North Carolina Workers' Compensation Law Blog

Associated Press reporter Andrew Welsh-Huggins writes about his experiences with a back injury and his successful -- though lengthy -- recovery.

It's an interesting article that shows just how debilitating back injuries can be. The writer, a distance runner, outlines his long recovery and also highlights some of the realities of back injuries:

• The most common type of pain reported by adults in the United States, with more than one in four reporting some back pain lasting at least a day in the past three months. Eight of every 10 people in the United States will suffer from lower back pain at one point in their lives.
• The most common reason injured workers file for workers’ compensation claims, accounting for about one in every five U.S. claims for workers’ compensation.
• The leading cause of disability in the United States military.
• The leading cause of disability in people under age 45 and the third-leading cause in people older than that, after cancer and heart problems. One study found that two of every three people aged 20 to 60 reported some type of spinal pain in a given year.
• The leading cause of missed work time or doctor’s visits after headaches and cold symptoms.