Severe Tendonitis, how to prove it is from work?

by Michele
(Chambly, QC)



My husband has been on vacation for 2 weeks and at the end of it told me that his arm hurt.

He then went to the clinic and got x-rays and was told he had severe tendonitis. His job is a butcher 40 hours a week.

His Dr. said it happened at home since he was on vacation but I know it has been on going a long time. My husband didn't want to get it checked until there was unbearable pain and swelling.

My question is could it of happened because of work? If so how can I prove it?


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Joshua Answers:

Ahhh, guys and pain are so funny...toughing it out until the very end.

My dad has heart issues, and will occasionally have days of dizzyness and chest pain and not tell mom. I just don't get it.


Anyhoo.

1. A good question for the doctor might be "How could it happen at home? Nothing 'happened' at home.


2. A good thing to say to a doctor might be "So you're saying this severe tendonitis just happened pretty much overnight, with no overexertion activity?


3. Did he do anything activity wise while on vacation that would exacerbate a pre-existing work injury?


4. How long has he had pain?


5. Where does he have pain? The more details the better.


6. How bad is the pain? Constant or comes and goes?


7. Are you saying that an X-Ray showed severe tendonitis? Or that your husband got an x-ray, and separately from that the doctor diagnosed him as having severe tendonitis?


I need more information, but as far as making a case for workmans' comp for an on the job tendonitis injury, it's good to come at it with a plan, and some strategies work better than others.

And as a side note, it is a common phenomenon to go away on vacation and have pain increase, as opposed to decrease like we think it should.





Joshua Tucker, B.A., C.M.T.
The Tendonitis Expert
www.TendonitisExpert.com





































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Comments for Severe Tendonitis, how to prove it is from work?

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Jul 01, 2012
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Injured while working, now what?
by: Anonymous

Hello,
I am a 24 year old female and I injured my left foot in February. I work as a preschool teacher and was standing on the children's step stool (about 8 inches high) I stepped off the stool onto my left foot and felt a sharp pain in my foot.

I went to a workman's comp doctor who diagnosed a sprained ankle. Told me to ice it and come back. I went back to him week after week for 4 weeks. In the 4th visit I explained that the top of my foot was turning blue. He seemed unconcerned by this but I insisted on seeing a specialist.

My first visit to the specialist and he was so mad with the work comp doctor. He put my in a walking boot and sent me to get an mri.

The results show achilles tendonitis, bursitis, and foot edema. He put me in a hard cast non weight bearing for 5 weeks. I am in my 4th week and am still in pain. I go back next week and he said we would talk about my surgery options then.

What questions should I ask about surgery?

It seems like this is happening very fast compared to the stories I have read here, is this normal?

What advice do you have for me?

Thank you,
Sadly injured


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Joshua Comments:

Hi SI.

Yeah, I can see why the specialist would be upset. Not every doctor deserves to be one.

Achilles Tendonitis is not big deal, but Bursitis (described on the shoulder bursitis page) is far more problematic, because it's a more stubborn, more irritable dynamic.

Is your experience normal, including speed to surgery? Yes.

WHat's happened since you wrote this?

Here are some questions to ask about surgery: Quiz Your Doc

Specifically, I'd want to know exactly what they plan on doing surgery -on-, and how that's supposed to help.

Did something rip/tear when you stepped off the stool?

If there's nothing to do surgery on....what are they hoping surgery will accomplish?

My first suggestion is to understand the Process of Inflammation and then learn How To Reduce Inflammation and do that intensively for a week, then let me know what happens.
Jun 13, 2014
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Denied Workman's Compensation because of Doctors negligence
by: B.

I've been at same job for over 26 yrs. Production Scheduler. Maintain schedules on paper and computer. Lots and lots of keyboarding, mouse driving, writing, paperwork, etc.

Then 2 yrs. ago my company purchased new software. My boss stressed that it needed to by user friendly because my hands were getting bad (lots of aching...never saw a doctor for it) Went live 4/1/2012. The software turned out to be worse than what we had. All my keyboarding, etc. intensified, increased...it was horrible.

Oct. 2013 I went to my primary physician. I had a swollen, aching middle finger. He referred me to Dr. Harold (hand specialist). Gave me a cortisone shot in that finger. I had pain in my arms, shoulders, hands at that time, but didn't ever think WC.

About 6 months later, the same middle finger started up, plus 2 others. Back to Dr. Harold...3 more shots. Thru an online email service (myprevea.com) I sent an email to Dr. Harold asking about the pain in my elbows. I said: "It hurts to lift a 5# dumbbell or even put my coat on." (I didn't know at that time I would be seeing another doctor about this.)

Dr. Harold replied: "Your problems are from lifting weights! You gotta stop lifting. Your a 56 yr. old woman and shouldn't be lifting anything! Do sit-ups or Pilates." Really??? Ok next chapter.

I filed my claim. Head of Safety at my co. had no clue what to do with a case like mine. He is used to injuries out in the plant. Well it was a mess from the beginning. My case worker didn't seem to know what she was doing.

I had my primary doctor refer me to Dr. Vandommelen-ortho. He tested me for carpal tunnel. Negative. Said I showed signs of tendonitis-ordered PT. (I have tendonitis, impingement, thoracic OS.)

He never asked what I did, how long - nothing. I had given a lot of that info to his nurse who entered it on the computer. He never talked about it. I did the PT and it really helped. Did it for 3 wks. I could have gone for 5 wks. but got denied WC that 3rd week.

WC got hold of that weightlifting statement, passed that info onto Dr. Vandommelen, who was not interested in my problems...he said my problems could be from both work and exercise. They didn't even ask Dr. Harold for a statement. They are denying me everything.

They will not pay for any med. bills or lost wages. An attorney told me my only option is to get these doctors to change what they said and issue new statements. I don't see that happening. Isn't there some kind of discrimination going on here?

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Joshua Comments:

Discrimination? Oh, I don't know. I can think of a lot of not nice adjectives to describe the scenario.

- I imagine you'd need to do something like:
Contact your doctor(s)

- Tell them you're pursuing a workers comp claim and they seemingly forgot to add in certain measures/tests/comments, and they didn't ask a variety of questions. Talk with your attorney to see what exactly you need.

- Maybe you'll need a new appt, or make an appointment iwth a new doctor and make sure to put emphasis on that you were hurt at work and need to be evaluated etc.

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