Back injuries are among the most common and debilitating injuries that people develop because of their jobs. A back injury acquired at work could be a sudden-onset traumatic injury. Someone might overexert themselves while lifting or twisting and immediately have debilitating, painful symptoms. Other times, back injuries can be a form of cumulative trauma caused by repetitive job responsibilities.
In either scenario, a back injury can have a very negative impact on someone’s quality of life. How might a work-related back injury impact that person’s daily lived experience?
New struggles at work
Back injuries can leave someone miserable on the job. They may have a hard time focusing if they sit in a desk chair which aggravates their pain or could become physically incapable of performing certain job tasks in a blue-collar job. People may require a leave of absence or modified job responsibilities. They may also require special equipment to continue doing their jobs.
Mood and mental health issues
A back injury can affect someone every waking moment. In fact, it can even affect them when they are not conscious because it can impact their quality of sleep. Many people report significant mental health challenges when they have chronic back pain, especially if their injury affects their sleep. Their change in mood and personality can impact their daily quality of life and also their relationships.
Challenges maintaining their homes
A back injury can very easily affect someone’s ability to cook, clean, take care of their house or interact with their children. Their injuries could impact everyone in their household by preventing them from performing uncompensated household maintenance tasks. Other family members need to take over someone’s responsibilities or adjust the budget to absorb the cost of bringing in outside professionals to handle certain household responsibilities.
Overall, a back injury can drastically affect someone’s finances and quality of life. Workers’ compensation benefits can help an injured worker get the medical support they require and can also replace their lost wages until they can return to work when their condition improves.