Workers Compensation Lawyer Blog

If you are an office worker and suffer from any of the work injuries listed below, contact a work injury attorney to discuss your case.

For most of your workday, you sit at your desk. Due to your busy schedule, you don’t get up and move around a lot, except to go to the bathroom or to take your lunch break. Your job isn’t physically demanding, and injury doesn’t seem likely.

Does this sound like your situation? If so, you may be doing more harm to your body than you realize.

We often hear that sitting too much is not good for our overall health. Working for long periods while sitting in an unsupportive chair, constantly typing, or holding your head and body in strange positions are just a few of the things that can contribute to pain and aches. However, these simple tasks can cause physical injury over time.

Stress Injuries Due to Repetition

It is common for office workers to suffer from repetitive stress injuries. Performing repetitive tasks such as typing, using a mouse, and sitting for long periods can affect the fingers, wrists, elbows, neck, and upper and lower back.

Carpal tunnel syndrome is one of these types of injuries. It can be caused by excessive typing and mouse usage throughout the workday. It occurs when pressure is placed upon the wrist over and over again. Some of the symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome include:

• Tingling, burning, and itching in the fingers or palms
• Fingers falling asleep or going numb while sleeping
• When waking, tingling and numbness in your hands and possibly up to your shoulders

Other stress injuries due to repetition include:

• Tendonitis
• Tennis elbow
• Trigger finger
• Ganglion cysts
• Raynaud’s Syndrome

Lower Back Pain

A prevalent injury among employees who sit too long at their desks is lower back pain. When a person sits all day, there is a lot of pressure placed on the back, spine, and butt. If the worker also slumps or slouches, this can force the spine out of alignment. Also, sitting puts strain and pressure on the ligaments and muscles in the back, which leads to pain, aches, and discomfort.

Shoulder and Neck Pain

Another common office-related injury is shoulder and neck pain. As with lower back pain, improper posture plays a significant role when sitting for too long or when sitting in a chair that does not give excellent support. Shoulder and neck pain can also come from placing the keyboard too far away, sitting too far from the desk, or leaning forward to look at the computer screen.

Reducing Office Injuries

There are many ways to reduce these types of injuries. For instance, studies have been done which have determined alternate ways of doing office work, such as using tall desks where a worker can stand while working. Employers need to educate their employees on efficient means of reducing repetitive stress injuries.

If you are an office worker and suffer from any of the above work injuries, contact a work injury attorney to discuss your case. Proving repetitive stress injuries is often challenging, as many companies will deny claims.

At the Law Office of James M. Hoffmann, our Missouri Workers’ Compensation Attorneys can provide you with the necessary information to make the right choices so that you can receive the best medical care, benefits, and income. Missouri Workers’ Comp enables an injured worker to receive medical benefits as well as income benefits.