When you’ve been hurt on the job, there’s an inclination to believe that your injury must be serious and catastrophic, and must be readily apparent, for you to be able to pursue workers’ compensation benefits. There are times, though, when a seemingly minor injury can become quite serious and can keep you off work for weeks, months or years.
What are Consequential Injuries?
Consequential injuries are those that arise because of an earlier injury, but which may not be visible or apparent in the immediate aftermath of an accident. Often, soft tissue injuries, such as muscle pulls, sprains, strains or even trauma to connective tissue (ligaments and tendons) take a period of time to fully manifest. Just after the accident, before nerves become inflamed, you may be able to move about without much restriction. You may initially make small adjustments in how you walk, stand, sit or lie down, though, and those small adjustments can have a significant impact over a period of time. As a result, you may discover that 2-3 months after your accident, you experience excruciating pain engaging in the most routine daily tasks.
As another example, suppose you sustain a small cut to your finger—maybe from a paper cut—and you experience minimal discomfort for a few days. But assume that the cut gets infected. It could cause you to experience limited use of a hand or arm for a while, or it could lead to infection throughout your body. You may not think it’s worth it to file a workers’ compensation claim for a paper cut, but it could be the reason you can’t work.
Contact Us
To arrange a private meeting, contact us by e-mail or call our office at 908-200-2297. Evening and weekend meetings are available upon request. We take all major credit cards.
We handle all workers’ compensation cases on a contingency basis. There will be no attorney fees unless we get compensation for your losses.
