Hi Tracey ! Welcome, although sorry you had to find us

I want to comment on your above quote. I really would not let the concern that a WC claim might hurt your future employment. First, I don't think that your previous employer can share that information on a reference check (Obviously, I have no idea about employment laws in the UK, I'm just going on general impression. Secondly, I think your current level of disability even though you are only 26 is exactly why you need to look into if your previous employment caused or contributed to your TOS. I don't think that you can afford not to pursue this. If your pain and symptoms grow over time, as it has for many of us, what employment could you see yourself being able to do when you're 50 or 60 ? What about if you get pregnant and have a child ? Perhaps you already have children, I'm just assuming that you would have mentioned difficulty caring for them if you did have kids. Mine are 12 and 13 and have to help take care of me....doing my laundry, housework, etc How awful would it be to have TOS and have to carry around a 30 to 40 pound toddler. Driving is difficult for me now, if I had to get a baby or small child into a carseat, I would never get to go anywhere ! So........my point is don't worry about offending your previous employer......do whatever you need to do to protect yourself and your future.

Most of us understand completely the difficulty you are having just trying to get a proper diagnosis, nevermind treatment plan. How can doctors not believe in a documented medical condition just because they are not knowledgable about it ? Ugh !!!! The belittling experience of having them imply that it is all in our heads, the accusitory tone when they deny reasonable pain management..........don't get me going !

Does the PT that unofficially diagnosed you have any suggestions about knowledgable doctors ?

hiya,
many thanks for your comments, you are completely right in what you say about workers comp...there is a different attitude in the UK about claiming, but enough members on here have inspired me to get a consultation to test the waters re a claim. my employers did have to make adjustments to my workplace and sent me to an occ therapist who said i probably wouldnt be able to work full time in the long term. so im sure i do have a case!

i do worry about the future - kids etc, even holding my friends toddlers is difficult enough, and as much as i love playing with them i am shattered and aching at the end of it.

the pt i saw moved on to a different hospital, i didnt get any details from her as didnt realise the significance of what she said to me, or the problems i would be faced with further down the line....

what type of tos do you suffer?

Tracey . . . did you fall down the stairs before any TOS symptoms ever showed up? Was this fall at work or while working? Was this before your work in insurance claims? Please clarify the timeline of activities and symptoms. . . . so I can see if they might have any bearing on your claim for worker's compensation.

Hi Lefthanded!.

Thanks for your post....

I fell down the stairs in April/May 2004 (i think!) I had been working in my insurance job since the start of 2002. At the end of 2004 i started to get pain in my right thumb - it was very tender and kept locking in place....then by march i had extreme dull nagging pain in my right shoulder blade and things escalated from there with more tos symptoms developing - heaviness in arm, weakness in arm/hand, feeling like i couldnt hold up my head. Slowly this spread to my collar bone, which has now become bony and protrudes a little compared to the left side.

I left this job in 2006 after an occupational therapist said its unlikely i could carry on in an office job for much longer.

I am based in the UK and i spoke to a solicitor who deals with upper limb diseases and was told that i didnt have a claim as no negligence could be proved against my ex-employers!. Im going to try another firm but im a little disheartend....

Hi, just wanted to clarify that i was symptom free before the fall as far as i can remember....

Tracey . . .

If you were symptom free and the fall happened at work, then the w/c statutes in the UK might cover your injury/condition. However, if you did not file a claim for your injuries within the statute of limitations, that could make things more difficult, if not impossible.

If the stairs were in good repair, there would be no liability issues whether you were an employee there when you fell or not; but if the lights were out, the stairs broken, or some such thing, then you might have an issue to resolve with them.

If the fall did not happen at work, but your symptoms were aggravated by work, that is a tougher claim. Your work duties have to cause the condition in most jurisdictions, not just hurt while you are working, to be compensable. Excessive and repeated stretching and reaching can contribute to TOS.

It sounds like you had some tendonitis or carpal tunnel syndrome developing in your right arm/hand before your fall. Then you had a fall which may or may not have made this worse. However, unless you had already filed and established the right hand (thumb) symptoms as work related, they will now be seen as a pre-existing condition, even if they have continued to get worse. Most repetitive use injuries have a longer statute of limitations for filing, but you still have to establish a work injury in a timely manner to be compensated.

It sounds like you have left that employment based on what a therapist told you. Filing against a previous employer is even trickier, because now you likely have yet another employer who could be seen as responsible. The more time and activity that passes between a work event and the filing or assertion of a work-related claim, the tougher it is to prove.

Sorry i forgot to mention that the fall was not at work - i was at a relatives house and just missed a corner step after closing a baby gate!. I had no problems before this happened.

The thumb symptoms happened approx 6 months after the fall and the shoulder/arm/hand symptoms developed shortly after this....

The dr's dont seem to be able to decide if this fall caused tos or not.

I think that it will perhaps not be possible for me to claim as it is difficult to prove what caused tos in my case. My job was a heavy phone/typing role and i would take upto 80 calls a day and have to type up notes for each of these calls. I was very stressed and developed heart palpatations because of it - i then changed to a different role within the same company, which was less heavy on the phone calls but involved more detailed typing and reading of files (looking downwards a lot). This role change happened about 6 months before the symptoms started.

not sure if this makes any difference....

Thanks so much for your advice!