[nitto85]

Since this is pretty much the only forum I'm active on anymore I figured I'd ask here, since the members here are from all walks of life.

July 5th I injured my back at work, to make a long story short, when it happened, I saw a flash of white and got dizzy. I told my supervisor and he suggested that I put icy hot on it and take some ib prophen. I did this, it felt better, and I went back to work to finish up the day.

Later that evening the pain became pretty severe, it hurt to stand, sit, whatever, my family actually wanted me to go to the ER, instead I popped ib prophen and iced all weekend. That Monday I went in a told my manager what had happened over the weekend, and told them that I needed to see a Dr. They pitched a fit because its all supposed to be handled within 24hrs of the injury (I did not know any of this).

So they send me for a drug test, and to their recommended Urgent Care Dr, they took xrays (came back negative). I was diagnosed with a lumbar strain, given muscle relaxers, 600mg-800mg ib prophen 3 times a day, and told to ice and apply heat.

I've since been back to Urgent Care Dr this past Tuesday July 16th, pretty much with the same pain and discomfort, they are adamant that it is a Lumbar Strain, and are setting me up for physical therapy.

The back pain goes down my left leg, and into my foot. Its hurts to stand, sit, sleep certain ways, driving, getting in and out of a car the longer i drive the worse it gets.

I have seen my personal chiropractor, and he is pretty confident that it is a bulging disc and that I need a MRI, he has recommended me a Dr to see. He said that the physical therapy could make it worse because it is treating the wrong injury, but he said that if I don't do the therapy, I may appear non-compliant to them.

My work has had me on light duty (UC Dr's Orders) since the injury no bending, pulling, or lifting over 30lbs, but I know this isn't going to last forever and they're going to (if they don't already) start thinking I'm milking it. Some people think because I'm 28 years old, a gym regular, and in good overall shape (prior to the injury) that I'm invincible or don't really have this problem because of my age.

I have worked for this company for just over 7 years, and never have I once called out sick, or taken a sick day/time, and for them to question or not believe me about this is honestly hurtful.

Any advice on what I should do? I don't know what my insurance would cover for the visits and MRI, I'm not even sure if I can afford it if I have to pay for it.

[67RS2010SS]

Manager should have filed an injury report when you told them the first time. Document everything so you have a record.Chances are its a muscle strain Ive done the same type of thing and it seems that once you do it you are now prone to doing it again. Something as simple as picking up a pencil may do it. This should all be covered under workers comp seeing it happened at work. Any thing you pay should be reimbursed.Hopefully something here might be helpful to you good luck.

[batman53201]

you did report it within 24 hours. your supervisor didnt fill out the proper paperwork. thats on him, not you. i would follow the advise of your regular doctor, and not the company doctor, since they are only interested in one thing, you getting back to work.

[CHMSC]

Well I happen to be in this business. Granted you are in a different state and the laws are different, just keep that in mind.

Your employer is responsible to file a report that same day or at least within 24 hrs of the injury. Most insurance docs are going to brush you off.

You can try and use personal insurance but they usually won't touch you since it's a work related injury. By the sound of your complaints you need a lumbar MRI and an EMG test for the lower extremities.

The usual course of treatment is MRI, EMG test if the pain is radiating into the lower extremities, physical therapy, chiropractic, acupuncture, pain management for epidural steroid injections and lastly spine surgeon consult.

Always go with conservative treatment first. It does take time but a lot of disc bulges can shrink with time, anti inflammatory medication and conservative treatment.

Keep in mind a lot if this does depend on the MRI results.

If you want or need anymore info feel free to PM me.

I have been in this bizz for 12 years.

I could write a freaking book but figured this will give you a start.

Also if they fight with you to much you may have to get a work comp atty to help but be careful who you get since they can vary as to how good they are.

I typed this on my POS phone please forgive any typos!!

[Terryble]

Yeah, you reported, and you have the right to see whatever dr. you want. If the Dr. says no work, that means no work. Since you hurt yourself at work, they will still have to pay you. IF its light duty its light duty. If they try and get you work more than instructed, even just to help out for a second or something, dont do it. You could injur your back even worse.

As far as whats wrong with your back (didn't sound like you were asking, but I want to say this anyway) don't listen to anyone on here as to what is wrong. There are so very many things that can cause back pain. Take this from someone who has back issues. The only one that will be able to diagnose you is a dr, even if someone has the same exact same symptoms and hurt it the same way, do not listen to them. When I hurt my back (doing nothing, just unfortunate genitics) the only poeople that were anywhere near close to accurate were my mom and grandpa. Everyone else (and it was practically everyone) wasnt close. Your age has nothing to do with it btw, I am younger than you. Not a gym frequenter, but in decent shape.

[CHMSC]

You may not be able to chose what ever doctor you want. That depends on how workers comp is set up in your state.

In California you can only chose a doctor that is on a medical provider network list unless it falls into another category which is an exception to the rule. Tons of variables in this. It really depends on how the WC system is set up in your state.

[ChrisBlair]

1) The fact that the report was not filed in 24 hours is not your fault. It's is the manager's

2) my experience is that you have bulged a disc and it is hitting the sciatic nerve. I'm no doctor, I have injured myself and had the same experience, albeit the right side. That was in 2004-ish, and the leg pain has just gone away recently.

3) Urgent Care is like the Hospital in the movie ' Idiocracy '. You have one back. Your employer really, honestly, doesn't care if you're a cripple in 10 years, so long as you go back to work now. Take care of yourself, and F them if the don't like it.

[PHXLT1]

Originally Posted by ChrisBlair

1) The fact that the report was not filed in 24 hours is not your fault. It's is the manager's

2) my experience is that you have bulged a disc and it is hitting the sciatic nerve. I'm no doctor, I have injured myself and had the same experience, albeit the right side. That was in 2004-ish, and the leg pain has just gone away recently.

3) Urgent Care is like the Hospital in the movie ' Idiocracy '. You have one back. Your employer really, honestly, doesn't care if you're a cripple in 10 years, so long as you go back to work now. Take care of yourself, and F them if the don't like it.

X10!

Most employeres just want you back to work and could care less how bad you're injured. I recall and incedent that happened to me with an old employer. I once fell from about
10 feet up and landed on my lower back. The pain was bad and I thought I broke soemthing for sure. I layed there till someone came thru because I couldn't even get up to grab my radio to call for help. An ambulance was called but turned away because the policy was I had to go to urgent card sice it wasn't life threating. I had to be carried to one of the mangers car and sat in a wheelchair once I got to UC because I couldn't walk at all. They made me go back to work afterUC to fill out the incedent report. I had to be carried in because I couldn't walk at all. My point is most employers don't care and because they probably deal with similar injuries they think you just strained your back. Take care of your back. Since my fall my back has not been the same and lifting for a long period of time leaves me in pain for days. Take care of yourself because once you hurt it bad enough you'll end up like me. Sorry for the rant but I was in the same situation and now years later I'm paying for it.

[nitto85]

I forgot to mention in my original post, that the muscle relaxers have not done anything, neither has all the ib prophen which makes me more inclined to believe it is not a muscle. My foot sometimes feels like it wants to ball up into a fist, but doesnt.
Grip your first really hard for a minute or so, that is how my foot feels but with the addition of pain.
I was experiencing sharp abdominal pain from time to time, which I assumed was from all the ib prophen, I did not take any yesterday and I still had a instance of that pain which now makes me believe it is from the back injury instead.

Thank you guys for all the support. I'm going to try to talk to our girl in HR tomorrow on the side, and see what she thinks I should do.
This is starting to stress me out, I'm worried about the long term effects both financially and health wise.
I know if given the chance my employer will cut me loose, and fall is around the corner that is when we normally do yearly layoffs.

When questions arise, I'm sure I'll be contacting some of you individually.
Thank you guys again.

[Liltuffgirl]

I injured my knee sort of at work... I notified who I needed to about it but didn't see a doctor until they made me (it wasn't getting any better). They sent me to the ER...
It was all covered under workers comp since I told them about it right away.

I had to have surgery... And am now back at the doctors right now because it gave out on me at work the other day �� once again workers comp has it.


Now workers comp is a MASSIVE pain!!!!! They want everything filed first and have to give you permission to do anything and everything. So that may be an issue. You did everything without their Ok first. It took me 3 months to get an MRI. I hurt my knee a year ago... Had surgery may 8th... LONG process.


Oh and I get hell at work about faking too. Even after surgery and them seeing it all swollen lol it's just life. I give them the finger and move on.

[msp2887]

I can't comment on workmans comp, not my field, but sports medicine and orthopedics are. The people above hit some good points:

1) UCC MDs are not orthopods, don't trust them for this stuff (we call them Docs in a box for a reason). See an orthopod if you can.
2) MRI is needed to rule out disc or nerve root issues. X-ray doesn't show much in terms of soft tissue. Best an x-ray can do in this situation is see if you have decreased space between vertebrae
3) Don't see a chiropractor until you have a true diagnosis from an orthopod, and even then, be careful. Some chiropractors are decent, but there are many more that are not working off of actual scientific methods (there's a reason the American Medical Association still doesn't consider them allied health professionals).

Happy to answer any questions you have via private message. I'm out of the country until August though, so my answers may be delayed by about 12 hours.

[nitto85]

I wanted to update everyone since my last post.

I've been through 10 sessions of Physical therapy, and several visits to the UC Doctor.

My pain has lessened, but I think this is mainly because I have tried to do absolutely nothing to aggravate it. The Dr still swears that its just a muscle, and it does not look like they're planning on doing a MRI.

My last Dr visit was this past week, and I was told that within 3 weeks I will come back for another visit and then can probably resume normal work activities.

Since the injury (over 2 months ago) I have been on a 30lbs or less light duty.

I constantly have to monitor how I sit, stand, sleep, or else the pain starts to return, although it does not shoot down my leg as often as before, but the pain in my back area is still pretty bad. I always have to drive with a lumbar pillow. The physical therapist said I could use the elliptical at the gym, but when I do my toes go numb in my left foot.

The Dr told me that lower back pain is common, and that I will probably be dealing with this for long term....when she said it, it kinda sounded like she really meant for "life", and I did not have the pain before the injury so to me it is not common.

I've lost 8lbs since this injury, and I have no idea how since I have been going to the gym way less than before. I've been everything from angry or frustrated with this whole thing to honestly depressed.

I feel stuck, I want to get healthy like I was before and quit this job, I'm burnt out, I'm even looking into getting back into school and possibly selling my camaro.

[nitto85]

I finally got a MRI, admittedly I do not know what the majority of the images are but these are a couple that stood out to me. I have a doctor appointment with the UC doctor monday to go over this.

I'm f'd.

[Chaotic73]

I have 2 bulging discs in my back pushing on a nerve causing the leg pain you mention. More than likely you have a disc bulging putting pressure on the Sciatic nerve which what causes the leg pain. No way to tell with out a MRI, it won't show on an X-ray. Physical Therapy will help, but there is no way without surgery to repair the bulging disc, they say that it takes about 5 years for a bulging disc to heal. I find that an inversion table helps a lot. But what helped the most was epidural spinal injection. Google it and you can find a lot of info on it.