Do you have lower back pain? It may be a work-related injury

In South Carolina, workers have the right to compensation if they are injured on the job. The benefits they apply for can be used to cover medical expenses such as tests and visits to the doctor, medication costs, lost wages and even compensation for mileage if a person is forced to travel considerable distances to see a specialist or particular doctor.

But as you may already be aware, not all work-related injuries are the same. Some may be more obvious than others. And because many injuries can occur both inside and outside of work, some people may even find it difficult to determine whether their injury really was work related or not. That’s why, in today’s post, we wanted to look at one injury where this difficulty arises: back injuries.

Have you ever experienced back pain after lifting a heavy object or after turning your torso from side to side? If you said yes, then you can probably bet that you have some varying degree of a back injury. Back injuries are a common injury that do not occur in just one working environment but rather a variety of places.

From manual labor to desk jobs, back injuries can lead to back pain or even serious disability. And according to the American Chiropractic Association, low-back pain affects roughly 31 million people in this country at any given time.

When determining whether your back pain is because of a workplace injury or not, you will first need to consider when the pain started and what activity could have led to the pain. Did it occur shortly after lifting something heavy or reaching for a tool while on the job? Or did it occur while you were lifting your kids or reaching for something in the kitchen? Though both scenarios can lead to back injuries and subsequently back pain, only the first of the two is likely to lead to workers’ compensation benefits down the road.

As our more regular readers know, not all injuries lead to workers’ compensation. It’s even possible that your employer may try to convince you that your injury was not in fact work related in order to get out of paying you the benefits you deserve. It’s in situations such as this where it may be necessary to talk to a skilled lawyer who can help you determine your eligibility for benefits and how to get them.