Rotator Cuff Tears in the Airline Industry

Chicago Lawyers for Workers’ Compensation Claims

The rotator cuff is a set of muscles and tendons that stabilize the shoulder and help with movement of the shoulder. Strains, bursitis, and tendinitis are common injuries to the rotator cuff. A tear is very serious. It can be the result of overuse or an acute injury. If you sustained a rotator cuff tear in the airline industry, a dedicated Chicago workers’ compensation attorney can assess your legal options. Most of the time the tear will cause intense, immediate pain, and it’s important to report what’s happened to your employer as soon as possible so as to reduce the chances that there will be a dispute about whether it’s a work-related injury.

Rotator Cuff Tears in the Airline Industry

Rotator cuff tears can result in difficulty sleeping on that side, avoiding certain activities due to the pain they produce, trouble reaching behind your back, and pain or tenderness, especially when reaching overhead. Rotator cuff tears are often sustained on the job as an acute injury, and can make it impossible for someone in the airline industry to do his or her job. It’s important to see a doctor as soon as you can. Sometimes tendonitis progresses to a rotator cuff tear and continues to worsen, and treatment can stop the progression of the injury.

When diagnosing an injury of this nature, doctors usually use your medical history, a physical exam, and imaging. The doctor will look at how much range of motion you have as well. MRI scans can identify the tear, as opposed to other kinds of damage to the rotator cuff.

Treatment may entail resting the arm on the side of the tear. It can also include application of hot and cold packs, anti-inflammatory medications, and exercise. Sometimes, surgery is required. The timing of the surgery isn’t critical, so usually a doctor treating a rotator cuff tear will try nonsurgical approaches to fix the problem first. The degree of the tear will affect prognosis. When a tear is very severe, a surgical correction may help shoulder strength.

Workers’ Compensation Benefits for a Rotator Cuff Tear

Workers’ compensation is a system of benefits in which most employers in Illinois must participate. If you suffered a work-related rotator cuff tear, you should be able to get workers’ compensation to pay for the medical costs. Coverage starts when you start your job, so even if you tore your rotator cuff while putting a passenger’s baggage into an overhead bid on the second day of work, you should be able to get your medical bills paid. You’ll need to be able to show you were an employee of the employer on the date you tore your rotator cuff, you suffered the rotator cuff tear because of your employment, and that you notified your employer in a timely manner.

Sometimes rotator cuffs tears are the result of progressing tendonitis acquired prior to a job. The insurer may deny your claim, stating that its denial is because your torn rotator cuff is a preexisting injury. So long as your work exacerbated or aggravated the pre-existing tendonitis, resulting in a tear, you should be able to get workers’ compensation benefits for the rotator cuff tear.

There are different kinds of disability benefits that may be available for a rotator cuff tear, and they are each calculated in different ways, based upon your average weekly wage. If your entire job consists of lifting things and making use of your shoulders, you may suffer a permanent or temporary total disability. However, if you can still do other parts of your job and just need a modification to do your job, you may be able to get temporary or permanent partial disability benefits.

Workers’ Compensation Attorneys Serving Chicago Residents

If you suffered a rotator cuff tear in the airline industry in Chicago, you may struggle to get the full amount of benefits to which you’re entitled. You can discuss your situation with an experienced lawyer. The skillful workers’ compensation attorneys of Katz, Friedman, Eisenstein, Johnson, Bareck & Bertuca represent injured airline workers in Rockford, Champaign, Quincy, and Aurora, as well as throughout Kane, Winnebago, Adams, Cook, and Sangamon, Counties. Contact us at 312-724-5846 or by completing our contact form.