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Maybe you work at a desk. Maybe you work with dangerous machinery. Or maybe you travel the world for your job (which is not a bad way to spend the estimated 13 years of your life working). Either way, there’s always a chance of getting hurt at work. While many of us won’t, some of us may and the injury can be life-altering.
Sometimes it starts off small like wrist pain, and next thing you know, you’re in a brace and have carpal tunnel. Or it could be a severe injury that requires amputation and weeks in the hospital. Regardless of your injury, getting injured at the workplace sucks.
Using the following tips, you can start to rebuild your life after sustaining a work injury. These 5 tips can help you find a new normal after recovering from an injury, whatever that may be.
Accept Things Will Be Different
Accepting this fact can be disheartening, but know you are not alone; in 2017, there were approximately 2.8 million nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses reported by private industry employers.
There is a chance your injury will significantly alter the way you live your life. Your job, self-esteem, relationship with your family, and financial situation can be impacted after sustaining a serious injury at work.
The way you look at the situation is up to you: is the glass half empty or half full?
Consult an Attorney
Filing paperwork, tracking expenses, and trying to find a new normal can be incredibly overwhelming on top of any necessary rehabilitation or medical appointments. Consulting or hiring a competent workers’ compensation attorney to help ease the burden.
The Orange County workers’ compensation attorneys at DiMarco | Araujo | Montevideo note workers’ comp lawyers “can assist with workers’ compensation claims and negotiate with insurance companies for maximum benefits” helping you focus on your recovery. Even if it’s a free consultation, a law firm may give helpful advice.
Stay Consistent with Care
Whether appointments to help with your mental health or working at home on your rehabilitation plan for your ligaments, stay consistent. Feelings of doubt and hopelessness may set in, but continue with regularly scheduled care.
Following your prescribed plan of care, during and outside of your appointments, is directly correlated with your outcomes. Doing so can help give a feeling of accomplishment in addition to helping heal mentally and physically.
Don’t Rush
It’s normal to want to return to your previous activities and rush back into your job. As much as you and your employer want you back at work, pushing your doctor for release or coming back before you are healed can affect your recovery and your workers’ compensation claim.
You also could lose workers’ compensation if you return to work, are unable to perform tasks, and are let go. Long story short: only return to work if you have reached your maximum medical improvement level and are legitimately cleared to return to work by a doctor.
Don’t Be Shy
If or when you are able to return to work, do not be shy for any accommodations you may need to do your job effectively after a workplace injury. Communicate with your human resources team for any items necessary to complete tasks.
Using these five tips can significantly help you in your recovery journey, no matter how big or small. Getting injured at the workplace sucks- it sucks a lot– but you are not alone. Focusing on recovery and working hard at it will help improve your physical and mental health. Stay strong and stay focused; you got this.
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This content is sponsored by Sam Larson.
Photo provided by the author.