Workers’ compensation claims rely on you being able to prove the extent of your illness or injury. The workers’ compensation administrator will consider all the evidence and reach a conclusion on how work-related injury or illness has impacted your daily life.
Of course, much of the burden of providing this information will rely upon you. Outlined below are some methods that could help bolster your workers’ compensation claim. Here are a couple of tips:
Keep a pain diary
Detailed explanations of the pain you are experiencing as well as how it impacts your daily life will probably be useful. Often, people like to give the pain a rated score from one to 10, with one being “no pain” and 10 being the worst pain.
Furthermore, you could make a note of any symptoms you have and how they are changing over time. If you take medications, it could be useful to note the side effects that they have.
As a whole, a pain diary lends veracity to your claims. That could be important if the insurance company or your employer is trying to push you back to work prematurely.
Follow your doctor’s orders
One of the quickest ways to get your workers’ comp claim denied or your benefits stopped is to be non-compliant with your doctor’s orders. Give treatment suggestions a try (unless they’re invasive and you believe they’re not in your best interests), show up to your appointments and do your physical therapy as directed.
If you think the doctor isn’t on the right track or you’re being bullied into settling your claim too early, find out more about your legal rights under the workers’ compensation system.