HEAD INJURIES
In a Florida Workers’ Compensation case head injuries are some of the most serious types of injuries a worker can sustain. In particular, a severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) in a workplace accident may even change the victim’s life forever and leave him or her unable to work for a living.
If you have suffered a serious head injury on the job in Miami or elsewhere in South Florida, you may be feeling overwhelmed by your circumstances. However, you may be eligible to obtain workers’ compensation benefits that can pay your medical expenses and replace a portion of your lost wages.
NECK INJURIES
Neck injuries are usually due to a sudden injury, also known as a trauma or cumulative stress. Situations like this may involve strained muscles, worn joints or compressed nerves, such as those that occur with herniated discs. A neck injury often disturbs sleep and might cause stiffness or a “kink” in the neck, moderate to severe pain, or, in the worst cases, paralysis.
Neck pain can spread to the shoulders, upper back and/or arms, and can cause headaches. You should seek prompt medical care for severe neck pain, pain accompanied by numbness or loss of strength in your arms or hands, or shooting pain into your shoulder or down your arm.
KNEE INJURIES
The knee is the largest joint in the human body and fundamental for our ability to be mobile. Healthy knees allow you to stand, walk, run, and even sit and lay down. Overuse and repetitive stress knee injuries are common and develop over time. Plumbers, waiters, auto mechanics, construction workers, cleaners, and others who must kneel or carry a lot of weight on a regular basis are at risk for developing repetitive stress knee injuries.
If due to a workplace injury you have aching, stiffness, grinding, or sharp pain in your knees, it is important to inform your employer right away and seek medical treatment. Additionally, if your knee was injured in an on-the-job accident, such as a slip and fall, you should inform your employer and see a doctor as soon as possible.
Treatment for knee injuries varies greatly from ice and heat to physical therapy, steroid injections, medication, surgery, and even sometimes total knee replacement. A worker injured on the jobmay need to wear a brace or cast for weeks or months while the joint heals. It is also important to consider that severe knee injuries may not heal for many months, and some may result in permanent impairment to the joint.
HIP INJURIES
What are Hip Injuries?
Most people think only of hip fractures when they think of hip injuries, and these are serious injuries. While this is serious and can lead to long-term disability there are many other type of common hip injuries which include:
- Dislocation – When the upper end of the thigh bone (femur) is forced from its normal position
- Labral tear (Labrum) – When the ring of soft elastic tissue (labrum) that follows the outside rim of the hip joint socket suffers damage
- Sprains / strains – Stretching or tearing of ligaments, muscles and tendons
- Tendinitis of Hip Joint– Inflammation or irritation of a tendon, which causes pain and tenderness just outside the hip joint.
Why Do Hip Injuries Happen on the Job in Florida?
Overexertion and stress injuries from excessive lifting, pushing, pulling, holding, carrying and/or throwing are the most common non-fatal serious injuries suffered in the U.S. workplace. Construction activities and many other workers are vulnerable to this.
Workers who use the weight of their body to push and pull heavy objects or otherwise place constant stress on their hips are subject to overexertion injuries that can cause hip sprains and strains, labral tears or tendinitis in the hip joint which is where the femur joins with the pelvis.
SHOULDER INJURIES
Shoulder injuries are common due to the nature of the joint itself. A shoulder injury can damage your ability to earn a living. Bursitis pain, a torn rotator cuff or similar shoulder injuries can be disabling conditions. However, if your shoulder injury is job-related, your medical costs and lost wages should be covered by workers’ compensation.
The Miami law firm of Edward P.Busch, P.A., helps workers in South Florida who are injured at work and have shoulder injuries which limit their ability to work. Ed Busch works for each client personally to obtain the workers’ compensation benefits they deserve.
Contact us today. We can provide a free case review.
HAND AND WRIST INJURIES
The wrist joint injures easily with stress. The inability to use your hands or wrists could limit or even prevent you from doing just about any job. If such a wrist injury was caused by a work related accident or illness you should be able to obtain workers’ compensation benefits without a fight from your employer. Unfortunately, that doesn’t always happen. This is where it may be valuable to have the legal team of Edward P. Busch on your side to defend your rights to compensation.
Hand and wrist injuries involve the joints that connect the carpals and metatarsal bones and can include amputations, stiff joints, fractured bones or nerve damage and paralysis.
Carpal tunnel syndrome, in particular, is a progressively painful hand and arm condition. This condition is caused by a pinched nerve in your wrist joint. This occurs when the tissues surrounding the flexor tendons in the wrist swell and put pressure on the median nerve, which runs from your wrist across the palm of your hand. Repetitive motion or stress like from using a keyboard all day may lead to this condition.
Why Do Hand and Wrist Injuries Happen on the Job in Florida?
Work environments that involve the use of heavy or sharp tools, instruments or machinery represent a risk of severe injury to the hands and wrists. Common accidents range from striking your thumb with a hammer to getting a hand cut, burned, crushed, mangled or amputated in a piece of machinery. Because people intuitively put their hands out to break a fall, wrist fractures in falls are common in occupational settings.
EYE INJURIES
The CDC reports that each day in the United States, more than 2,000 U.S. workers receive some form of medical treatment because of eye injuries sustained at work. If you are among these workers, you should be eligible to receive workers’ compensation benefits.
However, the benefits process is never automatic which is why an attorney can make a difference. There are many ways a workers’ compensation claim can be unjustly delayed, reduced or denied despite a worker’s obvious injury.
At Edward P. Busch, P.A., we are committed to helping you if you are experiencing any difficulties with your claim for medical benefits and/or lost-wage benefits. Contact us today for a free case review. We serve clients throughout Miami, Fort Lauderdale and the South Florida area.
BURN INJURIES
Burn injuries are often severe and can be among the most painful, debilitating and costly injuries that people suffer at work. If you suffered a serious burn injury on the job, it is important that you protect your legal rights with representation. You be find that you are even eligible to obtain workers’ compensation benefits or to bring a legal claim against the party responsible for your injury.
What are Burn Injuries?
Burn injuries at work may be caused by open flame or contact with hot objects. These are called “thermal contact” burns. In Florida burns can also result from:
- Contact with caustic chemicals
- Exposure to X-rays, ultraviolet (UV) rays or other types of radiation
- Electrical currents.
Burns are classified according to their severity:
- First-degree burns – Damage to the outer layer of skin (epidermis) marked by redness but not blistering.
- Second-degree burns – Damage to the outer skin and underlying layer (dermis) that includes blistering and sometimes swelling. A deep second-degree burn can leave a scar.
- Third-degree burns – Burns that reach under the dermis and destroy nerves. Skin may be stiff, waxy white, leathery or tan. Nerve damage may cause the victim to feel numbness instead of pain.
- Fourth-degree burns – Damage to muscles, tendons and bones. These burns can be fatal. They leave the skin blackened or charred. Because of extensive nerve damage, a fourth-degree burn victim may not feel pain.
Why Do Burn Injuries Happen on the Job in Florida?
Employees in many workplaces are exposed to the risk of burn injuries from:
- Open flame and explosions
- Hot tools, equipment and machinery
- Sparks
- Electrical currents
- Low-level radiation
- Flammable and corrosive chemicals and gases.
Fire can break out in any workplace for a variety of reasons.
ANKLE AND FOOT INJURIES
Ankle and foot injuries suffered on the job can cause you to miss an extended period of time from work. For example, you may be unable to walk and may need surgery to implant plates, rods or screws so that your fracture will heal properly.
To help you to cope with your injury and its aftermath, you may be eligible to receive Florida workers’ compensation benefits. These benefits can cover all of your medical expenses and a percentage of your lost income.
Edward P. Busch and his skilled legal team can help you to seek the benefits you deserve, including representing you in an appeal if your benefits claim was denied. We assist clients throughout Miami and South Florida. Contact us today. We always provide free case reviews.
What are Ankle and Foot Injuries?
Ankle and foot injuries that happen at work can include damage to toes, feet or ankles, including bones, ligaments, tendons and muscles. Typical work related foot injuries are crushing which often result from objects falling on or being dropped onto a worker’s feet. Toes and feet can also be amputated in accidents, including cases in which they are immediately severed or in which a crushed foot or toe must be surgically removed.
Injuries to the ankles and feet, in addition to being painful, can make it difficult to walk or bear weight. In fact, the loss of a foot is a disfigurement that can be permanently disabling or require the use of prosthetics.
How Do Ankle and Foot Injuries Happen on the Job in Florida?
A review of recent Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) accident reports can give you a good idea of how these injuries may occur.
BACK INJURIES
Back pain and back injuries can be related to the lower back or the middle spine. These back injuries from work accidents can result from wear and tear or from a sudden injury to the muscles and other soft tissue. They may also involve the vertebrae and spinal cord in the back. Back disorders are one of the leading causes of disability for people during their working years.
What are Back Injuries?
Work related back injuries may include strained muscles and tendons, herniated discs, fractures and other problems.
It is possible to injure your back in a job-related accident. However, most often, the causes of back pain have developed over a long period of time. For instance, repeated heavy lifting or awkward movements can strain back muscles and/or ligaments of the spine.
Over time, damage to the discs that cushion the vertebrae in your spine can cause them to break down, which restricts movement of the affected vertebrae. Also damaged discs may bulge and impinge upon nerves, which can be extremely painful. A forceful blow to the back can damage vertebrae and/or surrounding muscles, ligaments and other soft tissue.
LOSS OF LIMB AND AMPUTATIONS
If you are a worker who has lost a limb due to a job-related accident, then you know how devastating the injury can be. You are likely unable to work and at the same time, you may be facing significant medical bills.
The Florida workers’ compensation benefits system can play an important role in helping you to cope with your injury. Let Edward Busch help you since you may be able to obtain benefits that will pay for your medical costs, including prosthetics or any assistive devices you may need.
According to Florida law, you are presumed to be totally and permanently disabled if you have suffered the loss of a limb due to your work. This means that you may be eligible to receive benefits that will cover a portion of your lost wages for the future.
PERMANENT PARTIAL DISABILITY
Florida workers who suffer job-related injuries or illnesses that leave them with a partial disability will qualify in most cases for permanent partial disability (PPD) workers’ compensation benefits.
Disputes go to mediation or court, and the side that makes the stronger case to the judge wins.
PERMANENT TOTAL DISABILITY
Florida workers who suffer job-related injuries or illnesses that leave them unable to work for a living are protected by workers’ compensation insurance, which provides permanent total disability benefits.
Permanent total disability (PTD) benefits provide money that helps many disabled Florida residents support themselves and their families. Florida workers’ compensation law defines minimum and maximum PTD benefit payments, which are made weekly, and legally defined formulas determine the extent of the recipient’s disability and other factors to set the actual benefit amount.
The workers’ compensation claims lawyer at Edward Busch P.A., in Miami doesn’t want you to lose access to the compensation you deserve. Let Mr Busch help you obtain the workers’ comp benefits you deserve if a work related injury or illness has left you disabled in South Florida.
