While many people confuse carpal tunnel syndrome and repetitive motion injuries – making it seem as if the two terms are practically synonymous – there are other types of injury from repetitive motion to be aware of.
Whether you’re a desk worker, athlete, dancer, or even driver, you’re at high risk of repetitive motion injury, which is among the most common injuries in the U.S.
While most repetitive motion injuries – resulting, as the name implies, from doing mechanical motion over and over again – are caused in the workplace, pretty much any repetitive actions in our everyday life can be responsible for the disorder.
Many employees are not told upon hiring that their duties may result in injuries caused by repetitive motion, which is why we encourage our readers to consult a workers compensation attorney at the Law Offices of Kropach & Kropach to get a comprehensive review of your duties and determine whether or not your job puts you at higher risk of repetitive strain injuries.
As mentioned above, repetitive motion injuries refer to a wide range of injuries caused by performing certain activities over and over again during a prolonged period of time and with a lack of rest (taking breaks).
While repetitive strain injuries are mostly preventable, our workers compensation attorneys say, most workers aren’t aware of the health risks that their job duties pose, which can put a tremendous amount of strain on the muscles, ligaments, and joints.
While carpal tunnel syndrome – which is characterized by numbness, tingling, weakness, and other symptoms in the hand due to pressure on the median nerve in the wrist – is arguably the most common type of repetitive motion injury given the rise of a sedentary lifestyle and desk workers in recent decades, it’s not the only type of repetitive strain injuries.
Our Los Angeles workers compensation lawyers at the Law Offices of Kropach & Kropach have outlined the most common symptoms of repetitive motion injuries: numbness and tingling in the affected area;
Whether you’re employed in Los Angeles or elsewhere in Los Angeles, be aware of the most common activities that increase your risk of suffering a repetitive motion injury such as carpal tunnel syndrome:
Apart from carpal tunnel syndrome, the following conditions can be considered repetitive strain injuries under federal and state laws in Los Angeles (though it depends on your particular circumstances):
All of the above-mentioned can make it impossible for workers to perform their job duties over time. Given this factor and the fact that repetitive strain injuries are acquired at work, these injuries do qualify for workers compensation in Los Angeles.
Our workers compensation attorneys at the Law Offices of Kropach & Kropach warn, however, that litigating repetitive motion injuries can be difficult as you’d have to establish the chain of events leading up to the injury.
Also, you’d be required to prove that your repetitive strain injuries are work-related and occurred on the job in order to qualify for benefits under workers compensation, including lost wages and medical bills.
Consult our workers compensation lawyers who will walk you through the entire process of obtaining compensation for your workplace injuries and put you in touch with Los Angeles’s finest medical professionals who would diagnose and treat your occupational injuries.
Call our offices at 818-609-7005 or fill out this contact form to get a free initial consultation.