Since the advent of the wheel, there have been plenty of accidents to go around, so it isn’t that uncommon to see people of all ages suffering from chronic pain. Statistics show that up to 85% of Americans will suffer chronic back pain at some point in their lives.1  Furthermore, 31 million Americans will experience low-back pain at any given time, while up to half of all working Americans admit to having back pain symptoms each year.4  With statistics like these it’s easy to see why pain management is a necessity for so many Americans.  Listed below, are more interesting facts you should know about back pain.

• After the common cold, back pain is the top reason for visiting the doctor in the U.S.
• An upwards of 50 billion dollars is spent each year trying to fix back problems. 3
• 30-40 percent of all workplace absences are because of back pain.
• Approximately 25% of adults 20 years and older, reported having lower back pain lasting at least one whole day in the past three months. 5
• Back pain is the number 1 cause of disability in the US for those under 45. 2
• Most cases of back pain are not caused by serious conditions like arthritis, infections, fractures or cancer.

As you can see, whether you are young or old, back pain shows no favoritism and can affect any one at any age.  If you or a loved one falls into any of these statistical categories and you need a pain management doctor in the DFW area, visit WOLMED and set up an appointment today.

References
1. Orthopedic Clinics of North America, Volume 35, Issue I, Pages 1-5 S. Pai, L. Sundaram
2. Bigos S, et al. Acute Low Back Problems in Adults, Clinical Practice Guideline No. 14. Rockville, MD: U.S. Public Health Service, U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, AHCPR Pub. No. 95-0642, Dec. 1994.Eyerman, Edward MD. Journal of Neuroimaging. June 1998
3. John P. Kostuik, MD, and Simeon Margolis, MD, Ph.D. Low Back Pain and Osteoporosis. The John Hopkins White Paper on Low Back Pain and Osteoporosis, 2002.
4. Vallfors B. Acute, Subacute and Chronic Low Back Pain: Clinical Symptoms, Absenteeism and Working Environment. Scan J Rehab Med Suppl 1985; 11: 1-98.
5. National Center for Health Statistics. Health, United States, 2006, Special Feature on Pain With Chartbook on Trends in the
Health of Americans. Hyattsville, MD.

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When you’re injured at work, it not only affects you at work, but also at home as well. It’s extremely frustrating when you are limited from doing simple things such as holding a cell phone.

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS) is tingling sensation in your hand caused by pressure on the median nerve in your wrist. The National Center for Biotechnology Information says the most common cause of CTS is typing. The most common symptoms of CTS are numbness and weakness in the fingers or hand, and mostly occur at night. Doctors hypothesize that the reasoning that most patients suffer from symptoms at night is that the wrists are held flexed during sleep.

Typing is the major cause of CTS because the same hand or wrist movements are being repeated over and over. These repetitive movements cause swelling, which causes the numbness and tingling. The toughest part about this work related injury is treatment. If you have back pain from playing sports, the most basic treatment is to take a couple days off and rest your back. This is extremely difficult with our hands and wrists because we use them for many different tasks throughout the day and we can’t just stop typing or doing our job.

CTS can be thought of as injury similar to a pulled hamstring, and the best way to prevent those type of injuries is to warm up before starting an activity. Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Exercises can be performed 5 minutes before starting work, and done right at your desk. These exercises have been very successful for patients with mild symptoms, and have helped them avoid surgery.

If you start to have symptoms like those above, it is important that you see a Work Injury Expert immediately. If you or a loved one is experiencing CTS symptoms and would like a work injury expert to talk with about your situation, contact WOLMED to set up an appointment to discuss your injury. WOLMED is also CARF certified full service Pain Management Clinic with locations to better serve you in Dallas and Denton.

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BRC’s and CCH’s can be overwhelming and intimidating for injured workers because they have to attend the hearings and represent themselves against lawyers and other workers comp experts who are trying to keep their case closed.  If the case is closed, then injured workers can’t get the treatment they need to get better.  When they can’t get better, they often lose their jobs, suffer from depression and financial loss, and more.  Workers Comp attorneys can usually prevent these bad things from happening.

CARF recognizes the need for patients to have legal advocacy and so does WOL+MED.  We can recommend very good, qualified workers compensation lawyers who will help get your case open or keep it open and help get your work injuries accepted by the insurance carrier.

Some people worry that they will have to pay the attorney and that usually is not true.  Most of the time, the workers comp attorney is paid a percentage by insurance carriers, but ONLY when you get paid and ONLY when your case is going well.  These lawyers have to do the right job for you before they ever get paid.  The other thing that is very important to remember is that if you have to be off work due to a work injury that is not accepted by the insurance carrier, you most likely will not get paid.  When your attorney gets your claim approved, that also keeps your checks coming.  Many patients think that’s worth it since they wouldn’t get paid without their attorney.

When you’re hurt at work, the last thing you should have to worry about is if you will have insurance problems or if you will have to pay money out of your own pocket to get treatment.  It’s not fair to you when that happens.  WOL+MED helps you with these problems by recommending very good, qualified workers comp attorneys to be in your corner.

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