Originally Posted by catra121

Ugh...I really don't like going to work comp doctors. The biggest problem is that they are there to evaluate you in that ONE moment. Chronic pain has to present quite a problem generally because how do you really evaluate a chronic condition in ONE visit like that? They can look through records, they can ask you questions, and they can examine you. But everyone handles pain differently so how can you judge a person's pain level? just because you are seated and coherent with no visible signs that you are suffering...doesn't mean that you are not in agony.

They always ask for your pain level...scale of 1-10. The best I am ever at in my BEST moments is a 6 these days...but does that mean that I cry every second of the day? No...the awful thing is that you get a new sense of "normal" and when you get to the point where you don't even remember what it felt like to NOT be in pain then you are probably less likely to look like you are "suffering" even when you are. The best you can do is try to explain how it feels to the doctors. I refuse to put on a show or act out my pain because I am NOT faking it and I will not act any differently than normal in ANY doctor's appointment. But while a doctor I have never met before may not "see" the pain, my boyfriend can tell when my pain level is up to an 8, 9, or 10 because he can see the change in my eyes. When it's a 10 he always says I look "green" like I'm going to be sick. But would a doctor notice the differences? Probably not. My physical therapist can now after working with her for months...but I don't think she could have on my first visit.

But this is the sort of thing that a lawyer could take to a judge and fight to get your benefits reinstated. Is it harder when you have a bad work comp evaluation against you? Of course, but if your doctors support that you are in the amount of pain that you are, it becomes a matter of deciding which doctor's reports are more credible in determining you level of disability (the ones who you see regularly or the one who saw you ONE time).

What I really hate is when they try to say that you "made your doctor take you off work." What? I put a gun to his head and said you write this note to take me off work or else? Please. But...some judges will buy into this sort of thing because they don't understand how chronic pain works and that's probably just luck of the draw. Unless they have experienced it themselves or have a loved on who has it's a hard concept to really understand...especially because in theory it would be easy to fake by just lying every time you see a doctor.

Of course...anyone with a real chronic pain injury who has to go through all the mess with work comp would probably think, "Why on earth would I put myself through all of this ON PURPOSE?" I am of the opinion that anyone who is faking an injury will generally just want to take a settlement, get out, and move on. Those of us who need continued medical care, meds, therapy, etc...we have an entirely different situation. Since work comp doesn't allow you to collect for pain and suffering, we worry about being able to pay our bills, not about getting rich off of our injury. Who out there wouldn't trade all the money they have just to be healthy again and not have this pain? But how do you PROVE this?

Grrrr...can you tell I've been dealing with work comp frustrations lately? The problem is...I don't really know how to make the work comp laws better. It's not really a great situation for either side right now because companies DO have a lot of people milking the system and there are also a lot of people with REAL problems that can't get the benefits they should. The system needs a major reform but I honestly have not been able to come up with a plan to make it better because so much relies on the integrity of people (insurance companies, doctors, employers, and employees) and that's just so variable. There are many examples where the system works like it is supposed to...but these are generally in cases where both the employer and employees have integrity where the goal is the same on both sides (to get the employee the medical care they need to return to their job). Oh...if only that were the situation I was in...

Sorry for the rant...guess I needed to vent more than I thought...