Are you getting better from your work injury?

Mar 18, 2025 | WC & Other Laws

Are you getting better from your work injury? – “Is the medical care helping you?” is a critical question you will be asked. This is important because the answer you give can determine what kind of medical care you will get, for how long, and how much you will get.

Report any change

When asked if the treatment has helped, sometimes injured workers get very focused on certain things and not others, so they say the treatment didn’t help at all, and if that answer continues to be the same over time doctors will give up.

You should report improvement even if it’s brief. Not all treatment is meant to get you better forever or for a long time.

For example, if an injection dropped your pain by 40% for 4 days and now it’s back to where it was, you need to report that change, any change however brief it is important to talk about because it helps the doctors narrow down the causes of the pain.

One of the problems is if an injured worker keeps saying there’s no change the doctors will start to wonder if you really even have pain or if you’re just exaggerating.

Metrics of improvement

Some people may think that only reduced pain is a metric or measurement of getting better, but there are 5 that you need to think of.

1. Pain. The most obvious one is very important.

2. Strength. If before the injury you could lift 100 lb., and after the injury, you could only lift 10 lb., what you want from your treatment is to go from 10 back up to 100, so if at any point you’re able to lift 30 lb. you’re not back to 100%, but there’s improvement.

3. Endurance. If you’re able to do more before you have to take a break there’s an improvement, for example, you might have to do some exercises and you need to do 12 repetitions, but you can only do 6 then take a break and do the other 6, but with time you can do 9 before taking a break, that’s an improvement.

4. Speed. Maybe before you could run a mile in 13 minutes, and now you can run that same mile in 11 minutes, there’s improvement.

5. Range of motion. For example, if you injured your shoulder, and before your injury, you could lift your arm completely over your head, but after the injury, you could only do it less than halfway, and after a few weeks of physical therapy your strength, pain, and endurance are the same, but you can lift your arm more than halfway, that’s an improvement.

If you see improvement you will be motivated to do more and push harder in physical therapy and get the treatment you need to get back to 100%, so talk with your physical therapist, slow and steady gains are great.