Contributed by: Dan Rose
That nagging ache in your wrist after a long shift. The shoulder stiffness that used to fade by morning but now greets you before your alarm goes off. The tingling in your fingers that you keep brushing aside because, well, it is just part of the job. Except it is not. As a workers’ compensation professional working with injured Queens employees, I can tell you that the injuries people dismiss as normal wear and tear are often the very conditions New York law was designed to cover. The difference between getting full benefits and getting nothing frequently comes down to whether you recognized the warning signs early enough to act.
Here is what to watch for, why it matters, and what steps will protect both your health and your legal rights.
The Slow-Build Injuries Most Workers Overlook
Repetitive stress injuries are fundamentally different from the workplace accidents most people picture. There is no ladder fall, no loud crash, no coworker calling 911. Instead, these injuries accumulate silently through months or years of the same motions performed day after day. Typing, lifting, scanning, gripping, reaching overhead, even standing in the same position for hours. The U.S. Department of Labor estimates that these injuries affect hundreds of thousands of American workers each year, with collective costs reaching into the billions.
The tricky part? Most people do not connect the dots between their symptoms and their job duties until the damage is already significant. I have sat across from warehouse workers, office administrators, restaurant cooks, and home health aides in Queens who all said some version of the same thing. “I thought it would go away on its own.” By the time they walked through our door, they were dealing with chronic conditions that required surgery, long-term physical therapy, or permanent work restrictions.
Recognizing the problem early does not just improve your medical outcome. It also dramatically strengthens your workers’ compensation claim.
What Does a Repetitive Stress Injury Actually Feel Like?
You do not need a medical degree to spot the early signs. What you need is the awareness that certain symptoms, when they show up in a pattern connected to your work, are your body telling you something is wrong. Here are five signals that should prompt immediate attention.
First, persistent tingling or numbness in your hands, fingers, or wrists, particularly after extended typing, gripping tools, or operating machinery. This is the hallmark of carpal tunnel syndrome, one of the most common repetitive stress conditions. It often starts mild and progresses until you are dropping things or waking up at night with burning pain.
Second, stiffness or swelling in your joints that worsens during or after your shift. Shoulders, elbows, knees, and wrists are especially vulnerable. When inflammation becomes chronic, you may be developing bursitis or tendonitis without realizing it.
Third, a dull ache in your lower back that started after you began a job involving repetitive bending, lifting, or prolonged standing. Chronic lower back pain becomes a compensable condition when it lasts beyond 12 weeks and is clearly tied to your work tasks.
Fourth, a noticeable loss of grip strength or range of motion in your arms or hands. If opening a jar or turning a doorknob has become painful, that is not aging. That could be epicondylitis, commonly known as tennis elbow, which affects everyone from delivery drivers to nurses.
Fifth, pain that initially appears only during work but gradually follows you home, disrupting sleep and everyday activities. This escalation pattern is one of the clearest indicators that your body is accumulating damage faster than it can repair.
- Early Detection Advantage: Reporting symptoms while they are still developing creates a medical timeline that is extremely difficult for an insurance carrier to dispute.
- Documentation Habit: Start noting when symptoms appear, which tasks trigger them, and how long they last. A simple log in your phone is enough. This kind of real-time evidence carries significant weight in a workers’ comp proceeding.
- Medical Connection: See a doctor and specifically tell them your symptoms are connected to your work duties. This single step changes how the visit is coded and begins building the occupational link your claim will need.
Who Is Most at Risk in Queens?
Queens has one of the most diverse workforces in the country, and repetitive stress injuries do not favor one industry over another. I have handled claims for office workers who spent a decade typing reports, for construction laborers who operated vibrating equipment every shift, for restaurant employees who spent years on their feet chopping and plating, and for healthcare aides who lifted patients daily.
The common thread is not the type of work. It is the repetition. Any job that requires you to perform the same physical motion for extended periods puts you at risk. Cashiers scanning groceries, painters rolling walls, nail technicians gripping tools for hours, cleaning staff pushing and scrubbing, warehouse workers loading trucks. All of these roles carry real exposure.
If your daily routine involves doing the same thing with the same part of your body for most of your shift, you are a candidate for a workers’ compensation lawyer for RSI.
- High-Risk Roles: Data entry clerks, assembly line workers, commercial drivers, home health aides, restaurant kitchen staff, warehouse packers, and janitorial employees.
- Overlooked Populations: Office workers often assume their sedentary jobs cannot cause compensable injuries. That assumption costs people benefits every year.
How to Report a Repetitive Injury When There Was No “Accident”
This is where many Queens workers get stuck. New York law requires you to report a workplace injury to your employer within 30 days. But when there was no single incident, no fall or collision, what exactly are you reporting? The answer is simpler than you might expect. You are reporting the condition itself and its connection to your job.
Put it in writing. A brief note to your supervisor explaining that you have developed symptoms you believe are related to your work duties is sufficient. Keep a copy. You do not need to have a formal diagnosis at this point. You just need to put your employer on notice that something is wrong and that your job may be the cause.
From there, see a physician, ideally one authorized by the New York Workers’ Compensation Board, and make sure they understand the nature of your daily tasks. The initial medical report is one of the most important documents in any repetitive stress claim. If it is vague or fails to connect your diagnosis to your work activities, the insurance carrier will seize on that gap.
- Written Notice: Always report in writing, even if you also tell your supervisor verbally. A paper trail protects you if the employer later claims they were never informed.
- Medical Specificity: Your doctor’s report should name the specific repetitive motions causing your condition. “Wrist pain” is not enough. “Carpal tunnel syndrome resulting from repetitive keyboard use over approximately four years” is the level of detail that holds up.
- Filing Timeline: You have two years to file your formal claim with the Workers’ Compensation Board, but the clock can start from different dates, including diagnosis, onset of disability, or first lost workday. Do not gamble on which date applies. File as soon as you can.
Protecting Your Claim Before It Even Begins
The workers who end up in the strongest position are the ones who treated their repetitive stress injury like a serious legal matter from day one, not three months after the insurance company sent a denial letter. If you are reading this and recognizing your own symptoms, the best thing you can do right now is take it seriously. Report it, document it, get medical attention, and talk to someone who understands how these claims work in New York.
A repetitive stress injury workers’ comp attorney in Queens can help you avoid the procedural mistakes that sink otherwise valid claims and make sure the insurance carrier knows from the start that your case is built on solid ground.
Contributed by Dan Rose, A Senior Workers’ Compensation Legal Analyst.
Dealing with a Repetitive Stress Injury from Work?
The team at Beck Law P.C. has helped thousands of injured Queens workers secure the benefits they deserve.
Visit https://becklawny.com/ to schedule your free consultation and learn what your claim may be worth.
Get Directions Below!
Beck Law, 71-19 80th St Suite 8-206, Glendale, NY 11385, (516) 388-7785
