Work injuries from lifting, repetitive motion, falls, or cumulative stress can cause significant pain and time off, and early care supports a faster, safer return to work. At Freehold Chiropractic in Freehold, we treat work injuries with chiropractic adjustments, rehabilitation exercises, and ergonomic changes that address the injury and help prevent it from happening again. In New Jersey, your employer or its workers’ compensation carrier generally chooses the authorized treating provider, so the first step is reporting your injury and asking the carrier to authorize chiropractic care.
Common Types of Work Injuries
Lifting Injuries
Poor lifting technique or lifting objects that are too heavy causes many acute back injuries, and these strains can sideline workers for weeks without proper care.
Repetitive Strain Injuries
Performing the same motion hundreds or thousands of times a day creates overuse injuries. Assembly line workers, warehouse employees, and office workers all develop repetitive strain problems.
Slip and Fall Injuries
Falls at work cause everything from minor strains to serious spinal injuries, and even “minor” falls can create lasting problems without treatment.
Cumulative Trauma
Years of poor ergonomics, awkward positions, or physical stress gradually wear on joints and soft tissues. These injuries develop slowly but can be just as disabling as a sudden injury.
Vibration Injuries
Operating vibrating equipment like jackhammers or power tools can affect nerves, blood vessels, and joints in the hands and arms over time.
Desk Job Injuries
Prolonged sitting with poor posture creates chronic back, neck, and shoulder problems. Desk jobs cause more injuries than many people realize.
Why Early Treatment Matters
Many workers try to “tough out” work injuries, hoping they’ll resolve on their own. This is usually a mistake.
Delayed treatment allows injuries to worsen, so acute strains can become chronic pain. Workers’ compensation claims can also get more complicated when significant time passes between the injury and treatment.
In my experience, workers who address injuries early tend to recover faster and return to work sooner.
When to Go to the Emergency Room
Go to the emergency room right away for a head injury with confusion or vomiting, a suspected broken bone, severe neck or back pain after a fall, numbness or weakness in your arms or legs, or loss of bladder or bowel control. In a true emergency, get care first and notify your employer as soon as you can.
Workers’ Compensation and Chiropractic Care in New Jersey
Understanding how New Jersey workers’ compensation works can save you headaches and unexpected bills.
Report your injury right away. Tell your supervisor as soon as possible, even if the injury seems minor. Delayed reporting can complicate your claim.
Your employer or its carrier directs your care. Under New Jersey law, the employer or its workers’ compensation insurance carrier generally has the right to choose the authorized treating providers. If you see a provider who hasn’t been authorized, outside of an emergency, you may be responsible for those bills.
Ask for chiropractic care to be authorized. If you’d like chiropractic treatment for your injury, ask your employer or the claims adjuster to authorize care with our office. When care is authorized, New Jersey workers’ compensation generally covers the cost of treatment without co-pays or deductibles.
We handle the paperwork for authorized care. Once your care is authorized, we complete the workers’ compensation documentation and communicate with your employer and the insurance carrier so you can focus on recovery.
If you run into problems getting treatment authorized, a New Jersey workers’ compensation attorney can explain your options.
How We Treat Work Injuries
Comprehensive Initial Evaluation
We thoroughly document your injury, including how it happened, which body parts are affected, and how it’s affecting your ability to work. This documentation matters for workers’ compensation claims, and we perform detailed orthopedic and neurological testing to assess how severe the injury is.
Acute Care Phase
Early on, we focus on easing pain and protecting injured tissues with gentle adjustments, therapeutic care, and activity modifications suited to your injury.
Rehabilitation Phase
As acute symptoms improve, we work on restoring full function through targeted exercises, more specific adjustments, and gradually increasing activity.
Work Conditioning
Before you return to full duty, we make sure your body can handle your job’s demands by simulating work activities and gradually building your tolerance.
Injury Prevention
We identify what caused your injury and help you avoid a repeat through proper body mechanics, ergonomic changes, and strengthening exercises.
Common Work Injury Conditions We Treat
Low Back Strains and Sprains
The most common work injury. Lifting, twisting, or prolonged sitting can cause acute or chronic back pain that limits your ability to work.
Neck Injuries
Whiplash from vehicle accidents, falls that injure the neck, and chronic neck strain from desk work all need proper care.
Shoulder Injuries
Overhead work, lifting, and repetitive arm motion can cause rotator cuff problems, shoulder impingement, and chronic shoulder pain.
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
Repetitive hand work can compress the nerve at the wrist. Early treatment gives you the best chance of avoiding lasting nerve problems, and severe cases may need a medical or surgical evaluation.
Hip and Leg Injuries
Jobs that require prolonged standing, walking, or climbing can create hip and leg problems that often respond well to chiropractic care.
Knee Problems
Kneeling, squatting, and repetitive climbing strain the knees, and proper care helps prevent chronic knee problems.
Returning to Work Safely
Getting you back to work is the goal, but returning too soon, or to full duty before you’re ready, can cause re-injury.
Work Status Recommendations
When we’re your authorized provider, we document your work capacity, which might include full duty, modified duty with restrictions, or time off if you can’t work safely.
Modified Duty Options
When possible, modified duty lets you work while recovering, with restrictions such as lifting limits, avoiding certain motions, or regular breaks.
Gradual Return
For more serious injuries, we recommend gradually increasing work hours and duties rather than jumping straight to full duty, which lowers the risk of re-injury.
Preventing Future Work Injuries
Once your injury heals, preventing a repeat means addressing what caused it.
Proper Body Mechanics
We teach correct lifting technique, safe movement patterns, and how to protect your spine during work activities.
Ergonomic Modifications
We evaluate your workstation and tasks and give specific recommendations to reduce injury risk.
Strengthening and Conditioning
Building strength in the muscles that support your spine and joints helps protect you from future injuries, and we tailor exercises to your job’s demands.
Regular Maintenance Care
For physically demanding jobs, periodic maintenance care helps catch minor issues before they become major injuries.
When Work Injuries Become Chronic
Some work injuries don’t resolve quickly and become long-term conditions that need ongoing management.
Chronic pain from a work injury affects not just your job but your whole quality of life, and sleep problems, low mood, and stress at home often come along with it.
Chiropractic care can help manage chronic work injuries by maintaining function, reducing flare-ups, and keeping things from getting worse. We can’t always eliminate chronic pain completely, but we can often meaningfully improve how you feel and function.
Physical vs Desk Jobs
Both physically demanding jobs and office work cause injuries, just different kinds.
Manual Labor Injuries
Construction workers, warehouse employees, manufacturing workers, and tradespeople typically have sudden strains, cumulative trauma, and overuse injuries from heavy physical demands.
Office Work Injuries
Desk workers develop chronic pain from prolonged sitting, poor posture, repetitive computer use, and ergonomic problems. These injuries develop gradually over months or years.
Both types of injury often respond well to chiropractic care when we address the specific demands of your job.
The Cost of Ignoring Work Injuries
Working through pain without treatment has real costs. Your injury can worsen and need more extensive treatment later, your work performance can suffer, and your quality of life can decline as pain becomes chronic.
Early treatment is usually less time-consuming and more effective than dealing with chronic problems that developed from a neglected injury.
Coordinating with Your Employer
We communicate with your employer and carrier as needed about your injury status, work restrictions, and expected recovery timeline, so your employer can accommodate restrictions and plan for your return to full duty.
We can also work with employers on injury prevention if requested, which benefits both workers and businesses.
What to Do After a Work Injury
If you’re injured at work, take these steps:
- Report the injury to your supervisor right away, even if it seems minor.
- Document what happened, including how the injury occurred and which body parts are affected.
- Get appropriate care. In an emergency, go to the ER. Otherwise, ask your employer or carrier which providers are authorized, and request chiropractic care if you’d like it.
- Follow your restrictions and treatment plan. Returning to full duty too soon risks re-injury.
- Keep copies of all documents related to your injury and treatment.
Real Results from Freehold Workers
Over 27 years, I’ve treated many work injuries, from sudden back strains to chronic repetitive stress problems. Construction workers, office employees, healthcare workers, warehouse staff, and people from every kind of job have recovered with our care.
The workers who recover fastest tend to be those who get care early, follow recommendations consistently, and work on prevention before returning to full duty.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will workers’ compensation cover chiropractic treatment?
It can, when your employer or its carrier authorizes chiropractic care. Authorized treatment is generally covered without co-pays or deductibles, so ask your adjuster about authorization first.
Can my employer require me to see their doctor?
Generally, yes. In New Jersey, the employer or its carrier usually chooses the authorized treating providers, except in emergencies, so request authorization if you want chiropractic care.
How soon should I get care after a work injury?
As soon as possible. Report the injury right away and get evaluated early, since prompt care tends to lead to a faster recovery.
What if my employer says I need to “work through” my injury?
You’re entitled to appropriate medical treatment for a work injury. If you’re having trouble getting care authorized, a New Jersey workers’ compensation attorney can explain your options.
Get Treatment for Your Work Injury
If you’ve been injured at work, don’t wait for the problem to get worse. Call our Freehold office at (732) 780-0044 or schedule your evaluation online. We’ll help you understand the authorization process, document your injury properly, and create a plan to get you back to work safely.
Dr. Russell Brokstein is a lifelong Freehold resident and a seasoned chiropractor dedicated to helping patients achieve optimal health through holistic, drug-free care. With a Biology degree from Penn State and a Doctor of Chiropractic from Life Chiropractic College West, Dr. Brokstein’s passion for chiropractic began when his own recurring bronchial issues and a sports-related back injury were resolved through chiropractic adjustments. This transformative experience inspired him to focus on full-body treatments, therapeutic stretching, nutritional counseling, and stress reduction therapies to help others recover faster and perform better. Recognized as one of America’s Best Chiropractors, he leads Freehold Chiropractic with a patient-centered approach that emphasizes thorough evaluations, minimal wait times, and personalized care for athletes and families in Freehold, NJ.
