How often have you experienced painful swelling of a body part?

Maybe you walked too much at an amusement park, and your feet swelled. Or you had an allergic reaction, and your face got puffy. Or you ate too much salt, and your fingers resembled sausages.

Sound familiar? We’ve all experienced some swelling in our lifetimes, but unless there was a broken bone associated with it, the swelling itself wasn’t necessarily painful… uncomfortable, perhaps, but not downright excruciatingly painful.

Unfortunately, if you’ve ever experienced tendonitis, you’re probably shaking your head and calling us a liar. Tendonitis, or the inflammation of a tendon near a joint, does indeed cause excruciating pain as a direct result of swelling. Furthermore, this swelling and pain is associated with common workplace activities and can worsen with every movement. Pain can last for weeks or months even when properly treated, and if tendonitis is not treated, the pain can become unbearable, and treatment may become limited to surgical repair.

Tendonitis Treatment Options and Work Effects

To treat tendonitis properly, you must treat the inflammation. Unfortunately, the best treatments for inflammation can affect your ability to do your job. These include:

  • Rest. Your tendon needs to heal without dealing with persistent irritations associated with you moving your joint. When you first notice the discomfort, you need to stop doing the activity that caused the injury and avoid any activities that increase the pain. Unfortunately, when your tendonitis originated from work activities, resting the tendon can be difficult…unless you take time off.
  • Support. To facilitate the appropriate amount of rest, you should keep the joint semi-immobilized with a bandage, sling, or support sleeve. Again, the presence of a sling can hinder your ability to carry out your job duties.
  • Medication. Certain medications can be used to reduce pain and swelling. Common medications for tendonitis include ibuprofen and aspirin to reduce swelling, anti-inflammatory creams, and cortisol shots administered by a doctor. Some painkillers can cause drowsiness, of course, making it positive dangerous for you to try to continue working.
  • Surgery. In severe cases, surgery may be needed to repair the tendon or to reattach it to the bone. For chronic tendon inflammation, the removal of scar tissue may be necessary to allow new, healthy tissue to grow. As with any surgery, you may have to take time off of work to recover.

Rest Assured With Florida Workers’ Compensation

Considering how most cases of tendonitis occur as a result of repetitive workplace activities, your workers’ compensation benefits should cover a significant portion of your lost wages as well as all medical expenses caused by your injury. Furthermore, if your work environment aided in your injury, your employer may be liable to provide specialized equipment (padded arm support, raised computers, ergonomic keyboards, etc.) to prevent further injuries.

Download our free book, It’s Not Rocket Science, It’s Workers’ Comp (Or So They Would Have You Believe), to learn more about your employee rights, how to obtain your rightful benefits for your tendonitis, and how to avoid common claim mistakes. For immediate help in securing your benefits, contact our Ormond Beach office directly at (800) 556-8890; we’ll be happy to discuss your options and help assure that you get the rest you need to stop the pain.