The work of a USPS letter carrier involves the use of their hands and a lot of movement, sorting, flipping through mail, carrying large packages, and even driving their vans for hours at a time to deliver mail and packages. Due to this, many postal workers find that they undergo a lot of wear and tear on their hands and wrists due to all this repetitive motion, setting the stage for various hand and wrist pathologies such as De Quervain’s Tenosynovitis, a painful condition which affects the tendons on the thumb side of the wrist. This condition is mostly seen in postal workers who have to sort through mail and packages, those who lift packages to place them in their vans, and so on. These actions have been shown to place a substantial amount of strain and stress on the tendons mentioned, and the resultant inflammation has been shown to cause radiating pain that goes from the wrist to the base of the thumb, making their work unbearably painful, necessitating treatment and rest.

De Quervain’s Tenosynovitis usually starts off as mild discomfort, but it grows and worsens over time whereby even the smallest attempt to make a fist in the affected arm produces excruciating pain. Under the Federal Employees’ Compensation Act or FECA, all injured federal workers have the right to seek and receive compensation after suffering a work-related injury by filling in certain forms, and should the claim be accepted, will be provided with regular stipends known as schedule awards as they take time off work to seek treatment and recover. However, the program requires that you furnish robust medical evidence which demonstrates unequivocal causation between your work-related injury and the specific work activity that caused it. To this end, many postal workers get denied compensation due to not being able to objectively demonstrate this, and this is perhaps the most important reason why you need to get timely legal representation in order to ensure acceptance at the first try, and we’re here to help with this and so much more.

Are you looking for the best federal workers’ compensation attorney for injured USPS letter carriers? Please call us NOW at (314) 481-63338 to learn more about your legal options for justice and compensation. The experienced injured USPS worker lawyers at McCready Law bring to the table decades of experience where we’ve handled thousands of injured federal worker compensation claims from across the country, helping people just like you qualify for schedule awards after suffering an on-the-job injury in a timely manner.

At McCready Law, we understand and empathize with all injured federal workers and appreciate the fact that this is a difficult time for you – to this end, we’d like to announce the availability of flexible monthly payment plans allowing you to receive timely legal assistance from us without having to feel the financial strain even as you seek treatment and attempt to balance your financial obligations. In addition, attorney fees for federal workers’ compensation representation must be reviewed by OPM or OWCP to ensure they are not only fair and in line with the injuries you’ve suffered, but that they leave you with the bulk of your benefits so you can seek out satisfactory medical attention and help with daily financial upkeep. We handle a countrywide clientele, so feel free to give us a call NOW at (314) 481-63338 to learn more about your legal options for justice and compensation as an injured postal worker, and receive your 100% FREE initial legal consult from us – our intake team is standing by.

De Quervain’s Tenosynovitis in Postal Workers – What You Should Expect

De Quervain’s Tenosynovitis is a condition which involves the tendons of the thumb and their inflammation. The tendons that are involved include the extensor pollicis brevis and the abductor pollicis longus which are responsible for thumb extension. Affected postal worker complain of pain due to the inflammation of the sheath surrounding the tendons, as well as an inability to move the affected thumb without experiencing searing pain which in some cases, and should the condition go untreated, radiates up the forearm. Another common symptom sufferers notice is creaking or snapping sensation when moving the thumb, which points to generalized swelling and dysfunction of the tendons found in this location.

Diagnosing and Treatment of De Quervain’s Tenosynovitis in USPS Workers

Diagnosing De Quervain’s Tenosynovitis is done in the following way:

• The physician performs a detailed medical history or review, asking you about the duration and nature of your symptoms. They then may ask you about your work responsibilities to opine which particular activity may have led to your developing this condition.
• They will also perform a physical exam where the affected area is palpated to check for swelling and tenderness. A specific test known as the Finkelstein test where you get to bend your thumb across your palm and then close your fingers over it is performed to reproduce the pain so as to have a definitive diagnosis of De Quervain’s Tenosynovitis.
• Imaging tests while optional may help the physician pinpoint the location of the injury and inflammation as well as rule out other conditions. To this end, X-rays may be done to check for any fractures or abnormalities, and ultrasound and MRI will help provide detailed imagery of the soft tissue around the hand as well as note the extent of inflammation.

Treatment for de Quervain’s Tenosynovitis includes rest and ice therapy in order to alleviate swelling, inflammation, and pain, and the use of a splint to immobilize the wrist in order to relieve any tendon pressure, helping kickstart the body’s natural healing process. The doctor may also prescribe non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs for the swelling and pain, and in some severe cases, may inject you with corticosteroid injections.

To help speed recovery along, you may be asked to engage in physical therapy exercises targeting the wrist muscles, as well as undergo massage to help with the pain and the swelling. Should the condition fail to respond to any of these, tendon release surgery may be recommended, which involves cutting the sheath surrounding the inflamed tendons in order to increase the space surrounding them and alleviating the built-up pressure.

Best Countrywide Injured Postal Worker Lawyers – Call Us NOW!

The federal workers’ compensation process for De Quervain’s Tenosynovitis tends to be complex and mired in long wait times as well as unnecessary bureaucratic processes. With a lawyer by your side, you’ll be able to fill all the paperwork in a timely manner, get referrals to doctors that understand the OWCP requirements as they relate to medical assessment, have someone on your side to speak with OWCP and acquiesce to their demands, and make sure that the schedule award provided is commensurate with your injuries and condition. Want to learn more? Please give us a call NOW at (314) 481-63338 to learn more about your legal options for justice and compensation. Thanks for choosing McCready Law, and we look forward to helping you.