What’s A Shoulder Injury Worth to Your Employer?

Shoulder injuries are one of the most devastating types of injury that can occur at work. They can severely hinder movement, making it difficult to carry out day to day tasks.

If you’ve been injured at work, you may wonder how much your workers compensation case is worth. Although shoulder injuries often win large payouts, the amount can vary widely depending on the severity of the injury.

Medical Costs Of Different Shoulder Injuries

The exact cost of a shoulder injury will of course depend on the particulars of the case. However, most shoulder injuries cost quite a bit of money.

Shoulder injuries cost workers an average of $20,000 per year in medical expenses, without accounting for the cost of surgery. You also have to factor in the lost wages from time off work. Most workers miss at least 3 weeks of work after a shoulder injury.

You should also factor in the type of shoulder injury when estimating medical costs. Here are a few of the most common shoulder injuries and how much they could cost.

Cost Of Rotator Cuff Injuries

The rotator cuff is a group of muscles and tendons that are crucial for smooth, painless arm movement. They connect the upper arm bone to the shoulder socket, and if they are damaged, range of motion can be limited. The rotator cuff can be injured by an acute injury, but often tendons are muscles are slowly damaged over time.

Mild rotator cuff injuries may heal on their own, especially if the damage is muscular. However, many cases require steroid injections, physical therapy, or surgery. Most rotator cuff surgeries will cost around $10,000.

Labral Tear Cost

The labrum is a pad of tissue that rests between the upper arm bone and the shoulder socket. It the labrum is worn down or torn, movement can be quite painful, as the arm bone rubs against the shoulder socket.

Minor labral tears can often be treated with orthopedic therapy and exercises. However, more severed tears can require lesion repair surgeries. The cost of these surgeries varies depending on the extent of the tear, but they usually cost around $20,000.

Shoulder Replacement Cost

Severe shoulder injuries may require a shoulder replacement. This is a surgery where the tip of the upper arm bone is taken off and replaced with a metal rod, which is then fitted into an artificial socket.

Shoulder replacement surgery can cost anywhere from $10,000 to $25,000, depending on where the procedure is performed.

Dislocated Shoulders Cost

Dislocated shoulders are one of the most common types of shoulder injury. The cost of a dislocated shoulder depends on the extent of damage to the tendons in the shoulder. Most of these injuries also require that you go to the emergency room.

If your dislocated shoulder can be treated without surgery, the trip to the hospital may cost you around $1,000. However, if you need to repair torn tendons, the injury could cost around $10,000.

Frozen Shoulder

Frozen shoulder can occur after an injury or surgery. It’s caused by the immune system overreacting to the injury, leading to inflammation in the shoulder. Frozen shoulder can cause severe pain as you move, and may also limit mobility.

Most cases of frozen shoulder will heal on their own or with a physical therapy. However, frozen shoulder can sometimes take a long time to heal, and can require months of expensive physical therapy.

Other Costs Associated With Shoulder Injuries

Surgeries for shoulder injuries are usually the largest cost. However, there are plenty of other expenses after you leave the OR.

Nearly every major shoulder injury will require some form of physical therapy. Depending on the nature of the injury, you may have to go to therapy multiple times per week. At around $50 to $100 per session, the cost of therapy can add up quickly.

Some shoulder injuries may also require touch up procedures or imaging tests to track the healing of the shoulder. Costs for these can vary widely, but this can add thousands of dollars to your medical bills.

Calculating Workers Comp In Montana

When estimating the value of your case, you should make sure to gather all relevant medical bills, ensuring that you report the full extent of medical expenses. You should also consider reaching out to a workers comp attorney to help you manage your case.

Workers compensation will also cover a portion of the income you lose from the injury. There are a few different classifications, depending on the severity of your injury.

Temporary partial disability

With temporary partial disability, you are still able to work part time. You’ll receive ⅔ of the wages that are lost due to your injury. For example, if you made $1,000 per week before the injury, and then $700 after, you would receive ⅔ of the difference, in this case $200.

Temporary full disability

With temporary total disability, you are completely unable to work for a certain period of time as you recover. You will receive ⅔ of the wages that you received before the injury.

There are often time limits for temporary total disability, depending on the nature of your injury.

Permanent partial disability

With permanent partial disability, your injury has caused limitations that prevent you from working full time.

If you are classified as permanently partially disabled, you will receive ⅔ of your wages for a predetermined period.

Permanent full disability

If you’ve been severely injured at work, you may be classified as permanently fully disabled. This designation is usually only used in cases where the worker is left partially or fully paralysed due to a shoulder injury, and is unable to work in any capacity.

Permanent full disability will pay you ⅔ of your pre injury wages. Although some workers comp cases may come with time limits on benefits, you may be able to receive benefits for life if your injury is severe enough.

Contact An Experienced Montana Workers Comp Attorney

Workers comp law can be quite complex, and it’s difficult to calculate the full value of your claim. Many workers lose out on benefits by handling their case themselves.

If your shoulder has been injured at work, reach out to a skilled Montana workers comp attorney. They can help you deal with aggressive insurance companies, as well as ensure that your employer is complying with your claim.

At Glacier Law, we have years of experience working on every type of workers comp case. We fight to win our clients the maximum possible compensation for their case, protecting their financial security and allowing them to focus on their recovery.

Finding the right attorney can be tough. That’s why we offer free case evaluations, where we discuss your injury and outline a legal strategy.