If you have a torn muscle due to an on-the-job incident and it stops you from returning to your job (for the time being at least), you may be entitled to workers’ compensation from your employer to cover you for any financial hardship. A torn muscle can take place in any job, especially if heavy lifting is involved. When you exert excessive pressure on a muscle, it can tear the muscle fibers. When a muscle becomes torn, small blood vessels in the area may start to bleed, causing localized bleeding or bruising. This can be very painful and sometimes the muscle can’t be used until it has repaired itself after a period of inactivity. You may need to go to an emergency room if the pain restricts your ability to do anything or if the injury is very painful. A Torn Muscle in the Workplace The only way a torn muscle will heal after a workplace accident is to avoid any activities that have contributed to the tear and anything that makes the muscle more painful. Apart from certain types of drugs, a simple way of relieving the symptoms of a torn muscle injury is to apply ice packs. A bonus to the ice pack treatment is that it can also serve as an anti-inflammatory. The treatment time for this type of injury is based on where the tear is. For example, if it’s a tear in the bicep, surgery may be required and you can expect a recovery period of 4 to 6 months. If it’s a partial tear, it will usually heal within 3 to 6 weeks. High Numbers of Workplace Injuries Are Reported As Torn Muscle Injuries It is not uncommon for workers to visit an emergency department with a torn muscle. The Bureau of Labor Statistics in 2016 recorded that 421,610 days were taken off work due to torn muscles and other similar muscle injuries. This amounts to billions of dollars spent on workers’ compensation every year. How a Torn Muscle Can Affect Employment and Compensation If you have the evidence to file a workers’ compensation claim for your torn muscle, you may be entitled to two-thirds of your current salary. The cost of your medical treatment is added to this amount. There are a number of outcomes that could take place due to a torn muscle, which include: Temporary Total Disability, which may take place if you are unable to go back to work temporarily because the torn muscle prevents you from doing your job. Permanent Total Disability, which is unlikely to happen if you have sought treatment for your torn muscle and taken time off to recover from the injury. It will mean that you will not return to that job at all. Temporary Partial Disability, which is when there are some things you can’t do because your torn muscle stops you, but it doesn’t prevent you from going back to work. Permanent Partial Disability is only likely to happen if the muscle tear damage is irreparable. This may mean you are able to return to work but not necessarily doing the exact same tasks you did before. What is the Average Workers’ Compensation For a Torn Bicep Muscle? Torn biceps muscle injuries may be severe enough to need extensive surgery and time off work while recovering. As long as the injury happened while at work, or because of work carried out for an employer, you should be entitled to file a claim for workers’ compensation. Torn bicep muscle workers’ comp. settlements differ in amount because of the variables involved in the injury. Surgery is one of the most expensive variables, so a particularly severe torn bicep injury could involve reconstructive surgery, such as reattaching a detached tendon. The main components of a workers’ compensation settlement are: Payment for all medical treatment, including doctor’s assessment, hospital stays, surgery, tests, scans and medication. This payment must also take into account future predicted treatment and physical therapy. Compensation for time that had to be taken off work. This means a specific fraction of the wages that could have been earned if the injury hadn’t prevented a return to work. The average torn bicep muscle workers comp settlement could be in the range of between $40,000 and $75,000. The main criteria for workers’ comp. claims are that the injury definitely happened while at work, that the injury was reported to a supervisor, or employer within a state specified time and that the claim is filed within the state’s workers’ comp. statute of limitations, typically a two to three year time limit from the date of the accident. You Will Need To Gather Evidence to Prove Your Claim When you are diagnosed by your physician as having a torn muscle, you should make sure the physician has provided you with a written diagnosis so you can include that with your workers’ comp claim. If you know the torn muscle occurred while you were at work, you should get any witness reports, as this will be needed as evidence in your workers’ compensation claim. Don’t forget to collect every bill or evidence that you have paid out for treatment so you can include these with your claim. Cost of a Torn Muscle If you have suffered a torn muscle injury while at work, you will need to have treatment and stay away from your job until it heals sufficiently. This is going to be a significant cost as there will be medical treatment to pay for and you may lose wages while you cannot return to work. Most of this cost should be recovered if you file a workers’ compensation claim, but you need to calculate the cost as accurately as possible and present evidence for the insurer to justify what you have claimed. Calculating the Cost of a Torn Muscle to Claim Workers’ compensation is split into two clearly defined components. The ‘lost earnings component’ is a payment to cover your basic expenses while off work. It is never exactly the same as the wages you would normally be paid. The calculation takes into account what you should have earned based on an average of previous earnings, but a percentage is then used to come up with the final figure. Each state sets its own percentage, but generally it works out at about 66% or two thirds of the full amount. The other component is for the cost of ‘medical treatment.’ Generally, the full cost of medical treatment should be covered by workers’ compensation. There may be other benefits available if the injury prevents a normal return to work. These are permanent partial or permanent full disability benefits. The cost of medical treatment can be further broken down into the following: fees paid to the doctor for initial assessment of the injury; the cost of scans and tests to determine the seriousness of the torn muscle area; medication, including painkillers and anti-inflammatory drugs while pain and any swelling persists; surgery if this is needed; supporting bandages and aids to reduce strain on the muscle; follow up visits to the doctor. Most torn muscle injuries have a good chance of full recovery, but any longer term cost should be taken into consideration when filing the claim. This can be tricky as it might not be obvious at an earlier stage just how well the injury will heal. If you file your claim too early, you may not be able to obtain the compensation you ultimately need. This is where an attorney’s advice can be very useful. Torn Muscle Settlement Torn muscle settlements, like all workplace injury settlements vary widely because there are significant differences in the seriousness of the injury as well as differences in the earnings of the injured worker. To take a sample torn muscle settlement, let’s assume that the injury happens to a warehouse worker due to a lifting accident. The warehouse worker earns $18 an hour and normally works 40 hours a week. The injury means the worker is forced to remain away from work for up to 6 weeks. The lost earnings claimed would be: 18 x 40 x 6 x 0.66 (state mandated percentage is 66% of full wage) = $2,880. In this time, the worker experiences the following additional medical costs: doctor’s fees: 3 x visits @ $120 per visit = $360 scans and other tests: $1,200 minor surgery: $4,500 medication and bandaging: $450 There are no further costs envisaged. In other words, temporary full disability benefits apply as costed above. Total claim = $9,390. This claim example is just less than half the average settlement for average workers’ compensation claims settlements for workplace back injuries. Torn muscle injuries can be compared in severity with back injuries. Approximately two thirds of all claims for back injuries were less than the average claim of $23,600. The same statistics* indicate that claims took on average 17.9 months to settle. You May Need To Hire an Attorney It’s not always easy to get workers’ compensation, especially if a work hazard contributed to your torn muscle. Although in most cases you are legally entitled to file a workers’ comp claim, if your employer or the insurance provider is not co-operating you should seek help from a workers’ comp attorney. That attorney will help to ensure you get whatever you are entitled to, and they’ll have the best sense of what damages you may be entitled to. They can even help you file an appeal if you find it necessary to do that. *lawyers.com/legal-info/workers-compensation/workers-compensation-settlements-awards/workers-comp-back-injury-how-much-will-i-get-and-how-long-will-it-take.html
