Degenerative Disc Disease and Workplace Accidents

Is a workplace accident the root cause of your degenerative disk disease? Is it getting more difficult to work through the pain?

Is the repetitive lifting, pulling, or twisting for your job accelerating your degenerative disk disease? Wondering what your workers’ compensation rights are?

Although degenerative disk disease can be part of the natural aging process any of us may eventually experience, if it was initiated or exacerbated by the physical requirements of your job or a workplace accident, you could be eligible for workers’ compensation benefits. Your Colorado workers’ compensation attorney will tell you that securing your benefits is a matter of understanding your injury, your rights, and proving the injury is directly related to workplace activity.

 

Understanding Your Injury

All the joints in your body are protected by soft tissues which cushion the bones and absorb shock. With time, these tissues can wear down and lead to pain and reduced mobility which can be severe. Although the process occurs naturally, it can be initiated before its natural time by an injury to the joint or overuse of the joint.

Your spine is essentially a long series of joints, each one susceptible to the pain and mobility loss of degenerative disc disease. If you suffer a fall at work which damages a spinal disk, you may catapult yourself headfirst into dealing with degenerative disk disease. Similarly, if your job requires a lot of heavy lifting, putting pressure on your spinal disks, you can accelerate the onset of degenerative disk disease.

Relying on our spines for so much of our mobility, severe degenerative disk disease could leave you unable to work before you’re ready to retire. While treatments are available, they may not allow you to return to work, leaving you in a difficult position.

 

Understanding Your Rights

Confusion about your workers’ compensation rights when it comes to degenerative disk disease is understandable. Maybe the degeneration was a pre-existing condition, and you think that excludes from compensation. Maybe you think the law covers your initial accident, but not the degenerative disk disease.

The truth is, if your condition is caused or exacerbated by a workplace injury or the physical requirements of your job, you’re entitled to workers’ compensation benefits. It’s that simple! The tricky part may be supporting your claim that your job or an accident at work is in fact the cause.

 

Rely on Your Colorado Workers’ Compensation Attorney to Prove Your Case!

If you’ve found yourself in a position where you’re unable to work due to job-related degenerative disk disease, you have enough to worry about without trying to gather all the documentation and proof supporting your case in court. We have the experience and expertise to compile the proof you need to win the benefits you deserve.

Contact a Colorado workers’ compensation attorney and get started today.