Work-Related Injuries

Work-related injuries come in many forms. Regardless of their cause, they can be enough to keep you from working, or from feeling comfortable when you work or participate in leisure activities. If you have an injury related to work, NewYork-Presbyterian’s rehabilitation medicine professionals can customize a recovery plan for you to relieve your symptoms, get you back on the job, and reduce your risk of future injuries at work.

Visit Your Employer First

If you’ve been injured on the job, your healthcare costs will likely be covered by Workers’ Compensation. Before consulting with your rehabilitation team, visit the appropriate individual or office at your place of business to learn what paperwork needs to be filed.

Who We Treat

The most common work-related injuries we treat are:

• Back and neck injuries
• Lifting injuries
• Overuse injuries
• Injuries resulting from poor ergonomics (the way you sit or move while working)
• Shoulder injuries

Our Rehabilitation Services

Your physiatrist (rehabilitation medicine doctor) will thoroughly assess your symptoms and function to design a plan of care to help you feel better. Your recovery plan may include:

• Physical therapy. Physical therapists (PTs) use a variety of techniques to help you get moving, reduce your pain, restore your function, and prevent disability. Following a prescription from your doctor, they personalize a plan of care that includes exercises and stretching to help you get stronger, become more flexible, and achieve a healthier and more active lifestyle. Your PT will show you how to do the movements during each session, but it is important for you to do “homework” exercises to fully benefit from the treatment.
• Occupational therapy. Occupational therapists help you relearn the skills of daily living, such as taking care of yourself, getting dressed, writing, regaining balance and coordination, and using supportive equipment. The goal of occupational therapy is to enable you to lead an independent, productive, and satisfying life. You will receive guidance on exercises you can do at home to ensure you receive the full benefit of your therapy.
• Medications or injections. Some people benefit from injections (such as cortisone into joints), nerve blocks, and other interventional therapies to relieve pain and discomfort. Our physiatrists have exceptional experience providing these treatments, and usually do so with ultrasound guidance to enhance treatment precision.
• Regenerative therapies. These innovative treatments harness your body’s own ability to heal damaged tissue. Our regenerative medicine specialists offer the latest treatments to relieve pain and speed the healing of joint, tendon, and soft-tissue injuries and degenerative conditions using injections such as platelet-rich plasma (PRP, which uses concentrated platelets from your blood to stimulate healing). Your physiatrist will let you know if you might benefit from a regenerative therapy.
• Education. You may need to make changes in the way you move or sit when you work to prevent another injury. Your rehabilitation team will teach you the proper way to lift, sit, or move as you complete your tasks to help you develop healthier work habits.