After a workplace injury, you may experience long-lasting pain that limits your ability to work. Severe back pain or neck pain can leave you unable to work or even perform simple daily activities. At Younce, Vtipil, Baznik & Banks, P.A., we understand the challenges injured workers face when they are coping with chronic pain caused by workplace accidents. Our North Carolina workers’ compensation attorneys have two decades of experience helping injured employees seek the benefits and treatment they need after workplace injuries.
It’s not uncommon for employers and workers’ compensation insurance companies to question chronic pain claims. Our experienced attorneys fight to help injured workers obtain proper medical treatment and all the workers’ compensation benefits available for chronic pain related to a work injury. Call us today at 919-351-8827 for a free consultation with a North Carolina workers’ compensation chronic pain attorney.
What Is Chronic Pain and How Does It Occur?
Chronic pain differs from the temporary discomfort of most workplace injuries. While acute pain typically goes away as an injury heals, chronic pain persists for months or longer after the initial trauma. Medical experts generally define chronic pain as pain that lasts longer than three months beyond standard healing time. Around 100 million people suffer from chronic pain in the United States alone.
If you were injured on the job and have developed persistent pain, you should be eligible for medical care through workers’ comp insurance until the doctor has determined you have reached maximum medical improvement and released you from care.
Types of Work-Related Chronic Pain
Following a work-related injury, chronic pain can develop through several mechanisms:
- Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS): This condition causes intense, continuous pain that may spread beyond the original injury site. Complex regional pain syndrome often develops after injuries to soft tissues or major nerves.
- Neuropathic pain: When workplace accidents damage nerves, it can lead to burning, shooting, or stabbing sensations that become chronic. This commonly occurs in the back, neck, and extremities.
- Myofascial pain: This involves ongoing muscle pain, often stemming from workplace strain or repetitive motion injuries. It can create painful trigger points that refer pain to other body areas.
- Post-surgical pain: Some injured workers develop chronic pain following surgeries for work-related injuries, even after the surgical site has healed. This can happen with procedures like spinal fusions or joint repairs.
You may be eligible for workers’ compensation disability compensation if your medical records show that your chronic pain developed or worsened after a workplace injury.
The Hidden Effects of Chronic Pain
Recent medical research has shown that chronic pain can profoundly affect every aspect of a person’s life:
- Emotional health: Many people with chronic pain experience depression, anxiety, and feelings of isolation. The constant presence of pain can lead to emotional exhaustion and mood changes.
- Sleep disruption: Chronic pain frequently interferes with sleep, creating a problematic cycle where lack of rest makes pain more challenging to manage.
- Cognitive effects: Some people experience difficulty concentrating or memory problems, sometimes called “pain brain,” which can affect work performance.
- Psychological factors: The stress of managing persistent pain can lead to heightened anxiety about pain worsening, depression from activity limitations, and worry about financial security and job stability.
The Science Behind Chronic Pain
Chronic pain conditions often involve complex changes in how the nervous system processes pain signals. This helps explain why the pain persists even after visible injuries have healed. The ongoing pain can lead to reduced mobility, difficulty sleeping, depression, and other complications that affect your ability to work.
Our compassionate workers’ compensation lawyers at Younce, Vtipil, Baznik & Banks, P.A., can review your situation and discuss your eligibility for workers’ compensation benefits.
Why Choose Our Workers’ Compensation Attorneys for Your Chronic Pain Case?
For more than two decades, our North Carolina workers’ compensation attorneys have successfully represented injured workers who were struggling with long-lasting pain. We understand the challenges these cases present and have the experience needed to pursue all reasonable and necessary treatment and the full benefits our clients deserve.
Our track record speaks for itself. We’ve won numerous cases for workers dealing with challenging medical conditions, including:
- Securing benefits for a General Electric technician who developed work-related contact dermatitis when the company denied his claim (Hawkins v. General Electric Company)
- Obtaining ongoing medical benefits and wage compensation for an employee with severe knee and leg injuries after a work-related auto collision (Frederici v. Skansa)
- Winning benefits for a crime scene investigator whose continuing low back treatment and wage loss claim was initially denied (Colvin v. Wake County)
Our law firm takes pride in treating each client with the respect and attention they deserve. As one of our clients, Russell, shared: “They articulate things in a way you’ll understand, and show empathy and compassion for your situation.“ Read more of the testimonials we are proud to share.
How to Prove Chronic Pain from a Work Injury
Proving chronic pain in a workers’ compensation case requires careful documentation and medical evidence. Our attorneys will help you build a strong case by:
- Working with medical professionals to explain how your workplace injury led to chronic pain
- Gathering medical records that document your pain levels, treatments, and their effectiveness
- Collecting evidence about how chronic pain affects your ability to work and perform daily activities
- Securing testimony from occupational health experts about work restrictions and limitations
We understand that chronic pain often lacks visible signs, making these cases more challenging to prove. However, our experience with complex medical cases helps us to document the connection between your workplace injury and ongoing pain.
When Does Workers’ Comp Cover Chronic Pain in North Carolina?
In certain cases, workers can receive wage replacement, medical treatment and even vocational rehabilitation benefits for managing chronic pain that directly results from a workplace injury.
Insurers are often skeptical of cases involving chronic pain and workers’ compensation. Reporting the injury promptly and communicating well with your doctors so that they create good medical documentation can go a long way toward countering their arguments. Our attorneys can gather the necessary proof and work to build a workers’ compensation claim linking your ongoing pain to your job duties.
Workers’ Compensation Benefits Available for Chronic Pain
North Carolina workers’ comp never compensates for “pain and suffering,” no matter how serious the injury, so you can’t get benefits for chronic pain itself. However, you may be entitled to medical benefits for treating the pain and for its effects on your ability to earn a living.
If you show that your job-related condition is compensable, workers’ compensation for chronic pain can provide several types of benefits, including:
- Medical treatment – Workers’ comp should pay for the reasonably necessary care that a work-related chronic pain condition requires, including pain management, physical therapy, and prescriptions (C.G.S. § 97-25).
- Wage replacement – You may receive weekly partial wage-loss payments (2/3 of your average weekly wage) if your job restrictions due to persistent pain keep you from earning your regular wages (C.G.S. 97-29).
- Vocational rehabilitation – The system can help with training, education, or job placement when you cannot return to your former role (C.G.S. 97-32.2, North Carolina Industrial Commission’s Rules for Utilization of Rehabilitation Professionals in Workers’ Compensation Claims).
Clear and consistent medical evidence is essential to prove your workers’ comp claim for chronic pain. We can review your records and pursue every benefit available under the law.
How to Get Treatment for Chronic Pain Through Workers’ Compensation
The North Carolina workers’ compensation system should cover all reasonable and necessary medical treatment for your chronic pain condition if it arose from a work injury or from performing your job duties. If you are experiencing chronic pain related to an on-the-job injury. Our attorneys help injured workers who are chronic pain sufferers seek appropriate care, which may include:
- Treatment from pain management specialists who understand chronic pain conditions
- Physical therapy to improve function and reduce pain
- Medication management, including prescription medications and alternative treatments
- Therapeutic injections such as nerve blocks or epidural steroid treatments
- Medical devices and assistive equipment
Your employer’s workers’ compensation insurance administrator must authorize medical treatment if your chronic pain is work-related. If the insurance carrier denies necessary care, our attorneys are ready to appeal the denial and fight to get your treatment approved. We understand that delays in treatment can worsen your condition. Our legal team works diligently to prevent insurance companies from unfairly denying or delaying the reasonable medical care you need.
Why NC Workers’ Comp Claims Involving Chronic Pain Are Complex
Workers’ compensation claims for chronic pain conditions present numerous challenges in North Carolina. Our attorneys can help clients meet these challenges:
- Medical complexity: Chronic pain often involves multiple body systems and may require ongoing treatment from several specialists. Insurance companies frequently challenge the necessity of long-term care.
- Proving the connection: Since chronic pain can develop gradually or appear after the initial injury has healed, insurance carriers often dispute whether the work injury caused the pain or arose from a pre-existing condition. Our attorneys will work with medical experts to establish this crucial connection.
- Treatment authorization: Insurance companies may resist approving comprehensive pain management programs or alternative treatments, even when recommended by qualified physicians. We will fight for authorization of necessary treatments.
- Ongoing disability: Chronic pain can make it difficult or impossible to return to your previous job duties. Insurance carriers may pressure workers to return to work before they’re ready or challenge the extent of work restrictions.
These challenges require an experienced legal team that understands the medical and legal aspects of these cases. Our attorneys have successfully handled numerous complex claims, helping clients secure the medical care and benefits they deserve.
Returning to Work with Chronic Pain
Living with chronic pain from work injuries can make going back to your old job hard. North Carolina law addresses this through its rules on suitable employment, based on where you are in the recovery process (N.C.G.S. § 97-2(22)).
At some point, your treating physician may determine that you have reached maximum medical improvement (MMI), which is the point where further medical treatment isn’t likely to improve your condition. Here’s how that affects when you must return to work:
- Before you reach MMI – If your employer offers a job that meets the work restrictions your doctor sets and the job description is approved by your authorized treating physician, you generally must accept it or risk losing your benefits (C.G.S. § 97-32; N.C.G.S. § 97-2(22); 11 NCAC 23B .0104 / Industrial Commission Rehabilitation Rules).
- After you reach MMI – Suitable work approved by your authorized treating physician must match your preexisting and injury-related physical and mental limitations, vocational skills, education, and experience, as well as be within a 50-mile radius of your home (C.G.S. § 97-2(22)).
Insurance companies sometimes push injured workers back to work too soon or dispute their restrictions, as it is in their interest to minimize the coverage they provide to you. However, your rights as an injured worker do not disappear just because the insurer or your employer wishes they would.
If you find yourself in such a situation, the North Carolina workers’ compensation attorneys at Younce, Vtipil, Baznik & Banks can stand up to that pressure and protect your right to appropriate treatment and benefits. We have a track record of success against even the country’s largest insurance companies, and we are ready to fight for you.*
Pain Management and Settlement
The point at which your doctor sends you to pain management is often the time when the insurance company starts to press for settlement of the claim. That is when you must get counsel from an experienced North Carolina workers’ compensation lawyer. The North Carolina workers’ compensation attorneys at Younce, Vtipil, Baznik & Banks are ready to fight to get you the best settlement possible.
