I hurt my back lifting a 50-pound sack of seeds at work. Because I had a previous injury while playing golf, workers’ compensation is not covering my injury. Isn’t there some way to show that regularly lifting heavy items at work is what caused my back to go out in the first place?

It is difficult to say the extent to which workload causes occupational back injury and back pain. There is no single test, survey, or tool to measure the load on your back over time. Tests that are available don’t allow for differences in anatomy or ways each person moves. And there is no test to help identify psychological or social influences on injuries. Researchers are working hard to answer these question.