Herniated Disc—One of The Most Common Work Related Injuries
What is a Herniated Disc?
Your spinal column is made out of many parts. The main elements include the spinal cord; which is a bundle of nerves that goes from your brain down through your back, the vertebrae, which is comprised of numerous bones that act as the structural support; and the rubber liquid-filled discs that sit between each vertebrae. The discs act as shock absorbers and allow the spine to rotate. When the center jelly-like part of the disc ruptures the tougher, rubber exterior, it is said to have “herniated,” “slipped,” or “bulged.” A herniated disc can cause severe back pain, full body weakness, and numbness and tingling in the arms and legs, according to the Mayo Clinic. This numbness and weakness is caused by the disc pressing against the spinal cord.
How a Herniated Disc, Bulging Disc, or Slipped Disc Occurs
The contributing factors to a herniated disc include:
- Wear and tear caused by normal aging;
- Physically demanding work;
- Lifting heavy objects at work; and
- Rotating and lifting objects at the same time, according to Health Line.
A herniated disc can occur at any time, and from the slightest movement. Once the damage is done—from months or years of hard manual labor for instance—all it takes is bending over to put on your socks, or sneezing, to cause the disc to bulge out and cause tremendous, instant pain.
Why You Need an Attorney For Filing a Herniated Disc Workers’ Compensation Claim
Your sweat and toil goes into your work, which your employer, and potentially shareholders if the company is large enough, benefits from daily. It is only fair that if you get injured, your employer should have to pay you back for the cost of fixing your injury, and help you pay your bills while you take time off from work, right? Unfortunately, many employers do not see things this way. Some employers do everything they can to squeeze every last bit of monetary value out of their employees, and attempt to cast them aside when they get hurt on the job. After all, every workers’ compensation claim that your employer has to pay out increases their workers’ compensation insurance premium. One of the ways that employers get out of paying for workers’ compensation is by arguing that the injury was caused off the job site, or is a pre-existing condition. Because herniated discs can occur anywhere and from any line of work, it is easy for employers to make this claim. However, even if you threw your back out at home, chances are that the injury was actually caused at work if you do manual labor. Only an experienced attorney can fight back against your employer and their large insurance carrier and give you the best chance at being compensated fairly.
An Orlando White Finger Workers’ Compensation Attorney Can Help You File a Claim
A herniated disc is a permanent condition. Even if the disc recovers and retreats back into itself, the damage has been done and you are prone to re-injury. If you were injured at work or from your line of work, you deserve your full workers’ compensation benefits. Our Orlando workers’ compensation attorneys can help. Call the Payer Law at 407-307-2979 to schedule a free consultation today.
/workers-compensation-and-pre-existing-conditions/
