Joint Pain After Falling at Work: How to Find Relief
Injuries caused by falls are common in the workplace. Let’s take a look at how joint pain occurs after a fall and what you can do to find relief. Keep reading to learn more.
What to Do About Back Pain After a Work Injury
Workplace injuries that cause back pain account for over 400,000 cases annually in the United States. In fact, back pain is a leading cause of time lost from work.
Fortunately, most back injuries are minor, so you’ll likely get better. However, back pain symptoms often cause issues at work and home.
Our team at Advanced Spine and Pain Specialists can help you with all aspects of your work injury, from diagnosis and treatment to fulfilling your medical reporting obligations.
Today, we’ll examine what to do about back pain after a work injury.
First aid
Making sure you’re okay is the top priority after any accident or injury.
Back injuries at work are most often the result of incidents like:
- Prolonged sitting or standing
- Poor body posture
- Poor ergonomics
- Heavy lifting
- Repetitive motion
- Fatigue
The most common back injuries include muscle strains, soft tissue sprains, strains, and tears, as well as herniated discs and spinal stenosis.
Reporting your injury
Your obligation under Illinois law is to report your injury within 45 days of one of two situations:
- Within 45 days of an accident or injury at a known time
- Within 45 days of becoming aware of a slow-emerging condition like toxic exposure or repetitive motion injuries
Although you have 45 days, it’s best to report your injury in writing to a supervisor, manager, or human resources department as soon as possible.
Follow up with us
If you received first aid on-site, follow up with Advanced Spine and Pain Specialists as soon as you can. We can complete medical reporting after an examination to make sure your workers’ compensation claim is filled out correctly.
We can also refer you to multidisciplinary specialists for things like physical therapy. Because we see many workers’ compensation cases at our practice, we’ll help you understand how the claims process works.
Caring for your injury at home
Many musculoskeletal injuries respond well to self-care at home, and you can often manage back pain by following the RICE method:
- Rest: avoiding activities or movements that cause back pain
- Ice: cold compresses and ice packs can relieve pain and swelling in the first few days after an injury
- Compression: elastic bandages don’t work well for back injuries, so consider ergonomic back support
- Elevate: this doesn’t apply to back injuries, but try a pillow between your knees while sleeping
Over-the-counter pain medications can usually keep back pain under control. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs relieve pain as well as easing the effects of swelling.
When back pain arises due to a workplace injury, contact the experts at Advanced Spine and Pain Specialists in Chicago, Illinois. Book an appointment today by phone or online.
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