In a Washington, D.C. workers\u2019 compensation case, an insurance doctor may say that your pain or inability to work is because of your age, arthritis, spinal stenosis, degenerative changes, or an old injury instead of what happened at work.<\/p>\n
This comes up often when an MRI shows a condition that may have been there before the work injury.<\/p>\n
But seeing words like \u201cdegenerative\u201d or \u201cpreexisting\u201d in a medical report does not automatically mean your current problems have nothing to do with getting hurt at work.<\/p>\n
Many people have arthritis, worn discs, spinal stenosis, or other changes that develop over time.<\/p>\n
You may even have had one of those conditions for years without missing work or needing serious treatment.<\/p>\n
After a work injury, an insurance doctor may look at those older changes and say they are the real reason you are having pain, need treatment, or cannot do your regular job.<\/p>\n