Shoulder Pain....when to report?

stevetheupsguy

sʇǝʌǝʇɥǝndsƃnʎ
probably job related. but no solid proof without a definitive date and time of an injury. the tension and low pain in my left neck and shoulder are constant also. even now. sat. pm. have also dealt with what was diagnosed as cluster headaches. always on just the left side. worse than migraines. i think they are actually small seizures associated with the trigeminal nerve. have been through all the x-rays, mri's, and cat scans. no avail. went through a regimen of drugs that helped a little, but it is a situation of we don't what causes them so we don't know how to cure them. and any true relief will knock you out. but i do feel that the constant repetition of movement is a large factor.
Maybe you should set one day a week to just rest.

Cachsux, congratulations. Maybe you were just lucky. I have seen many a driver's claim denied with very long BWC battles and state Indusrial Commision (becuase we -UPS- are self insured) ensue. When I was injured-blew out my shoulder. I called it in and wrote it up step by step even included the 8 keys to lifting and lowering in my injury report. Made the claim process allot smoother.
Oh,yeah Package Donkey, whatever you do DO NOT GO to the company Dr. or company approved urgent care center. GO TO YOUR OWN DR. perferably a excellent orthopedic specialist
Don't you have to go to this one first and then afterwards you can choose whom you see?
 

feederdude

Well-Known Member
It's best to have a specific time and place. If you present the fact that your shoulder has been bothering you, they will take the position that you did it away from work. Report it immediately. Your health, and your family are much more important than the color Brown. I went through this as a management person, and still got the run around.
File as soon as possible.
Fdude
 

Treegrower

Well-Known Member
Maybe you should set one day a week to just rest.

Don't you have to go to this one first and then afterwards you can choose whom you see?
No. You can go to a Dr. of your own choosing. They may try to tell you that you must see their Dr. at their Urgent Care Ctr. 1st, but that is not true. You go to the Dr. and hospital.of your choosing. Supervision may very well and very forcefully tell you must go to their guy 1st and steer you in that direction, but you not have to go to their guy 1st. And if they do bully you into it, that's O.K. just don't go back. See him 1st if you absolutely must, but then the next day go to E.R. or straight to orthopedic. Remember if you go back to UPS approved doc 3 times, on that 3rd time UPS's physician becomes the Dr. of record and then down the road you'll pay hell trying to get to your own guy.
I'd suggest reporting the injury while out on the route when it is acting up. Call in to supervision, file out injury report when you get back to the center. Then on the way home go to local hospital E.R. get it checked out and then in the next day or 2 call a orthopedic of your choosing and set up an appt. It may cost you a day off to go see the orthopedic, but in the long run, you'll be glad you did.
 

feederdude

Well-Known Member
Get with your business agent, they have forms to sign and have on file, it gives you the right to see your own doctor. Don't listen to treegrower on this, the company has more time and money than you do. Get the form filed prior to reporting your injury.
Fdude
 

Treegrower

Well-Known Member
feederdude, So you're suggesting he go see a Dr. 1st and then file a injury report? Or go see your B.A. 1st fill out some forms? ( What specfic forms would those be by the way?) and then report your injury? I am unclear as to what your process is. I know BWC rules vary state to state. Just wondering
 

Treegrower

Well-Known Member
Get with your business agent, they have forms to sign and have on file, it gives you the right to see your own doctor. Don't listen to treegrower on this, the company has more time and money than you do. Get the form filed prior to reporting your injury.
Fdude
feederdude,
I think we are on the same page page, if I read you correctly. I could be wrong but didn't you say that you have the right to go see your own Dr. 1st ??? And didn't I say you have the right to go see your own Dr.1st.?? And you reply that "don't listen to treegrower on this, the company has more time and money than you." Did I miss something? Seems like, on the surface at least, we are saying the same thing. Maybe I am missing something. Please do tell.
 

feederdude

Well-Known Member
The company must accept the right to see a Doctor of your own choosing, they do however have the right to send you to their Doctor at the time of report. What I'm saying is #1). File the right to see a Dr. of your own choice form. 2). Then report the injury/incident. If you don't, I have seen employees hung out to dry for months or years, some come back, some don't. UPS has the attitude of not letting an employee set an example especially in regards to the safety/injury process. The injury frequency numbers are more important to the company than the injured person.
I used to handle the process for the company, and then went through the process as an injured employee.....don't be fooled by thinking you can force them, or change the course the safety process takes. This is pushed from corporate, to the Regions, and then the districts. I do however think that Corporate has good intentions in regards to employee safety, but they are sooo far removed from operations that by the time the districts impliment the guidelines they aren't employee friendly.
Keep your Ducks in a row when dealing with them. They keep 6135's (attendance records) on each employee, as well as injury/accident history on them for future discussions. My main point is to keep one step ahead of them in documentation.
Fdude
 

PackageDonkey

Box Delivery Man
Wow, didnt realize this post was still alive. The pain seems to have gone away on its own. I usually do a rural route and am able to take small breaks throughout the day, and it seem to help. I went to the chiro last week and he said shoulder feels fine, muscle is just tight. Got a massage scheduled on Sat, hopefully that puts an end to the pain for good. Also, what the heck is a business agent?
 

tarbar66

Well-Known Member
I started having shoulder problems, and realized the "three points of contact"
was the culprit.. I was gripping the handrail and pulling myself up or lowering myself down. Neither of which our shoulders are really designed to do 100 times a day. so now my hand it just placed on the handrail and I don't grip it, I let my legs do more of the work.

About a week later my shoulder started feeling much better.

Not a bad idea, but I think he said it was his left shoulder that hurt.
 

stevetheupsguy

sʇǝʌǝʇɥǝndsƃnʎ
Not a bad idea, but I think he said it was his left shoulder that hurt.
Maybe the driver is in the U.K.?

Wow, didnt realize this post was still alive. The pain seems to have gone away on its own. I usually do a rural route and am able to take small breaks throughout the day, and it seem to help. I went to the chiro last week and he said shoulder feels fine, muscle is just tight. Got a massage scheduled on Sat, hopefully that puts an end to the pain for good. Also, what the heck is a business agent?
That's the guy from the union that usually looks like a Gorilla and drives a Lincoln. This description may vary from state to state.
 

PackageDonkey

Box Delivery Man
Went in for my massage therapy on saturday. Gotta say, my first massage wasnt bad. She siad my upper back was incredibly tight, and after 2 or 3 sessions i should be fine. feels MUCH better after first session. Thanks a lot for all of the replies.
 
M

Mike23

Guest
Sounds like a VERY mild case of tendinitis. Pretty common when doing repetitive motions. Use your left hand to palm the wheel on turns (since you still want to look cool and driving with two hands doesn't make you look cool) and cut back on the Pr0n.
 
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