Question

Good day,

I would appreciate any help in proving that my current physical issues were related to the accident and the continued work done without properly finishing treatment.

The company's lawyer is saying a chiropractor is not a real doctor for assessing my back and neck pain but that's where i had my rehab done from a work related fall.Is this false? if so how can i prove it in court?

Below is the basic situation in which I find myself.

I slipped and fell on my right shoulder and then onto my right hip, plus my right elbow hit the concrete floor. I was told at the time of the accident it was a strain/sprain of the right side of the neck, a lumbar strain, and a right elbow strain. I went though rehab from 3/29/05 until 8/05. I went 3 times a week initially, then down to 2 times a week, until Aug. 05. There was no light work given to me at work after the accident. I had to go without treatments for at least 90 days to see if I needed to continue the treatments or to be seen by a doctor. The machines broke down in Sept. 2005 - July 06. I had to assemble the automobile parts by hand insertion. I told the company safety director that when I fell and just stopped treatments, it hurt to do the work by hand. But I still stayed there trying to do my job which also meant lifting boxes ranging from 30 to 50lbs. or more. I was also pulling skids, operating a tow motor, lifting boxes from the floor level and boxes that were above my head. The pain in my neck and back was getting worse and I was not allowed to see a doctor. I dropped a box of parts at work in April 06 because my arms went numb. The first Emg or MRI on my neck only was allowed 5/06-7/06, a year later. The lumbar was not allowed, but was done in 12/06 as my insurance picked it up. The company put me off work Aug 06 because there was no light duty. The MRI results showed I have disc bulging at the L2-3 with annular tears, C3-4 disc bulge, left foraminal stenosis, C5-6 disc bulge, and central canal stenosis. My insurance did call me after the lumbar MRI was done because they know I have never been treated for anything like this before, and they asked about car-accident or work-related injury. The company's lawyer and their assessment doctors are saying that the findings from the MRI are not due the fall on 3/29/05. They are saying I'm 46 year old woman and that it's part the natural aging process. But I never had the headaches everyday, pain in my neck and back, tingling in my arm, hands, legs and feet and difficulty swallowing food before the accident. How can I prove this is related when the MRI was done a year later so I can get treatment and medication for this? Thank you for any help.

Answer
Hi, Brenda,

The neck and back pain sound like they could easily be related to your injury, as protective muscular reactions commonly occur in reaction to sudden pain or forceful movements such as a fall.  Neck muscles in contraction commonly trap the nerves that go to the arms and can account for your, pain and loss of sensation and arm function; the disc bulges at the neck would follow from those muscular contractions, as tight muscles pull vertebrae together and compress discs.  

Time is not a factor in such injuries, as protective muscular contractions commonly last decades after an injury; they are postural reflex patterns formed by the shock of injury, itself, and not an injury that can heal.

As to matters of proof, that is beyond the scope of my expertise; it is a legal matter.  However, I believe that you are being treated unfairly and dishonestly.

As to options for recovery, may I first refer you to articles on pain management, whiplash injuries, and recovery from injury at somatics.com/page4.htm.  That will equip you with information that will add to your conviction as you pursue resolution.  Then, I would suggest you seek out a clinical somatic educator; see PRACTITIONERS at the top of the page to which I have referred you.

with regard,
Lawrence Gold