Workplace injuries are common, and certain industries present a higher risk than others. The causes of injuries can range from daily repetitive moves to traumatic accidents.
These injuries cause people to miss work, and some injuries may prevent a worker from returning to the same job. Proper and immediate treatment of these injuries is important, and workers’ compensation insurance may cover the associated medical care.
For many injuries, workers may benefit from workers’ compensation orthopedic doctors, as this medical professional understands how to treat a wide variety of work-related injuries. At Workers Comp Doctor, you can find a New Jersey or New York orthopedist in your area.
Facts and Stats About Work-Related Injuries
Common work-related injuries that an orthopedist can help with include those caused by:
- Slips and falls
- Machinery incidents
- Vehicle accidents
- Repetitive stress and overexertion
These can cause a variety of injuries, including neck and back pain, broken bones, whiplash, and pulled muscles, which result in missed days from work. In fact, 27% of injuries resulting in time off were from slips, trips, and falls. Each year, around 229,000 injuries resulting in missed work are due to contact with equipment or other objects.
Around 2.4 million workers annually seek emergency care for their injuries. Males and workers 24 years of age and younger have higher rates of occupational injuries that require emergency care.
Injuries can occur in any industry, but some are more dangerous than others. The construction industry is one of the most dangerous, and it has the most workplace fatalities, although agriculture, forestry, hunting, and fishing industries have the highest rate of fatalities per 100,000 workers. Education and health services had the highest rate of nonfatal injuries out of 100,000 workers resulting in days away from work. No matter what your on-the-job injury is, it’s good policy to seek medical care right away.
Information About Orthopedists
An orthopedic doctor in NYC is a medical doctor who focuses on injuries of the musculoskeletal system, which includes nerves, muscles, bones, joints, tendons, and ligaments. Orthopedic surgeons or doctors may work on all areas of the body to treat musculoskeletal injuries, or he or she may have a subspecialty such as upper extremities, foot and ankle, spinal surgery, sports medicine, trauma surgery, or joint replacement.
Based on the specific injury, an orthopedist will use a number of modalities and methods to treat the problem. Some of the injuries that a workers’ compensation orthopedic doctor can help treat include:
- Soft tissue injures
- Broken bones
- Neck pain
- Carpal tunnel syndrome
- Shoulder injuries
- Low back strain and sprain
- Rotator cuff tears
- Spinal trauma such as a herniated disc or pinched nerve
Reasons to See a New York Orthopedist for a Workplace Injury
If you are suffering from a work injury, you may be wondering what type of you should seek care from. Depending on your specific injury, you may benefit from a variety of healthcare professionals to completely heal and get back to work functioning at 100%.
However, it is always smart to see an orthopedist first. This medical professional will conduct a thorough exam and can then recommend whether orthopedic or another type of treatment will be the most effective.
There are additional reasons to see an orthopedist or orthopedic surgeon first:
Saves You Time
Because an orthopedist is a primary care doctor, you can save time. If you went to your general doctor first, there is a good chance that he or she would refer you to an orthopedist because of the extent of your injuries. By booking the appointment first, you can get the care you need right away without making multiple appointments with various doctors.
Focused Treatment
An orthopedist is a soft tissue specialist, so he or she knows how to treat these injuries in a specific manner. Rather than getting care from a general doctor, who knows a little about everything, an orthopedic doctor has focused education and training on soft tissues, which is especially helpful for many work-related injuries.
Prevents Chronic Issues
If you go to someone else for care of your injuries, you may not get the complete treatment that you need. Some doctors or other healthcare professionals may just manage your symptoms by prescribing muscle relaxants or pain medication or by telling you to apply ice or heat to the area. Or care may only be one or two visits to reduce your symptoms.
In contrast, an orthopedist works to fix the cause of the problem rather than just cover up symptoms. By finding and treating the root of the issue, an orthopedist not only helps heals the injury but also prevents the injury from resulting in chronic issues in the future.
Exam to Help Your Claim
If you are filing a workers’ compensation claim to recover medical costs for your injury, you will need an exam to document the extent of the injuries, outline the treatment plan, and estimate when you can go back to work. Orthopedists are respected medical professionals because of their knowledge of soft tissues, and they perform extensive exams. By getting an initial exam by an orthopedic doctor, there is a better chance for approval of your clam.
When to See a Workers’ Comp Orthopedic Doctor After an Injury
After you sustain an injury at work, there may be a temptation to put off seeing a doctor. However, there are various reasons why you should seek care from an orthopedic doctor in NYC as soon as possible after an incident.
Many symptoms associated with workplace injuries, especially soft tissue ones, do not appear right away. One of the reasons for this is that your body releases hormones and chemicals after an accident. This suppresses pain for a while. Muscle strains may take hours to show up, and the initial symptoms may be mild, but they often get worse over the next few days. Even if you do experience symptoms right after the incident occurs, you maybe think that they will go away on their own, or you may be afraid to tell your employer about the accident.
The longer you wait to receive treatment for an injury, the harder it is to treat it completely. The body has a tremendous ability to adjust to the pain, so even if your symptoms do eventually clear up on their own, this does not mean the problem is no longer there. The injury is still present even without symptoms.
An orthopedic doctor can diagnose the problem in injured workers even before symptoms arise. When this occurs, treatment can begin right away, which gets you out of pain quicker and reduces the chances of lingering issues. If you see an orthopedist and he or she does not find any real problem, you can at least feel better that you had it checked out and that you do not need to worry about future issues. make sure that you find the right doctors who accept worker’ss compensation insurance.
What to Expect During an Appointment
If you have never been to a workers’ comp orthopedic doctor, here is what you can generally expect from the initial visit.
Consultation and Exam
The main initial focus is to find out what the injury is. During the first visit, the orthopedist will sit down and talk with you about a variety of things including:
- Your current symptoms
- Details about the accident at work
- Your medical history
- Overall health
- Any symptoms you had prior to the workplace accident
- What makes the symptoms worse or better
- How the symptoms affect your ability to perform your job
- Give you a chance to ask questions
After the consultation, the orthopedic doctor will perform a detailed exam. This physical examination will be of the area of complaint as well as associated areas, as pain can refer from the injured area to someplace else.
Along with the exam, which may include palpation, reflex tests, range of motion analysis, and other orthopedic tests, the orthopedist may recommend diagnostic tests. X-rays are common, but other potential tests include CT scans, MRI, blood tests, nerve conduction studies, bone scans, or an ultrasound.
If you initially visited the emergency room right after the injury, the orthopedist will want to see records of your visit as well as the results of any diagnostic tests you had, so bring those along to the orthopedic appointment.
Treatment Options
After the exam, the orthopedist will recommend a treatment plan. Some of the potential treatment options may include:
- Muscle therapy
- Acupuncture
- Physical therapy
- Rehabilitation exercises
- Mobility aids
- Anti-inflammatory medication
- Injections
- Surgery
Referral to Another Team Member
Orthopedists often work with a team of healthcare professionals so that patients have access to the most effective injury treatment Along with orthopedic treatment, the doctor may make a referral to a:
Schedule an Appointment with an Orthopedic Doctor in NYC
At Workers Comp Doctor, we want you to get the most effective orthopedic care for your work-related injury. Our website makes it easy for you to find an orthopedic doctor close to you, whether you are looking for a New Jersey or New York orthopedist. Our doctors accept worker compensation, no-fault, PIP, and other insurance plans and provide quality care in a timely manner. The website lists the healthcare professionals who treat workers’ compensation injuries and help return injured workers to a normal life. Contact us right away to schedule an appointment with an experienced orthopedic doctor in your area.