question is:
Has anyone had experience with a worker’s comp insurance company covering an injury related to the work related injury, but which was not actually caused by the job?
Basically, I got tennis elbow from my job. I had 4 cortisone shots over about 10 months, then i had surgery. Then I had 6 months of PT, during which time I lost my job due to my inability to perform and their inability to supply me with light duty. WC also reduced my monetary benefits, then cut them off altogether.
I’m not questioning their decisions in relation to the problems in my left arm. Well, I am but not in this thread. This thread is about my right arm.
My problem is that during my treatment for my left arm, I developed a raging case of tennis elbow in my right arm. **I believe **this is due to the constant necessity for compensating for the left arm pain and weakness. For over a year and a half, my right arm (my dominant arm) has been doing double duty and it finally took it’s toll.
I told WC about it in November (it started in October). I told my ortho doc in December. Neither of them will make a determination on whether or not it’s a WC issue.
I have another independent medical evaluation on Monday and I plan to discuss this with the doctor. If he says they’re related, WC will be required to treat it. Sending me to the IME was their decision anyway. But, if he says they’re not related, I’m screwed.
I am really nervous and I could really use some reassurance that my situation isn’t abnormal and that it can have a good turnout.
Probably not what you want to hear, I broke my ankle at work WC paid for everything as well as paying me a lump sum for the ankle. However, from spmething undetermined, the fall at work, being in a cast and trying to walk or something, I have lower back pain. It was not noticed until they took the cast off and I tried to walk. I had no pain in my back prior to breaking my ankle and pain ever since. I reported this to the WC case worker who sent me to an orthopedic doctor, after xrays, physical therapy and cortisone shots in my lower back he decided that the problem was’t orthopedic and therefore was not covered under WC. I think this is because he didn’t listen to me when I tried to tell him when I had pain and how I was able to compensate. (after the cortisone shots he had me do a pain analysis while in bed my pain at that time was only while standing or walking) he also had me do some sort of work tests that determined I was stronger and more flexable than someone half my age. Again, nothing to do with my actual symptom. The fact that the one test that had to do with waking for 15 minutes I was only able to complete in extreme pain and crying becaue of it, was ignored. I also had to go home for the rest of the day. WC based on his decision, stopped any further treatment and made the offer to settle for my ankle. My choice was I could sue them or settle. I settled.
So to answer your question, it is not uncommon to have other symptoms related to the original injury, but in the long run WC did not help much on the second symptom.
My ankle alomst never bothers me but I still have back pain that limits some things I can do. I do a lot of things to compensate and over several years time have improved the distance I can walk before I have to sit. Exercise and losing weight seems to have helped as part of that. It is sort of funny that when my back starts hurting the immediate response is to arch my back when if I consciously do the opposite it actually helps more