Work injuries can result from repeated stress rather than an acute accident. Upper extremity carpal tunnel, cubital tunnel, and epicondylitis, also called tennis elbow, are repetitive stress injuries. They are often triggered by motions or tasks that need to be performed on the job on a regular basis. If you are concerned about obtaining workers’ compensation benefits for upper extremity carpal tunnel, cubital tunnel, or epicondylitis, you should discuss the matter with the seasoned Riverside and San Bernardino County work injury lawyers at the Law Office of Joseph Richards, P.C.
Carpal tunnel, cubital tunnel, and epicondylitis can be painful. They affect different parts of your arms and hands, and your ability to work can be severely hampered by them. The carpal tunnel is the part of the wrist where the median nerve and tendons travel from the forearm into the hand. Carpal tunnel syndrome occurs if pressure in that space builds and pinches the nerve. Office workers, such as programmers and secretaries, who type quite a bit for their jobs may develop carpal tunnel syndrome. Cubital tunnel syndrome involves ulnar nerve compression or irritation. The ulnar nerve is one of the main nerves in the arm passing from your neck into your hand. Often, it gets compressed at the elbow. Epicondylitis develops if arm tendons are overstressed by repetitive motions of the wrist and arm. Butchers, carpenters, and plumbers have jobs that often result in epicondylitis.
Often, these conditions simply require a couple days’ rest and non-steroidal anti-inflammatories. In other cases, there may be longer periods of disability, during which you would be unable to work. Physical therapy or a brace may be needed. There are situations in which open or arthroscopic surgery may be needed, along with subsequent rehabilitation. Assuming that these conditions are work-related, our attorneys can help you make a workers’ compensation claim for benefits.
If you make a workers’ compensation claim, benefits to which you may be entitled include medical treatment, disability, and retraining. Workers’ compensation may cover all aspects of medical treatment, including doctor’s appointments, medications, transportation to get care, medical equipment like a brace, and surgery. Transportation is reimbursed according to the DIR DWC mileage rate, which changes year to year.
If you are unable to work due to carpal tunnel, cubital tunnel, or epicondylitis, you may be concerned about lost wages. Temporary disability benefits are paid if an injury is work-related, and the worker is unable to work because of it. They are calculated according to your average weekly wage before the accident. Sometimes employers are able to accommodate modified work restrictions according to a doctor’s limitations, such that a worker is able to work light-duty or part-time. However, there are many jobs in which a repetitive stress injury is a result of tasks that form the majority of the employee’s work, and a modified position is not available. In these cases, temporary disability benefits should be paid.
Carpal tunnel, cubital tunnel, and epicondylitis are usually not permanently disabling. However, if you cannot work in any capacity for the rest of your life, you may be able to obtain permanent total disability benefits. If you partially recover or can work with certain limitations, you may be eligible for permanent partial disability benefits.
You may be able to get a supplemental job displacement benefit in the form of a $6,000 voucher to be used for retraining or education to get another job if there is a finding that the carpal tunnel, cubital tunnel, or epicondylitis has left you permanently disabled, and because of that, your employer does not have regular, modified, or alternative work for you. For example, if you are a carpenter, and your only job duties involved sawing, but you cannot saw anymore due to severe epicondylitis, you could use the voucher to get retrained to do another job.
If you sustained upper extremity carpal tunnel, cubital tunnel, or epicondylitis on the job in Riverside or San Bernardino County, you should consult the Law Office of Joseph Richards, P.C. Our workers’ compensation lawyers assist injured workers throughout Southern California. Contact us at (888) 883-6588 or via our online form.