If you pinched a nerve while in the course of duties at work, it may be of great concern to you how you will have enough money to ensure you cover your family’s daily requirements while you are off work recovering. Fortunately, workers’ compensation is available for most U.S. employees. If you’ve pinched a nerve while on the job, workers’ compensation may cover you for a portion of any loss of wages and the cost of medical treatment to cure your condition. The Cost Of a Pinched Nerve A pinched nerve is a painful and debilitating injury. If you suffered a pinched nerve in a workplace accident, you will need to file a claim for workers’ compensation benefits. The cost of treating a pinched nerve can add up fast, so be sure to ask your employer about their network of workers’ compensation medical providers. Most insurance companies have an agreement with a group of providers, so they have a network. Failing to seek care from a provider that is in the network could leave you having to pay the medical costs yourself. According to CostHelper*, if a patient is not insured, the cost of a doctor visit for a pinched nerve could be as much as $300. Physical therapy is often prescribed, and it can range in cost from $50 to $350 per session and end up costing thousands of dollars when treatment is complete. The cost of over-the-counter pain medication is usually $10 to $20, but sometimes prescriptions must be filled. The prescription anticonvulsants used to treat nerve pain can cost anywhere from $1,000 to $5,000 per year. Sometimes a pinched nerve requires surgery. As an example, carpal tunnel release surgery is about $8,000. Spinal surgeries range from $20,000 to $150,000. Medical devices, such as a wrist brace, back brace, walker, or wheelchair, could be required after surgery and that will add to the expense. Herniated disc surgery costs anywhere from $20,000 to $50,000 and spinal stenosis back surgery costs anywhere from $50,000 to $150,000. Spinal fusion ranges from $80,000 to $150,000. Workers’ compensation can cover the cost of your medical care for your back injury, which could add up past six figures and have a major impact on your family’s financial situation. Be sure you follow proper protocol to get your workers’ comp claim on track quickly. How a Pinched Nerve can Lead to a Workers’ Comp Claim A pinched nerve often develops when nerves become constricted or compressed by a muscle, bone, tendon or cartilage. This could be caused by poor posture and overuse while undertaking a job, as well as such activities as exercise and playing a sport. Once the pressure is relieved, the pain soon reduces or disappears. Whatever the recommended treatment is, the time taken to recover may be quite long. It might not be possible to return to work for several weeks. You may need to take a considerable period off work, especially if your job requires strength and mobility, for example if you are a construction worker, a roof tiler or a builder. A plasterer earns on average annual wage of $43,945 which works out to be about $21 per hour, or nearly $900 per week. Complications From a Pinched Nerve Applying coats of plaster or stucco can lead to shoulder tendonitis and non-specific shoulder pain as well as pinched nerve. Tendonitis is evident when the tendon is inflamed. Tension neck syndrome, commonly called myofascial pain syndrome, brings about pain in the neck-shoulder region. It is statistically one of the most common neck and shoulder work-related injuries. High Numbers of Workplace Injuries Are Due To A Pinched Nerve Musculoskeletal disorders like a pinched nerve make up around 30 percent of workplace injuries which lead to lost days from work. A third of the cash from workers’ compensation claims come from these sorts of injuries. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has reported that such injuries affect up to 1.8 million annually, costing between $17 and $20 billion. What You Could Be Paid In A Workers’ Comp Payment For A Pinched Nerve If you are entitled to workers’ compensation you can expect to receive an amount to cover medical treatment and part of the loss in income. If the pinched nerve is ongoing and doesn’t appear to heal you may need additional training to adapt to your condition. There are situations that may occur due to your pinched nerve and these include: Temporary Total Disability, where a pinched nerve prevents you from doing your job completely for a short time; Permanent Total Disability is unlikely to occur with a pinched nerve, but it could happen if you fail to recover completely and do not go back to work; Temporary Partial Disability takes place when your pinched nerve means you are able to perform some parts of your job but not all, so you still go back to work; Permanent Partial Disability is a reality when you are unable to perform certain parts of your job at all because of your pinched nerve injury but you do go back to work in a reduced capacity. How to Treat a Pinched Nerve and How to Treatment Prevent If you suffered a pinch nerve while working, the first thing you want to do is stop doing the work immediately that caused the pinch nerve. The second thing that you should do to treat a pinched nerve is to rest the area of pain and to stop doing the repetitive motions that caused it. If your pinched nerve does not improve, then you may want to seek medical attention. To avoid getting pinched nerves at work, make sure to take breaks from repetitive motions during the day. Maintaining good posture is another way to avoid pinched nerves, especially in the back. If your pinched nerve continues to worsen and forces you to be out of work for some time, you may want to file for a workers' compensation claim. Calculating the Cost of a Pinched Nerve Claim When you file a claim for workers’ compensation because of a pinched nerve, you will need to add up all the expenses of the costs associated with the injury so you can seek compensation. Workers’ compensation covers medical expenses and covers a portion of your lost wages while you are unable to work because of the injury. Medical expenses should include all medical costs, including but not limited to: Doctor visits Surgical procedures Physical therapy Medical devices Home health care Prescriptions Over-the-counter medications as recommended by the physician Future medical care Missed work and lost wages and any future loss of earnings should also be added up. You will need to maintain thorough documentation to support your claim, such as medical records, medical bills, prescription receipts, medical device receipts, a journal documenting missed work and lost wages, photos of the accident scene, photos of the injuries, witness statements and the accident report. The more documentation that you gather, the more likely you are to succeed with your workers’ compensation claim. You Will Need To Gather Evidence To Prove Your Claim For a pinched nerve, conduction tests are able to reveal the impairment of the nerves. You should ensure you keep these results and the cost of the specialty tests and doctor’s appointments, preferably in a form that is genuine and straightforward to read and understand. If you have been experiencing the pain from the pinched nerve over a period of time it would be god to ensure you have witnesses to prove it. This should be from work colleagues, supervisors and managers so that your discomfort is revealed properly. Average Pinched Nerve Settlement No two claims are the same, even if they involve pinched nerves. The location of the pinched nerve and the extent of the injury comes into play and will affect the overall costs associated with your injury. When determining the value of your claim, your medical costs will be added up, any needs for future medical care such as any surgery in the future, your lost wages, and any future loss of earnings that you may have because of the injury. Any past costs are added up, but you will need documentation to indicate any future expenses such as any needs for future medical care such as doctor visits, surgery, or physical therapy. While you should be able to document any missed work and lost wages, you will need to get documentation from a physician that indicates you will also miss work in the future and to what extent. Or, if you cannot return to the same job and must take a lower paying position, that should also be indicated because that is also a loss of income. That needs to be given consideration during the settlement process for your workers’ compensation claim after suffering a pinched nerve. If you must switch job roles and cannot return to the same position, workers’ compensation may cover the cost associated with vocational retraining to prepare you for your new job. If that is the case, those costs should be added into the overall value of your workers’ compensation settlement. Your workers’ comp attorney will determine all associated expenses. Tips For Settling a Workers’ Compensation Claim For a Pinched Nerve If you have suffered a pinched nerve in a work-related accident, you should pursue a workers’ compensation claim. The claims process can go quickly, or it may take some time. Of course, you would want to know the extent of your injuries and determine the future costs associated with your accident, so you get fairly compensated. Once a settlement has been negotiated, all parties involved – you, your attorney, and your employer and their insurer – will need to sign the agreement. After the agreement has been signed, a judge will have to approve it. It could take two to four weeks for a judge to sign off and approve the agreement. After the agreement has been approved, the insurance company has anywhere from two weeks to a month after everything has been approved. You May Need To Speak To An Attorney If you don’t know how to file a workers’ comp claim, you don’t know how to calculate the amount, or experience difficulties with your claim, talk to an experienced workers’ comp attorney who understands the problems you are facing and will set you on the right course to getting the settlement you deserve. If a work accident has left you with a pinched nerve, you should enlist the help of a workers’ compensation attorney who is licensed in your state. With the help of a workplace injury lawyer, you are much more likely to have a successful workers’ compensation claim and be awarded the benefits that you need in such situations. The medical benefits and lost wages can have a significant impact on your family’s financial situation after you were hurt at work and left unable to work. State laws specify the claims process and establish the timeline for getting a claim filed. Don’t wait until it is too late to file your workers’ compensation claim. 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