Hurt Hand

I know state laws vary, but as a Human Resource professional, I know a little about worker's comp and they cannot punish you for seeking medical treatment without contacting them first. To do so would be retaliation and that is illegal.

If you think you need to seek medical care, then do so and make sure to tell them it is work related. I would contact your employer as soon as you can and follow their procedures.

Best of luck to you! I broke my foot about 2 years ago and even after having it X-rayed, they said it wasn't broken (it was). I walked on it for a month before I got smart and went back to another doc. I feel your pain!!

M.,
Employers are required to have workman's compensation insurance that pays for injuries on the job. Call your supervisor (or any supervisor whose phone number you can find in the phone book or at whitepages.com) at home and get permission to go to the emergency room. When you go to the ER tell them that you were injured on the job. They have to fill out different paperwork for on the job injuries. Next time...tell them immediately that you are injured and in pain and go immediately to the ER. Sometimes that is the only way you can prove that the injury happened on the job. Good luck with it!
S.

its not your jobs place to say if you can go to the doctor or not. You need to go to the ER or urgent care NOW! If they have a problem with that, hire a lawyer they cant try to deny you medical care.
P.S. I wanted to add if its not treated it can cause the injury to get much worse and cause a life time of trouble...this happened to my grandfather, Had he just gone and had it taken care of he would have had full use of his arm but he didnt

In a search engine box, type webmd ( online medical doctor).

On that website, type wrist injury to learn more about your injury.

Hope this information helps and your place of employment becomes more understanding of an accident.

Merry Christmas!

S.

If that's your works policy then you should be able to find a contact number. Honestly that sounds rediculous. Emergencies happen. I would go to a clinic or ER anyways. You come first anyways. Remember if you can't pay the bill the hospital always works out a payment plan-with no interest.

Your job doesn't sound like it takes care of its employees....

Hi M.. Though I am an x-ray technologist, I am certainly not a doctor but (for what it's worth) my advice is this: Get a wrist brace that will allow limited movement in your wrist. Barring that, an ace wrap will do. It is a common misconception that the lack of swelling and the ability to move the body part means there is no break. There are numerous small bones in the wrist and one of them may have a crack. Your wrist took the full force of your body at an unnatural angle. If work won't send you to the doctor I suppose you have no choice but to go on your own as soon as possible. In the meantime, if it were me, I would definitely get a wrist brace for support and perhaps take some Aleve or other over the counter med to help alleviate the discomfort.

Yes,I have an idea, go to the doctor - since when do you need permission from work to take care of yourself?

If you have insurance, go to the er and get an xray done. You should have iced it on and off yesterday. Get to walmart and buy a wrist support if you can't get to the er. You could end up with permanent damage if you don't get it treated and cont to work with it this way.

I just wanted to let you know when I broke my wrist it was the same, no swelling and only pain when I put pressure on it or something touched it. I broke a small bone completely in half and had to have surgery. It might be a good idea to have an xray. I hope you get better soon!

I have to agree with Anna C.
I broke my wrist a few years ago, AND it DIDN'T swell @ all, and guess what
I DID have a hairline fracture
So, yeah, it is better 2 b safe than sorry
go to the ER for peace of mind if nothing else, :)

Put some ice on it and go to the dr. as soon as you can. I hope you followed your works procedure for when accidents happen.

It doesn't matter that much that there is no swelling. You still may have torn or stretched muscle, tendon, or ligaments (sprain or strain), and continued use could make it worse. You could have a break (fracture), and continued use could make that worse, as well. Any of these could interfere with the use of your hand for the rest of your life if not treated properly.

Apply ice and keep it elevated. You should immobilize your hand and seek medical attention as soon as possible. Since it's the weekend, go to an ER.

I am a nurse, not a lawyer, but it's a work-related injury and you are going to want very, very detailed documentation. If your employer has no forms for accidents, I would write up the incident on my own paper and save it. Don't forget to include the names and the conversations you had with whomever advised you not to get medical attention yesterday. I would also recommend that you ask the ER to get a drug toxicology screen to make sure that there is documentation that it is unlikely that you were impaired at the time of the accident. This is another reason to get to the ER within 24 hours of the injury.

M.,

Even though it isn't swollen it could very well be fractured. I fractured my left wrist one time and there was no swelling at all but I still couldn't move it very well and it hurt very badly when I tried to bend it or make a fist. It sounds to me like a closed fracture which is what you would call a "hairline" fracture. It is still very painful and you will require some time in a brace or cast. I would go to my manager and fill out worker's comp papers and ask to be seen first thing Monday morning.

If you reported it to your supervisor at work when it happened, then your doctor's visit would be covered by Workman's Compensation. If you reported it, go to the doctor, it could be fractured!

And FYI, when my daughter broke her wrist, she could still rotate her wrist, as well as move her fingers...she just couldn't do it very fast!

that's awful! do you have insurance?? If you do, forget telling work and go to the doctor! It does sound like a sprain though since you can move your fingers. You could have broken your wrist or just sprained it. Usually it would swell if you sprained it though. As far as your job "allowing" you to go to the doctor....it happened at work, they WILL pay for it either with their approval or without. Workman's comp or straight out. good luck!

"ICE" -- Immobilize, Cool, Elevate -- try not to move your hand much, keep ice or cool water on it, and keep it elevated (at least, as opposed to hanging down). Take ibuprofen. Even if there doesn't seem to be swelling, this will help with the pain and may prevent swelling. If it gets really bad, you may want to see a doctor anyway, even if you have to pay for it yourself.