The most understood work comp injuries in Illinois are when you can pin point a specific time and place when you got hurt. For example, if you get hit by a forklift and break your leg, that is usually a pretty straight forward work injury situation.
Not every case is like that of course. For many workers, you start to feel sore over a period of time or you wake up one day and are in pain. This is called a wear and tear or repetitive trauma injury.
Wear and tear means that damage occurs due to normal use. In other words, the normal activities of your job cause your body to break down and you to suffer an injury. You don’t have to be unable to work in order to qualify for Illinois workers’ compensation benefits. You just need to be able to show that your job contributed to your body breaking down and it resulted in you needing medical care.
The most common symptom of a wear and tear injury is pain. It can get better with pain medication and then gradually worse over time. Or it can be a situation where you wake up one day and are in excruciating pain. Every case and situation is different.
While this can happen in almost any profession, it’s certainly more common in some versus the others. We see wear and tear injuries a lot with :
- Nurses – They tend to do the same movements over and over along with a lot of lifting of dead weight patients.
- Warehouse workers – Another job that requires a lot of heavy lifting and cause backs and shoulders to break down.
- Machinists – Not just lifting, but a lot of squatting, bending, etc.
- Construction Workers – Not just the expected upper body injuries with them, but often injuries to the feet and ankles from walking on uneven pavement.
- Movers – Common sense will tell you that carrying heavy couches, beds, dressers, etc. day after day can cause a problem.
- Carpenters – They do a ton of overhead work which leads to many shoulder injuries among other problems.
- Deli Workers – Lots of elbow injuries from doing the same motion over and over with the slicer.
- Secretaries and Data Entry – All of that constant typing often leads to carpal tunnel syndrome.
The first thing to do when you begin to feel significant pain is go and see your doctor. You should also let your employer know that you believe the repetitive nature of the job has led to a wear and tear injury. You should do this ASAP when you have any indication your problems may be work related.
These cases are often denied by work comp insurance companies, but we have a great track record of helping injured workers recover owed benefits through our state wide network of aggressive and experienced lawyers. And of course there is no fee to talk or begin a case. If you’d like a free consultation, please contact us any time.
