Massachusetts Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) Lawyer
When you get injured at work, the hope is that you can move past the incident and regain full strength. Unfortunately, some workplace injuries never completely heal and instead lead to Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS).
While this condition can be challenging to prove, Workers’ Compensation will provide benefits if we show that it was caused on the job. In many cases, a person gets CRPS from an older workplace injury. The initial injury might have healed, but the damage it did lingers on in the pain you still experience. Our team can help you get the right examinations with neurologists and other experts so that you have the records to prove your claim. Remember, Workers’ Compensation is a type of insurance, so we must provide thorough documentation so that your employer’s insurer does not deny your compensation.
For a free case review with our Massachusetts Workers’ Compensation attorneys, call the Law Office of John J. Sheehan today at (617) 925-6407.
Understanding Complex Regional Pain Syndrome Symptoms in Massachusetts
CRPS is a painful, debilitating, but oft-misunderstood condition that countless workers suffer from in Massachusetts. You might have heard it referred to as “reflex sympathetic dystrophy syndrome” or just RSD, which is now an outdated term. The main issue regarding CRPS is that it can be challenging to identify and significantly difficult to prove that an earlier injury caused it. Some doctors and employers try to waive it off as nothing more than a psychosomatic or psychological effect. Worse, they might believe an injured employee is making up their pain to get out of work or receive a payout. That is because CRPS victims can get Workers’ Compensation benefits if their condition is linked to their job or a previous work injury.
As time goes on, though, the more we understand about CRPS and its causes. Our Workers’ Compensation lawyers in Massachusetts can assess your symptoms with medical experts to determine the extent of your damages. Medical evidence is among the most complex in an injury case, and you will likely need a great deal of it to prove your claim. CRPS symptoms are common to many other conditions, so we must rule out other possible causes of your pain. The more of the following symptoms you suffer from, the more likely you have developed CRPS for which you should be compensated:
Sudden or Sharp Pain
The sharp pains victims experience typically define CRPS. These pains can come on suddenly and unprovoked, with people often feeling a sensation of the affected area being squeezed. Other times, the pain might feel like “pins and needles” or a burning. The pain might start in one area, like where you broke your arm at work, and steadily move to other parts of your body. Some victims experience this pain constantly, while it comes and goes for others.
In Some cases, individuals experience “mirror pain,” where the symptoms in one location in the body manifest on the opposite side. This indicates serious nerve damage, which is a major sign of CRPS.
Allodynia
Those suffering from CRPS will typically experience increased sensitivity in the area they previously injured, a condition referred to as allodynia. This condition makes even slight physical contact with the affected skin incredibly painful. Many people cannot use the affected limb at all without constant pain.
Joint Stiffness
Because of the pain CRPS can cause, people with it often limit their movement with the limb. This can lead to secondary injuries in a person’s ligaments and tendons as they stiffen and lose flexibility. As the joint loses functionality, nerves can get pinched, and ligaments can tear, worsening your CRPS.
Muscle Disorders
If someone with CRPS is moving less because of the pain, they might also develop muscle disorders from nonuse. When not used, muscles weaken and atrophy, potentially leading to muscle tremors or twitching. Some victims’ postures might be damaged in a condition known as dystonia. If your CRPS has compromised your muscle strength, you might need orthopedic surgery to restore your previous flexibility. Fortunately, these necessary medical costs can be included in a Workers’ Compensation claim.
Bone Disorders
Like muscles, bones can develop disorders that indicate CRPS. If a broken bone does not heal correctly, bone cysts can form, and the bone marrow might be affected. In other cases, the affected bone might enlarge or roughen, causing further severe pain. We can use X-rays and other diagnostic testing to identify bone disorders and how they contribute to your CRPS.
Skin Changes
Many people with CRPS commonly report skin changes in addition to pain. Sometimes, the skin at the affected site might feel cooler or warmer than the rest of the body. Other times, the skin changes color, ranging from pale to red, blue, or gray, indicating a problem with blood flow there.
Skin texture might also change if the area is not receiving the nutrients and oxygen it needs. The skin might become blotchy, scaly, or thick, or it might thin and appear shinier than the rest of the skin.
Sweating, Hair, and Nail Growth Changes
Because nerve problems are at the root of most CRPS cases, you might notice changes in your hair and nail growth. They might have stopped growing altogether because of the damage or growing much quicker than usual.
Your sweating patterns might also change. You might sweat profusely where you never did before or stop sweating when you should be. CRPS is often shown because many of these symptoms overlap, so if you are experiencing these issues, contact us immediately to start building your claim.
Common Injuries that Can Lead to CRPS in Massachusetts
People can develop CRPS without a previous injury, but some prior damage is usually associated with it. While accidents involving nerve damage are the most common, CRPS can develop from just about any type of injury, especially broken bones and blunt force trauma. However, you might have developed CRPS because of the repetitive motions in your work.
Broken Bones
Broken bones can lead to CRPS even if you have no complications during the healing process. You should qualify for Workers’ Compensation if you suffered a fracture at work. For example, if you fell at work, broke your leg, and developed CRPS later, it should be covered as part of that workplace injury.
Blunt Force Injuries
Blunt force trauma at work can easily cause the kind of nerve damage associated with CRPS. Crushing injuries and falling objects can cause significant internal injuries that leave extensive nerve damage after they heal. These types of injuries often result in the skin change symptoms discussed above.
Lacerations and Cuts
Cuts, scrapes, and lacerations might not sound as bad as the other injuries discussed, but they can be devastating if deep enough. Nerves and tendons run throughout your body. It takes very little to sever nerve branches that might never heal fully. Neurological tests can show how extensive the damage is and provide evidence for your CRPS.
Repetitive Motion Injuries
CRPS can also develop from repetitive motion injuries, also known as repetitive stress injuries. These injuries result from the daily, repetitive work performed rather than an accident. For instance, carpal tunnel syndrome from typing at work is a repetitive motion injury. Over time, the motion wears out the nerves and joints, thereby decreasing flexibility. When CRPS sets in, the pain will often extend from the body part making the motion up through the nerves. If your CRPS pain is in your wrist, it might radiate up your arm and into your shoulder. The key to these cases is showing the repetitive nature of the work and how it relates to the damaged area.
How to Cover Damages Caused by CRPS in Massachusetts
Workers’ Compensation can help cover the expenses associated with treating your CRPS, but only if you can show that the condition is related to your prior work injuries. To do this, you must ensure you follow all the Workers’ Compensation requirements when you are first injured. Because CRPS typically follows a traumatic injury, you will have a difficult time linking your current condition with your job if you never reported the original accident or filed a claim. Below will help ensure that your case starts on the right track:
Report Your Accident to Your Employer
The first step after any workplace accident is to report it to your employer. The symptoms of CRPS will not set in until later, but you must report the underlying injury as soon as possible. For instance, if you broke your arm or leg, you will likely need medical treatment first, but after, report the incident.
This will lay the groundwork for a CRPS claim later. You will file for Workers’ Compensation for your original injury, going through the process to get your medical costs and lost income covered. If or when CRPS develops, we can help you file for Workers’ Compensation again and gather the records of your previous injuries to file with the current medical reports we have for your CRPS.
Get Medical Treatment to Document Your CRPS
The key to a successful CRPS claim is to document your condition thoroughly. Again, you need to get medical treatment after your original accident for your initial claim to be approved. In most cases, work accident victims must attend an “independent” medical exam (IME) to confirm the diagnosis and the time they will be out of work, as per Mass. Gen. Laws Ch. 152, § 45. This is crucial to getting benefits for your underlying injuries and to link it to your CRPS later.
However, the doctor doing the IME is not actually “independent.” Instead, they are compiling the IME for your employer and their Workers’ Compensation insurance provider. Obviously, with CRPS being such a complex issue, we will want our own independent analyses throughout the process. The law above also gives you the right to have your personal physician present at your IME and allows your doctors to produce their own reports of your condition and diagnosis.
Once you start feeling the symptoms of CRPS, we need to document it as much as we can. Unlike other medical conditions, testing to diagnose CRPS is difficult. Often, the pain you feel cannot be confirmed by outside observations or testing, and the only observable symptoms we might be able to prove are skin and hair changes. If there is underlying nerve damage, that might also appear on tests and scans.
You will typically see a neurologist to test whether you have CRPS-1 or CRPS-2. Nerve conduction tests can show if nerve damage is the root cause of the pain, which would be classified as CRPS-2. If no nerve damage is detected, it is CRPS-1 and typically caused by a previous injury that did not damage the nerves.
We can also schedule bone scans with orthopedists, MRIs, ultrasounds, and any other tests necessary to prove your condition. These tests can detect changes in your skin or bones brought on by your CRPS, or potentially rule out other disorders.
File Your Workers’ Compensation Claim
While § 41 gives you four years to file a Workers’ Compensation claim, it is usually best not to wait. The longer you take to file a claim, the more it can call into question the seriousness of it. Considering how hard it can be to prove CRPS, you do not want to take any chances.
By working with our attorneys as soon as the pain sets in, we can use the time to have you tested and organize the reports. If you do not file your claim within the four-year period, you will not be able to get any compensation for CRPS.
However, if you file in time but the claim is denied, you still have options. In many cases, CRPS claims are denied because they lack supporting evidence. You should be told why your claim is denied, which we can focus on when we appeal the denial.
Contact Our Massachusetts Workers’ Compensation Lawyers Today for Help Covering Your CRPS Damages
Call the Law Office of John J. Sheehan at (617) 925-6407 for a free case assessment with our Massachusetts Workers’ Compensation lawyers.
