A fall at work can happen in seconds, but the injuries may affect you for weeks or even months. Whether you slipped on a wet floor, fell from a ladder, tripped over equipment, or lost your balance while performing your job, knowing what to do after a workplace fall is important for both your health and your recovery. Even when an injury initially seems minor, symptoms can develop or worsen after the accident.
What Should I Do Immediately After a Fall at Work?
After a workplace fall, your health and safety should come first. Avoid immediately getting up and continuing to work if you are experiencing significant pain, dizziness, weakness, or difficulty moving.
Take a moment to determine whether you can move safely. If the injury appears serious, seek immediate medical assistance.
Falls can cause injuries to the neck, back, shoulders, hips, knees, wrists, ankles, and other areas of the body. Some injuries may not produce severe symptoms immediately, which is why changes in pain or function after the accident should be taken seriously.
Report the Injury to Your Employer
Report the accident to your employer or supervisor as soon as possible.
Explain when and where the fall occurred, what you were doing at the time, and which areas of your body were injured or became painful afterward.
Following your employer’s workplace injury procedures can also help ensure that the incident is properly documented.
Get Medical Attention
A medical evaluation can help determine the extent of your injuries and whether additional testing or treatment is necessary.
Symptoms following a workplace fall may include:
- Back pain
- Shoulder pain
- Hip pain
- Knee pain
- Ankle or foot pain
- Headaches
- Muscle spasms
- Swelling or bruising
- Numbness or tingling
- Limited range of motion
- Difficulty walking, bending, lifting, or performing normal job duties
If symptoms appear after the accident or become progressively worse, report those changes to the appropriate medical provider.
Document What Happened
Accurate information about the accident can be important.
When possible, document the date and time of the injury, where it happened, how the fall occurred, and which areas of your body were affected.
If there were unsafe conditions involved, such as a wet floor, damaged equipment, debris, or another hazard, follow your employer’s procedures for reporting those conditions.
Also keep track of medical appointments and any work restrictions provided by your treating physician.
Common Injuries After a Workplace Fall
Workplace falls can cause many different musculoskeletal injuries.
Sprains and Strains
A sudden fall can overstretch or injure muscles, tendons, and ligaments. Sprains and strains commonly affect the neck, lower back, shoulders, knees, and ankles.
Back Injuries
Landing forcefully or twisting while falling may injure the muscles, joints, or discs of the spine.
Back injuries may cause localized pain or symptoms that travel into the buttocks or legs.
Neck Injuries
A sudden impact can cause the neck to move forcefully, resulting in muscle strain, joint irritation, stiffness, headaches, or limited range of motion.
Shoulder and Arm Injuries
People instinctively reach out to protect themselves during a fall. This can place considerable force on the hands, wrists, elbows, and shoulders.
Knee Injuries
A workplace fall may also involve a blow to the head.
Headache, dizziness, confusion, nausea, vomiting, unusual sleepiness, memory changes, vision problems, or loss of consciousness following a fall require appropriate medical attention.
Why You Shouldn’t Ignore Pain After a Work Injury
It can be tempting to assume soreness will disappear on its own, particularly when you are able to continue working after the accident.
However, pain and stiffness can become more noticeable hours or days later as inflammation and muscle guarding develop.
Continuing strenuous work activities while an injury is affecting your strength, movement, or stability may also aggravate symptoms.
An evaluation can help determine what was injured and what activities may need to be temporarily modified.
Physical Therapy After a Work Injury
- Physical therapy may play an important role in recovery following a workplace injury.
- Treatment is based on the specific injury and functional limitations identified during the evaluation.
- Depending on the patient’s condition, physical therapy may focus on:
- Restoring range of motion
- Improving strength
- Increasing flexibility
- Improving balance and stability
- Reducing movement limitations
- Improving lifting and carrying ability
- Restoring walking tolerance
- Improving functional movement
- Preparing the patient to safely resume work activities
As the patient improves, exercises and functional activities can be gradually progressed.
Chiropractic Care After a Workplace Fall
For appropriate musculoskeletal injuries involving the neck, back, or surrounding structures, chiropractic care may also be incorporated into the treatment plan.
Treatment should be based on the patient’s examination findings, diagnosis, symptoms, and tolerance.
At Easy Reach Chiropractic & Physical Therapy, chiropractic care can be coordinated with physical therapy and rehabilitation when appropriate.
Returning to Work Safely
Returning to work involves more than simply having less pain.
A worker may need sufficient strength, mobility, endurance, balance, and functional capacity to safely perform essential job duties.
Someone who works at a desk has very different physical demands from a firefighter, construction worker, warehouse employee, healthcare worker, painter, or delivery driver.
That is why rehabilitation should consider the actual physical demands of the patient’s occupation.
Work Conditioning and Work Hardening
For workers recovering from more significant injuries, traditional rehabilitation may eventually progress into work conditioning or work hardening when appropriate and authorized.
These programs are designed to help prepare injured workers for the physical demands of their jobs.
Activities may progressively address:
- Lifting and carrying
- Pushing and pulling
- Bending and squatting
- Repetitive activities
- Walking and standing tolerance
- Strength and endurance
- Job-specific movements and tasks
The goal is to help bridge the gap between rehabilitation and a safe return to work.
Workers’ Compensation Care at Easy Reach Chiropractic & Physical Therapy
Easy Reach Chiropractic & Physical Therapy provides conservative treatment and rehabilitation for appropriate work-related musculoskeletal injuries.
Depending on the patient’s injury, medical authorization, and treatment plan, care may include physical therapy and rehabilitation, chiropractic care, therapeutic exercise, laser therapy, spinal decompression when appropriate, and other conservative treatments.
For injured workers who require additional functional rehabilitation before returning to physically demanding occupations, Work Conditioning and Work Hardening may also be incorporated when appropriate and authorized.
Our goal is to help injured workers restore mobility, strength, endurance, and function so they can safely progress toward their work requirements.
When Should You Seek Immediate Medical Attention?
- Some symptoms following a workplace fall require urgent medical evaluation.
- Seek prompt medical attention for symptoms such as:
- Loss of consciousness
- Severe or worsening headache
- Confusion or unusual behavior
- Repeated vomiting
- Significant dizziness
- New or worsening weakness
- Severe neck or back pain following significant trauma
- Loss of bowel or bladder control
- Numbness around the groin or saddle area
- Obvious deformity
- Inability to bear weight on an injured leg
- Difficulty breathing
Don’t Ignore a Workplace Injury
A workplace fall can affect your ability to work, exercise, sleep, drive, care for your family, and perform everyday activities.
Reporting the accident, obtaining an appropriate evaluation, following medical recommendations, and completing rehabilitation when necessary can help support a safer recovery.
If you have experienced a work-related musculoskeletal injury, Easy Reach Chiropractic & Physical Therapy provides chiropractic care, physical therapy and rehabilitation, and Work Conditioning and Work Hardening services for appropriate injured workers.